Business memo 11/26/01

Business counseling sessions available

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Malden and Perryville.

The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about one hour) are free. Call 335-3312 for appointment.

He will conduct sessions at the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce from 9-11 a.m. Dec. 11. Appointments are available by calling (573) 471-2498. He will hold sessions at the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning office in Perryville from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 13. Appointments are available by calling (573) 547-8357. He will conduct sessions at the Malden Chamber of Commerce from 9-11 a.m. Dec. 6. Appointments are available by calling (573) 276-4519.

Nominations sought for state industry of year

Nominations for the statewide Missouri Industry of the Year program are being accepted.

Nominations for the program, now in its fourth year, are being accepted by Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM).

AIM organized the program to showcase entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and economic success of Missouri industry.

The program include awards in three categories: employers of 50 or fewer Missouri-based employees, employers of 51 to 250 and employers with 251 or more.

The awards will be announced May 2 during a banquet at Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, Mo., sponsored by AIM, the Mid-Missouri Business Journal and the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Nominations for the awards must be received at AIM offices, 411 Jefferson St., P.O. Box 1709, Jefferson City, Mo., by 4:30 p.m. April 1.

More information and nomination forms are available by contacting Annette Wallace by e-mail at awallace@aimo.com.

St. Francis report wins publishing award

St. Francis Medical Center's 2000 Annual Report has received an award from The Business Word Inc., a publisher of business magazines in advertising and healthcare.

The report, produced by the Roberts Group of Waukesha, Wis., a full-service advertising agency, received a third-place award in the category for community hospitals.

Farm exports to Cuba called 'extraordinary'

A representative for one of the U.S. companies that signed deals last week to sell food to Cuba for the first time in four decades called them extraordinary and based on humanitarian reasons.

"We think that any exchange between two countries with limited relations such as Cuba and the United States, is positive," said Terry Harris, vice president of the rice marketing division for Riceland Foods Inc.

The Stuttgart, Ark.-based company was one of several American companies that signed food sales contracts with Cuba last week. In the first such deals in 40 years, several food companies, including Archer Daniels Midland Co., Farmland Industries Inc. of Kansas City and Cargill Inc., of Minneapolis have agreed to sell Cuba grains and soybeans. The move was prompted by the recent devastation caused by Hurricane

Coin surplus causes layoffs at U.S. Mint

A surplus of coins, perhaps compounded by Americans emptying their change jars in the softening economy, has prompted the U.S. Mint to begin layoffs.

Instead of 23 billion new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters next year, mint officials now believe they'll need only 15 billion.

The mint had already made too many coins during the past year.

The mint has begun laying off 357 workers nationwide, including major coin-production plants in Philadelphia and Denver, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

-- From staff, wire reports