BUSINESS MEMO

Spartech Corp. has announced a monthlong share repurchase program.

Through March investors with 50 shares or less may sell their shares back to the company for $6.25 per share, without paying any brokerage commissions.

Spartech President and Chief Executive Officer Bradley B. Buechler said the company is "attempting to reduce the costs involved with administering shareholder accounts" through this offer. The company currently spends about $15 annually to administer each investor's account.

Half the company's 6,000 investors are eligible to participate in the program.

Spartech, headquartered in St. Louis, has two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Atlas-Alchem Plastics, One Atlas Drive, and The Resin Exchange, One Plastics Avenue, in the Nash Road Industrial Park. The company is the leading intermediate processor of thermoplastics in the United States. The company last week announced record sales, $79.3 million, and earnings, $3.1 million, for the first quarter of fiscal 1995.

A farm market outlook meeting will be held at Shawnee Community College near Ullin this month.

The University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service AJMPU unit and Consolidated Grain are sponsors for the March 9 meeting, to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the AJMPU Unit Office, Building C on the Shawnee campus.

Greg Beck and Rick Barbee from Consolidated Grain and Barge at Mound City, and Darrel Good, extension specialist in marketing for the cooperative extension, will be guest speakers. Topics will include grain price prospects and marketing for 1995 and the record crop of 1994, variables that will impact planting decisions and marketing strategies.

Reservations are necessary and are available by calling Consolidated Grain, 1-800-642-3996, or the AJMPU office, (618)-634-2467.

Two small businesses in Missouri have been designated "Blue Chip Enterprises."

Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative, sponsored by Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and "Nation's Business" magazine, named Stone Hill Winery at Hermann and Albers Manufacturing Co. Inc., a manufacturer of switchboards and panel boards for telecommunications to receive the awards.

More than 600 entries from around the country were considered in the BCEI award search.

Westvaco Corp., a major manufacturer of paper, packaging and specialty chemicals, reported record sales and improved earnings for the first quarter of 1995.

First quarter sales for the period ended Jan. 31 were $742 million, 28 percent more than the same period a year ago and a record for the quarter. Net income more than tripled during the quarter to $49 million, or 73 cents per share of common stock, compared to $15.8 million or 24 cents per shared during the same quarter in 1994.

Westvaco, headquartered in New York, has a fine paper products mill at Wickliffe, Ky.

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. has completed the previously announced acquisition of Worthen Banking Co., headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., with assets of $3.5 billion. Boatmen's exchanged 17.3 million shares of its common stock for Worthen.

In addition, Boatmen's has completed the acquisition of Salem, Ill., Community Bancorp Inc., with assets of about $80 million. Boatmen's exchanged 289,000 shares of common stock for Salem.

Boatmen's Bancshares, with assets of about $32 billion, is one of the 30 largest U.S. bank holding companies.

Mid-America Payment Exchange will be host for 12 Automated Clearing House Receivers Operations seminars for individuals from financial institutions who need to stay current on rules, regulations and operations procedures affecting the receipt of government and commercial electronic payments.

One seminar will be held at the Victorian Inn in Cape Girardeau March 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Additional information is available by calling (816)-474-5630.

KANSAS CITY -- H&R Block reported positive third quarter net earnings today, thanks to growth in its computer services subsidiary off-setting a substantial loss in its tax services area.

Block had net earnings of $8.1 million, or 8 cents per share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $12.6 million, or 12 cents per share, for the same period last year.

H&R Tax Services Inc. had a pretax loss for the most recent quarter of $28.8 million, an increase of 130.6 percent from a loss in the same period a year ago. Revenues were $96 million, a decline of 8.2 percent from last year.

But CompuServe Inc. had pretax third quarter earnings of $41.2 million, up 40.6 percent from the same period a year ago. Revenues increased to $154.2 million, up 35.5 percent from the same quarter last year.