Business memo 01/06/03

Five Bill's Dollar Stores in Missouri close

Bill's Dollar Stores at Marble Hill, Hayti, Portageville, Campbell and Seneca have closed operations.

Louis DeCarlo, vice president of the Columbia, Miss., group which operates discount stores in 13 southeastern states, said the Missouri stores were the northernmost locations.

Bill's Dollar Store chain was bought by Bonus Dollar Stores of Daytona Beach, Fla., in April and moved corporate headquarters to Columbia.

DeCarlo said the Missouri closings are part of a consolidation in repositioning the company closer to Mississippi.

OSHA seminar scheduled for Jan. 31

Julie O'Keefe, attorney with Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, will discuss Occupational Safety and Health Administration's new injury and illness record-keeping standards during a program to be held Jan. 31 at Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

The conference will be from 1-4 p.m., with registration at 12:30 p.m.

More information is available by calling Wallace at (573) 634-2246.

O'Keefe will review the new regulations and guidelines.

Soil, water conservation meeting scheduled

The Pulaski-Alexander Soil and Water Conservation District's 54th annual meeting will be held Jan. 24 in the cafeteria at Shawnee Community College.

A 6 p.m. dinner will be followed by the business session at 7 p.m. Three directors will be elected, and the group's "Conservation Farmer of the Year" will be introduced.

State construction up first 11 months of 2001

Missouri construction through 11 months of 2001 was up 5 percent, but November totals were down in all phases -- residential, nonresidential building and nonbuilding.

Total construction for the year going into the final months topped $7.4 billion going into December, up from the $7 billion during the same period in 2000, according to the F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill Cos., which keeps tabs on the nation's construction.

Residential construction for Missouri increased 3 percent from last year's 11-month totals. Home building was down in November, from $243 million in 2000 to $225 million this year.

Total construction was up going into December, at $7,441,613,000 from $7,065,896,000 during the same period in 2000.

The big jump came in the nonbuilding division, which includes streets, highways, bridges, river and harbor development, airports, utilities and sewage and water. Totals in nonbuilding for 2001 was $1.8 billion, up 18 percent from the $1.15 billion during the same period a year ago.

December totals have not been reported yet.

2001 second-best year for auto sales

A strong finish for almost every automaker was enough to make 2001 the second-best vehicle sales year in history.

Sales figures released last week also revealed that for the first time, trucks outsold passenger cars, by a margin of about 300,000 units.

The Honda Accord reclaimed the distinction of best-selling car in the United States, deposing past sales champ Toyota Camry. The Ford Taurus came in third. The Accord last held the top sales spot from 1989 to 1991.

The Ford F150 remained the best-selling vehicle overall.

The industry sold a total of 17.18 million vehicles last year, just above the 16.96 million sold in 1999 and below the record 17.4 million in 2000.

But profits are likely to suffer for automakers who "bought" some of the sales with costly incentive programs.

General Motors began the wave of zero- and low-interest financing offers following the Sept. 11 attacks as a way to ignite floundering sales. Ford and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG followed suit, as did Toyota on a more limited basis.

Passenger car sales slumped, but Ford said its F-series pickup trucks remained the best-selling vehicle in the United States for the 20th straight year.

-- From staff, wire reports