SIX NOMINATED FOR CHAMBER BOARD

A slate of six candidates have been nominated for election to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce board of directors for three-year terms starting in 1995.

Members nominated are: Jane Daume, vice president and director of marketing and sales, Kwik Kopy Printing; Lyle Davis, general manager, the Trane Co.; Dennis Marchi, manager Schnucks Food & Drugs; Craig Felzien, area manager of external affairs for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.; Kim Kurka McDowell, assistant to the president Concord Publishing House Inc.; and Jim Wente, administrator at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Board members whose terms expire Dec. 31 are Joe T. Buerkle, Dorothy Klein, R. J. McKinney, Harry E. Rediger, Glenn Reeves and chairman of the board Oliver J. Miller. Miller will remain as ex-officio on the board for one year.

Ballots were scheduled to be counted last weekend. New members will attend the annual chamber retreat set for Friday at the Lone Star Natatorium.

The Professional Secretaries International will meet Tuesday night at 7 at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

Dr. Michael Freeman, of Gastroenterology Associates of Southeast Missouri, will be guest speaker at the meeting.

Additional information is available by calling Donna Riley, 651-9279, or Betty Sargent, 651-2541.

Companies recognized

Wal-Mart Supercenter at Cape Girardeau and Wells' Dairy Inc., headquartered at Lemars, Iowa, were winners of the "Golden Cone Award" at the 1994 International Dairy Show, held at Minneapolis recently.

The award, for outstanding achievement in ice cream merchandising, was presented to Terry Godwin, Bob Berck and Brad Simpson of Wal-Mart and Dean Alsup of Wells' Dairy by the International Ice Cream Association.

Winners were determined on the basis of store displays and contests held from June 1 through Aug. 15.

Magna-Tel Inc. of Cape Girardeau has received the annual Community Service Award presented by Screen Printing & Graphic Imaging Association International.

Magna-Tel received the award for recognition of its "Tools for School 'n More" program, which provides art and office supplies to schools and community organizations. During the past year, the company donated an estimated $55,000 in funds and supplies. The program is designed to promote the importance of recycling and social responsibility to an audience ranging from preschool children to senior citizens.

Magna-Tel received the award at Screen Print '94 International, the group's 46th annual convention and exposition at St. Louis.

Dexter Memorial Hospital Auxiliary has been named "Auxiliary of the Year" in the small-hospital category, hospitals with 100 beds or less, by the Missouri Association of Hospital Auxiliaries.

The auxiliary was honored during the recent state association's 72nd annual convention, held at Tan-Tara-A Resort at Osage Beach.

From Sept. 1, 1993 to Aug. 31, 137 members of the hospital auxiliary committed more than 14,000 hours of service to the hospital and local community. The auxiliary donated more than $17,000 to the hospital during the year.

Bank merger agreement

Commerce Bancshares Inc. of Kansas City, and Union Bancshares Inc., parent company of Union National Bank of Wichita, Kan., have signed an agreement to merge.

"We are enthusiastic about our entry into the Wichita market and our continued expansion in Kansas," said David W. Kemper, president and chief executive officer of Commerce Bancshares. "After approval we will have 36 sites with assets of more than $1.3 billion in the state of Kansas." Commerce has banks in Kansas, Illinois and Missouri, including Cape Girardeau.

The consideration for the purchase of Union Bancshares will be $86.6 million in cash, which represents $242 for each Union share outstanding. A closing is expected by the end for the first quarter of 1995. Kemper said the cash transaction should result in minimal earnings per share dilution in 1995, which is estimated at less than 1 percent, and add to earnings per share in 1966 and beyond.

Earnings for Commerce for the first nine months of 1994, ended Sept. 30, were $71.8 million, with return on equity of 12.9 percent and return on assets of 1.23 percent. Earnings for Union for the same nine months were $4.6 million with return on equity of 14.4 percent and return on assets of 1.01 percent.

A free technical assistance forum will be held Dec. 3 in Cape Girardeau for women and minority individuals interested in starting or expanding a business.

The forum will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 214 at the Vocational-Technical School, 301 N. Clark and will be part of Missouri's Minority and Women Business Enhancement Project. The goal of the project is to increase participation of minority and women businesses in the Community Development Block Grant program.

Bill Mallory, project director for the St. Louis Minority Business Development Center, will discuss the business plan development process. City and state officials will review the procurement process and contracting opportunities.

The Small Business Administration will present information on its services, including loan, insurance and bonding programs. Boatmen's Bank and the University of Missouri Extension will discuss the services they provide to small businesses. Additional information is available by calling M.S. McKell & Associates Inc., 1-800-803-6874.

CHICAGO -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. has announced it will spinoff its ownership of the Allstate Corp. insurance subsidiary in a public offering to holders of Sears common stock.

Sears chairman and chief executive officer Edward A. Brennan, 60, also used the announcement of the spinoff to reveal his plans for retirement after the corporate realignment is accomplished.

The sale by Sears, which currently owns 80.1 percent of the Allstate Corp., would return the merchandising giant from a multi-industry corporation to a singular focus its core retail business.

Sears officials said the distribution of the 360 million Allstate shares, currently valued at about $9 billion, would be one of the largest spinoffs in U.S. business history.

CHICAGO -- Hartmarx Corp. has retained CS First Boston Corp. to consult on new strategies for the Kuppenheimer Manufacturing Co., its value-oriented menswear retailer.

Elbert O. Hand, chairman and chief executive officer of Hartmarx, said the move was part of the company's ongoing focus on its menswear operations.

Those lines include Tommy Hilfiger, Hickey-Freeman, Hart Schaffner & Marx, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

Kuppenheimer, based in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross, Ga., has 92 retail stores in 20 states.

The Chicago-based Hartmarx is the nation's largest manufacturer and marketer of men's tailored clothing.