MEMO

Solar Press Inc. has received an "Excellence in Business" award from the DuPage (Ill.) Area Association of Business & Industry.

Solar Press, headquartered in Naperville, Ill., was a winner in the large business category, selected from more than 25 DuPage area businesses.

The company specializes in unique printing and packaging for direct marketers worldwide and includes a facility at Perryville, which employs more than 300.

The Perryville operation was established in 1988 with 12 employees

Solar Press was founded in 1960 by Gwen and John Hudetz. Two of their children, Peter and Frank Hudetz, currently serve as the president and chairman and chief executive officer, respectively.

Frank Hudetz accepted the award, presented during the 1995 DuPage Business Achievement Awards Dinner.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce is still accepting photographs of Cape Girardeau in its postcard contest.

Entry deadline is April 14.

The cost of entering is $5 per print. Photographers, professional and amateurs, must submit negatives or slides if their photo is a winner. Photographers will receive photo credit on the postcard, but photos, negatives and slides will become the property of the chamber.

Postcards will be printed and made available for sale to the public, with profits to go to the chamber to further economic efforts.

Photos submitted must be recent color photos taken in Cape Girardeau.

Photo contact person is Linda L. Minner, chamber marketing and special projects director, 335-3312.

Harold Tilley, director of the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School; Pat Hagan of Dana Corp.; Randy Shaw, Southeast Missouri State University; and Gil Kennen, of Mineral Area Community College will be speakers for First Friday Coffee in April.

"Customized Training and the Vocational Connection" is the topic of the April 7 meeting, to be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri has received "Accreditation with Commendation" for a second time from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization, an accreditation group for surveying home care agencies.

The association received the "Accreditation With Commendation," the highest level of accreditation, three years ago.

Trans World Express is off to a good 1995 start.

February's 413 enplanements is up 17.4 percent from the 352 of February 1994.

Tours are now being scheduled at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. Tours of the terminal area include TWE screening, talking with an on-duty weather observer, visiting the tower (weather permitting) and video and "Career in Aviation" talk with the FAA. Tours are geared to the age of the group. Call 334-6230 for tour arrangements.

Air Evac Aviation tours are also available. To tour Air Evac, call 335-6631.

Delta Queen Steamboat Co. Inc. riverboats will make nine stops at Cape Girardeau this summer.

The Delta Queen will make two stops, the Mississippi Queen will dock four times and the American Queen will stop three times.

The Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen will dock here July 3 during the annual New Orleans to St. Louis riverboat race.

Other stops:

Delta Queen, Sept. 16.

Mississippi Queen, July 9; August 27 and 30.

American Queen, July 24; Sept. 5; Oct. 18.

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3/27

The Cape Girardeau School of Real Estate will conduct a 60-hour pre-license sales representative course starting next month.

Classes are scheduled at 418 Independence St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 22 and 23, April 29 and 30, May 6 and 7 and May 13 and 14, with the final test May 20 at Southeast Missouri State University.

Instructors include Thomas L. Meyer, Thomas M. Meyer, Mary Kistner, Steve Popp and Brenda Bunch.

Cost of the school is $195, and book fees are $50. Additional information is available by calling 334-2875.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. savings bonds will earn market-based interest rates -- with no guaranteed minimum yield -- from purchase through maturity beginning May 1.

Bonds held for five years or longer now earn a market-based interest rate, or a guaranteed minimum rate, whichever is higher. The guaranteed minimum currently is 4 percent.

But the Treasury Department is preparing to abandon the guaranteed minimum and announce two savings bond rates each May 1 and Nov. 1 so bondholders know in advance what their securities are earning.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate matched a 4-year low in February as businesses created nearly a third of a million new jobs. Wall Street soared to record levels, hailing the news as a sign the long economic recovery wasn't faltering.

The Labor Department said Friday the jobless rate dropped 0.3 percent to 5.4 percent last month, equaling December's rate that was the lowest since July 1990. It was the biggest one-month drop since last May.