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

The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available July 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about one hour) are free. Call (314)-335-3312 for appointment.

He will conduct sessions at the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce July 25, from 9 to 11 a.m. Appointments are available by calling (314)-471-2498. He will hold sessions at the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning office in Perryville July 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments are available by calling (314)-547-8357.

Sessions will be held July 24 at the Malden Chamber of Commerce office, from 9 to 11 a.m. Appointments are available by calling (314)-276-4519.

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.

Total construction activity in Missouri was down 25 percent in May, but is still up 2 percent for last year.

The F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill, an authority on the construction market, reported total construction for May at $448,700,000, down from the $601,285,000 for May 1994.

Nonresidential construction in the state during the month, which includes commercial, manufacturing and other buildings not designed for shelters was reported at $162,185,000, down 32 percent from the $239,486,000 figures of May a year ago.

Residential construction for the month was $185,916,000, down 29 percent from the $260,624,000 in May 1994.

Nonbuilding construction, which includes streets, highways, bridges, river and harbor developments, airports and a few other projects, was reported at $100,601,000 for May, 1995, about even with the $101,000,000 during the same month a year ago.

Total construction for the first five months was up 2 percent. Overall totals for January, February, March, April and May were $2.3 billion, compared to $2.2 billion a year ago. Nonresidential construction for the first quarter was reported at $972 million, up 23 percent from the $788 million for the same period a year ago; residential construction was reported at $882 million, down 19 percent from the $1 billion of 1994; and nonbuilding was reported at $457 million, 17 percent more than the $389 million of a year ago

Spartech Corp., a processor of thermoplastics, expects sales and earnings to climb by more than 14 percent during the second half of fiscal 1995.

Bradley B. Buechler, president and CEO of the St. Louis-based company, said this week that the company's markets continue to benefit from recent productivity improvements and cost containment efforts.

"We have also entered several new markets as a result of ongoing production transitions from wood, metal and glass-based products to recyclable thermoplastics," Buechler said.

Current analyst projections call for Spartech to have fiscal 1995 sales of about $350 million.

The company has 14 facilities nationwide, including two at Cape Girardeau -- Spartech Plastics, 2500 Spartech Drive, and Spartech Compounding on Nash Road.

AFLAC Inc., the parent company of KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, will sponsor the expansion of Egleston Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ga.

The Columbus-based insurance company will donate $3 million for renovations and expansion to the hospital earmarked for a cancer treatment center.

The first income tax extension deadline is Aug. 15.

The Internal Revenue Service reminds individuals who filed the extension tax Form 4868, for a four-month filing extension that the four months will be up in August.

Taxpayers still unable to finish returns by Aug. 15 may apply for an additional extension of up to two months by filling out Form 2688.

However, unlike the original extension, the IRS says the second extension isn't automatic -- you have to explain why extra time is needed. The IRS will let you know whether your second request is approved.

Additional information concerning a second extension is available by calling toll-free 1-800-TAX-FORM

The city of Tamms and Union County have been honored for economic development.

Tamms, which will be home of the new Super Max prison, received top prize in the "Governor's Home Town Award" program.

After Tamms had been selected for the new prison, volunteers helped raise funds to assist with the purchase of the land, utilities expansion and road improvements needed to seal the deal.

Tamms' award came in the category of economic development for cities with a population of less than 1,700.

Union County received the first-place award for economic development, population, 12,000 to 17,999, for its efforts in founding the Union County Economic Development Corp., which was instrumental in helping bring the super max prison to Tamms. The group is now working on other projects to bring in more jobs.

NEW YORK -- Visa and MasterCard plan to team up to jointly develop a safe way for consumers to pay for goods on the Internet using their credit cards, sources said.

The companies, which have been pursuing separate courses, decided to unite their efforts to create scrambling software that will allow consumers to make purchases on the global computer network without having to worry about hackers stealing their credit card numbers, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.