STRICTLY BUSINESS: THIS CREDIT CARD IS GOING TO THE DOGS...AND CATS

First it was Elvis. Now credit cards have gone to the dogs.

MasterCard, the same credit card company that offers consumers a credit card with Elvis' picture on it, is now touting its new Purina MBNA MasterCard. The card is being introduced by Ralston Purina Pet Products of St. Louis.

People who sign up for the new card will receive a videotape on pet care and training, coupons worth up to $50 a year and monthly newsletter. Cardholders will also receive a discount catalog four times a year.

The new card also benefits the Purina Pets for People program, which helps elderly people adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters. Ralston Purina Co. founded the program in 1984.

MBNA Corp., a leading credit card company, issues the card for Ralston Purina.

Customers may select one of five standard pet designs, said Kerry Lyman, a representative of Purina. "Upon approval, the customer will receive that card and information for sending a pet photo for their second card."

The customer's card will include a 2-by-2-inch picture of the cardholder's pet as the primary image on his second card, an official Purina MBNA MasterCard.

Applications are available by calling 1-800-386-2722 and mentioning priority code IQCY.

People movements

More than 4,000 people moved from Missouri last year.

The upside to this statistic is that 4,433 people moved into the state.

Results of a newly released study, based on 207,598 household goods shipments in all 50 states by United Van Lines, reveals that 4,456 people moved from the state. That tabulates into 23 people lost by moves in 1995.

But the state is still ahead in more than 24,000 moves over the past three years. In 1993, Missouri lost 250 people, but in 1994 it gained 310, for a plus-37 during the three-year period.

That's better than some.

Illinois lost more than 2,500 people by moves in 1995. Of the more than 19,000 moves reported, 57.2 percent were outbound, translating into 10,954, compared to 8,198 moves into the state.

Kentucky gained last year, with 2,246 moves into the state and 2,208 moving out. Arkansas was one of the near-even states, with a loss of only six people in a total of 2,792 moves.

Overall, the survey showed a continuation of recent-year migration trends, with many western and southeastern states experiencing high inbound traffic while heavy outbound movement was recorded in California and a band of states stretching from the upper Midwest along the Great Lakes to New York and Connecticut.

California, leader in outbound moves in 1994 with 61 percent of all moves outbound, dropped to seventh in outbound moves in 1995, as its migration figures fell to 57 percent, involving more than 47,000 total moves.

Pennsylvania had the highest outbound percentages in 1995, with 61.8 percent of more than 14,000 total moves. Rounding out the top five states losing people in 1995 are New York, 59.4 percent; Rhode Island, 59.3 percent; Indiana, 58.7 percent and New Jersey, 57.4 percent.

The migration study revealed that Nevada had the highest inbound shipments for the third consecutive year in the contiguous states with 67.6 percent of more than 4,000 people moving into the state. Alaska, however, was the big gainer, with 68 percent of inbound moves. Alaska, however, had only 896 moves -- 611 inbound and 287 outbound.

Tennessee was sixth among gainers, with 54.7 percent of the 6,735 moves inbound. In between in inbound moves were Oregon, 64 percent; Arizona, 61.8 percent and Idaho, 61.5 percent.

The migration trends, as measured by the United survey, tend to mirror economic conditions in various regions, said Richard McClure, executive vice president at United.

Although the company does not maintain records on why individual customers are moving, said McClure. "There may be a year-to-year `blip' tied to the fortunes of a particular industry, but such motivating factors as regional job opportunities and retirement plans tend to produce consistent trends over longer periods of time."

United Van Lines, based in suburban St. Louis, has been conducting the annual survey since 1977. The company has 500 agents affiliated throughout the United States and 550 additional agents in 115 nations.

A decade of business

The Beussink, Hey, Martin & Roe, P.C. accounting firm has expanded from one office and six staff members to four offices and 21 staff members during the past decade.

The company at 351 Silver Springs Road is observing its 10th anniversary this year.

Beussink, Hey, Martin & Roe, P.C., was founded Feb. 1, 1986, with four partners and two staff members. The original staff of the firm included Debra Beussink Eudy, Everett E. Hey, Thomas D. Martin, Jerry W. Roe, all CPAs, and Veronica L. Kirk, office manager, and Eva Baughn, data processing manager.

The company, which provides a full range of accounting services that include auditing, income tax preparations, estate planning, payroll processing and consulting services, prepared 400 income tax returns during its first year. This year, it will prepare more than 2,000 tax returns.

The company opened at 1221 Kingsway in 1986 but moved to its current address in June 1987.

Other offices are at 1404 Old Cape Road in Jackson; 155 N. Highway 61 in Kelso, and at Cairo, Ill.

Want to build in Russia?

So you want to build in Russia.

Here's your chance.

Speaking of things we could never have dreamed of a decade ago, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation is inviting U.S. developers to bid in land auctions to be held in five Russian cities, and to build moderate-income residential housing on the site.

The program is partially funded by a $400 million loan from the World Bank.

Under the program, 1,420 acres of well-located, improved land in the cities of Barnaul, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Tver will be auctioned next month, to Russian and international developers, for construction of single-family detached houses, townhouses and mid-rise apartment buildings with associated commercial space.

The developer can sell the housing to Russian consumers on the open market. Financing of up to 70 percent will be available for all aspects of developments and construction and for consumer loans.

Interested? Phone or fax for additional information and/or bid packages. Send requests to Theodore Liebman, land development manager, Vepstroi, Tverskoy Bulvar, 6, 103009, Moscow, Russia. Telephone (7095) 290-3662, fax, (7095) 202-8574.

Good luck.