MEMO

ANNA, Ill. -- Union County Women in Business will host a Union County Business Exposition Feb. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event, which will showcase the variety of businesses in Union County, will be held at the Sunshine Inn Community Center in Anna.

The event, sponsored by First Cellular of Southern Illinois, is free. For additional information, contact Ramona Clark at (618)-833-2727.

I.V. Care, Inc., 63 Doctors' Park in Cape Girardeau, has been awarded accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

I.V. Care, with offices at Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff, serves Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois by providing all types of intravenous medications in the home, or other alternate site locations.

JCAHO works with its parent organizations -- American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, American College of Surgeons, American College of Physicians and American Dental Association -- to improve quality of health care.

Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 42 cents per share of common stock, an increase of 13.5 percent over its previously paid dividends of 37 cents a share. The dividend is payable April 1, to shareholders of record March 10, 1994.

Mercantile also declared a three-for-two stock split, in the form of a dividend, payable April 11 to shareholders of record March 10. The quarterly cash dividend after the split is 28 cents, which is equivalent to the 42 cents per share pay out prior to the split.

The Fastenal Company, a national distributor of threaded metal fasteners and related construction supplies, reports fourth quarter sales of $30.3 million -- a gain of 42 percent over sales of $21.4 million during the same period of 1992. Net earnings per share increased from 13 to 18 cents.

Fastenal opened 53 new stores in 1993 and now has a total of 253 stores in 35 states.

The local store is located at 2228 Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau.

Consumers have selected Chick-fil-A their favorite chicken chain for a second year in a row.

Chick-fil-A, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., scored highest among chicken chains for food quality, service and atmosphere.

The annual report was commissioned by "Restaurants & Institutions," a magazine publication for the U.S. food service industry.

Questionnaires were sent to 4,000 households across the U.S.

In order, the top chicken chains were Chick-fil-A, Popeye's, Church's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Winners in other categories of food were:

Hamburgers: Wendy's.

Steakhouse: Outback Steakhouse.

Family dining: Cracker Barrel.

Sandwiches: Subway.

Seafood: Red Lobster.

Sweets: Baskin-Robbins.

Mexican: Chi-Chi's.

Dinner House: Olive Garden.

Cafeteria/Buffet: Old Country Buffet.