BUSINESS MEMO

A new patent has been issued to Dr. Charles H. Cozean Jr. for an ultrasonic automated capsulorhexitome.

The U.S. patent -- number 5,269,787 -- was issued Dec. 14.

The new device makes it possible to more precisely place new style intraocular lenses in small incision cataract surgery.

Cozean, a Cape Girardeau ophthalmologist, has been performing cornea transplants since 1968.

He recently served as a guest faculty member at the 3M Stowe Ophthalmic Symposium in Stowe, Va., and discussed "Bifocal Intraocular Lens Implantation," "Excimer Laser" and "Stitch Cataract Surgery."

Nominations for Missouri Tourism Awards are due today.

The annual Missouri Division of Tourism awards, to be presented Feb. 2 at the Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism, recognize outstanding achievement in support of the state's travel and tourism industry.

The most significant award is the Missouri Travel and Tourism Hall of Fame Award, for individuals who have been active in tourism for many years and who have made substantial contributions to the industry.

Lyn Muzzy, former director of the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) and now a convention and tourism consultant to the CVB, is a Hall of Fame member. He was named to the Missouri Division of Tourism's Hall of Fame in 1991.

JEFFERSON CITY Missouri companies that promote their agricultural products in foreign markets have until Friday to apply for supplemental promotional funds through the Market Promotion Program (MPP) of the Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO). MIATCO is an association of 12 Midwestern states' departments of agriculture, including Missouri, which organizes cooperative efforts in international marketing.

Companies may be eligible for funds to cover advertising, production of promotional materials, trade shows and in-store merchandising. Funding is awarded on a priority basis to firms that meet MIATCO's eligibility requirements. As defined by the Small Business Administration, small-sized companies will be reimbursed 50 percent of promotional expenses and large-sized companies will receive a 33 percent reimbursement.

Those interested in applying should submit a completed application form along with a $200 non-refundable application fee payable to MIATCO. Firms must also include product labels for all products to be promoted using MPP funds.

Application forms are available from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, International Marketing Program, P.O. Box 630, Jefferson City, Mo., 65102.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. A Coral Gables investment company is buying Kroch's & Brentano's Inc., a Chicago-based chain of nine bookstores, for an undisclosed price.

Carl Kroch, 79, son of the bookstore company founder, said he expected Businesship International Inc. to continue his father's tradition of serving book buyers since 1907.

Nasir Ashemimry, chairman of the privately held Businesship, said the chain's management team will stay in place.

Businesship has holdings in information, education and distribution services.

CHICAGO Illinois' unemployment rate fell 1.9 percentage points to 5.9 percent for November, according to new unemployment figures.

The nation's unemployment rate also dropped, to 6.4 percent in November, the biggest one-month improvement in a decade.

The jobless rate was 6.8 percent in October and most analysts had expected little change in the November figure.

Among the nation's 11 major industrial states, only North Carolina, with 3.9 percent, reported a better unemployment rate than Illinois, labor officials said. The October rate was 7.8 percent.