MEMO

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

The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available May 25, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about one hour) are free. Call 335-3312 for an appointment.

He will conduct sessions at the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce May 24 from 9 a.m.-noon. Appointments are available by calling 471-2498. He will hold sessions at the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning office in Perryville May 26 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Appointments are available by calling 547-8357.

The Small Business Development Center represents a "Partnership for Economic Development" between Southeast Missouri State University, the U.S. Small Business Administration, local financial institutions, area utility companies and Southeast Missouri municipalities. The goal of the center is to stimulate diversity and growth in small-business by assisting new and existing businesses to become more productive and more profitable.

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. announced net sales of $211,198,000 for the year, ending April 1, 1994, up 25.8 percent over the $167.9 million sales of the previous year.

Net earnings for the year were $374,000, or 16 cents a share, compared to net earnings of $253,000 or 14 cents a share for fiscal 1993.

"This represents a high-water mark for D&K,' said J. Hord Armstrong III, chairman and chief executive officer of the firm. "The company's performance was achieved during extremely competitive conditions within our industry.

D&K was founded at Cairo, Ill., and is now headquartered at St. Louis. The firm is a full-service, regional wholesale distributor, supplying customers from facilities in Cairo, Ill., and Lexington, Ky.

"How to Survive Your Job Change" is the topic of a workshop to be held at the Riverside Regional Library, 204 S. Union St., in Jackson May 21.

The workshop will be conducted by Linda Culbreth, who has more than five years experience as a professional resume writer. Culbreth has also authored a book on the subject.

There is no charge for the workshop, which starts at 10 a.m.

PEORIA, Ill. -- Caterpillar Inc. has announced a joint venture with Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group of China to build hydraulic excavators for the Chinese market.

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of excavating equipment, is the majority partner in the enterprise, called Caterpillar Xuzhou (pronounced SHOE-zoe) Ltd. Both partners will contribute capital to the company. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed Tuesday.

It is Caterpillar's second joint-venture agreement in China, one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Mitch Robinson, director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, is visiting China this week to participate in a "sister city" trade relationship with Shaoxing.

Others in the Cape Girardeau delegation to Shaoxing are Melvin Kasten, city council and chamber of commerce representative; Mary Kasten, state representative; and Sheila Caskey, Southeast Missouri State University professor. Peter Choi, a Cape Girardeau businessman, will travel with the group as interpreter.

Dillard Department Stores is considering buying the Bergner's chain from Milwaukee-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co., according to a newspaper report.

The Wall Street Journal Thursday quoted William Dillard Sr., founder of the retail chain based in Little Rock, Ark., as saying he was considering buying the Bergner's chain. Bergner's has one store in Janesville, Wis., and 13 in Illinois.

Carson operates 59 stores in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota. Besides the Bergner's chain, it operates Boston Store and Carson Pirie Scott stores.

Dillard operates 229 department stores in 21 states, including a store at Paducah, Ky. The company has no stores in Wisconsin and only two in Illinois.