BUSINESS MEMO

The Harrig Property Owners Association will meet Wednesday at VIP Industries on Highway 74.

Needs and concerns of Harrig merchants and how to upgrade the Harrig (Good Hope) area will be discussed.

A spokesman for the group said the association will hold a membership drive soon.

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The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in three areas this month.

The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. Appointments may be made by calling (314)-335-3312. The counseling sessions approximately one hour are free of charge.

He will conduct sessions at the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments may be made by calling (314)-547-8357. A session will be held at the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission office in Perryville Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments may be made by calling (314)-547-8357.

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MARION, Ill. Marion Pepsi Cola Co. has received two awards for quality assurance.

The firm received superior scores in quality control, plant evaluation and product samples quality for both 7UP and Dr. Pepper.

The firm bottles and distributes the products throughout the area, including Southeast Missouri.

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Commerce Bank's employee benefit equity fund has been recognized for its nationally ranked investment performance.

The fund was rated No. 1 in its marketplace and number No. 2 in the U.S. by PIPER, the Pension and Investment Performance Evaluation Report, which measures investment results of more than 300 stock funds nationally with total assets over $80 billion.

In announcing the results, Roger Tolliver, chief executive officer and president of Commerce Bank of Southeast Missouri, said: "We were delighted to provide our clients with these superior results in comparison to the market and the other national money managers during such a period of turmoil and uncertainty in the financial markets. We feel our investment process is one which brings our clients attractive investment results because we focus on the long term, using high-quality growth companies, and have low portfolio turnover."

For the three years ended Sept. 30, the fund provided a total return of 53.2 percent.

Commercial Bancshares Inc., is a multibank holding company with facilities in 140 cities, including Cape Girardeau.

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Gov. Jim Edgar has released nearly $40 million for construction projects at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

The money includes $25 million for a heating plant addition. The remainder will be used for a new biological sciences laboratory and research building.

Edgar said the 14,000-square-foot heating plant addition would allow SIU-C to burn more Illinois coal, "meaning an expanded market for Illinois coal and continued jobs for Southern Illinois coal miners."

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CHICAGO (AP) - Move over, Big Mac and McLean Deluxe. Burgers at McDonald's restaurants in the Netherlands are getting even leaner with the addition of a vegetarian concoction made of potatoes, peas, carrots, onion and spices.

"It's a test; it's only a test in five restaurants in the Netherlands," said Richard Starmann, a senior vice president at the company's headquarters in suburban Oak Brook. "Next month it will expand to all 84 restaurants in the Netherlands."

McDonald's Corp. has been criticized for offering few vegetarian choices. It has pointed to its array of salads and its fish sandwich for those who will not eat red meat.

About 12.4 million Americans describe themselves as vegetarians, according to a survey released earlier this year by the magazine Vegetarian Times, based in Oak Brook.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) - Monsanto's Board of Directors elected Robert B. Shapiro president and chief operating officer to replace Earle Harbison Jr., who is retiring.

Shapiro, 54, will oversee the company's agricultural and chemical groups, the NutraSweet Co., Monsanto's overseas operations, and corporate finance and public policy, the company said . Shapiro will take over Jan. 1.

Harbison, 64, was named chairman of the board's executive committee. In accordance with Monsanto's mandatory retirement policy, he will retire in August 1993, the company said.

Shapiro spent three years as vice president and general counsel at G.D. Searle, Monsanto's pharmaceutical firm based in Skokie, Ill., and eight years running NutraSweet Co., based in Deerfield, Ill., which markets a popular artificial sweetener.

For the past two years, Shapiro has headed Monsanto's agricultural group.

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Deere & Co. reported this week it earned a modest $4.2 million, or 5 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 1992, compared to an $81.5 million loss for the same period last year.

Robust performance by the company's credit, insurance and health-care divisions offset continued losses by its worldwide equipment operations.

For the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, Deere earned $37.4 million, or 49 cents per share, compared to a loss of $20.2 million, or 27 cents per share, in 1991.

For 1992 as a whole, the equipment operations lost $107.3 million, compared to a $131.5 million loss in 1991.

Deere, the world's largest builder of tractors and farm machinery, reported sales and revenue of $1.89 billion in the fourth quarter 1992, compared to $1.9 billion in 1991.

For the year, Deere sales totaled $6.96 billion, down from $7.05 billion in sales in 1991.