BUSINESS MEMO

Coming up:

Wednesday

SBA counseling sessions, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (one-hour sessions), 335-3312.

July 31

Franklin Quest Seminar, a "TimeQuest" program, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office, 1267 Mount Auburn Road, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"Target Missouri" public meeting, Cape Girardeau, time and site to be announced.

'Target Missouri' sessions

"Target Missouri: Creating a Foundation for the 21st Century Economy" will be the subject of a series of public meetings held throughout the state this month.

The meetings will be part of a strategy to focus on the growth industries of the future, according to Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Joseph L. Driskill.

The Cape Girardeau meeting will be held July 31, at a site and time to be announced later.

DED plans a series of meetings to address the economic competitiveness issue. The first round will focus on development of the state's economic infrastructure, such as work force, educaiton, physical infrastructure and quality of life.

The second round of meetings, to be scheduled later this year, will feature meetings of representatives of the state's growth industries to discuss what they need to become more competitive.

Students attend MBW

Some 200 Missouri high school students had attended the 12th annual Missouri Business Week on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.

Divided into 12 teams, or "companies," the students played a computer simulation game that taught them to run their own manufacturing firms. Companies were advised by volunteer business professionals, representing several industries throughout the state.

The volunteers included real estate, banking, insurance, public utilities and manufacturing representatives.

Students learned about management, marketing and developing a strategic business plan.

"The students adapt easily to being employees of newly formed companies," said Vivian Benedict, MBW director. "From learning to make management decisions to producing 30-second television commercials, they experience real hands-on business training."

The week also included "The Forte" workshop, which used personality profiles to show students their strong points and illustrated how they should interact with one another.

Missouri Business Week is sponsored by the Center for Education and Private Enterprise of the Missouri Association of Realtors. The university's College of Business and Public Administration co-sponsored the special week, along with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. The program was endorsed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

'Shutdown Week'

A special "shutdown week" was held recently at Dana Corp.'s Cape Girardeau facility to complete some necessary maintenance work.

The cafeteria floor was resurfaced, several floors in the plant were resurfaced, equipment in the chip house was repainted, furnaces were rebuilt and inventory was taken.

Some employees worked during the shutdown. Many employees did not work during the "shutdown," but used vacation and holiday time to still receive their normal pay.

New Drury Inn

A new Drury Inn & Suites hotel opened recently at Interstate 74 and Prospect Avenue in Champaign, Ill.

The 113-room hotel is owned and operated by Drury Inns Inc., headquartered at St. Louis, and is the first Drury Inn development in the Champaign area.

Drury Inns Inc., a family-owned and operated hotel chain, operates more than 85 Drury Inn, Pear Tree Inn by Drury, Thrifty Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in 14 states.

Computer courses

Manpower Employment Services, 1909 Beaver Creek Drive, is offering a new computer training course, covering Internet basics.

The course will familiarize the trainee with the basic terminology of the Internet and how to get "on-line."

It will also provide information on how to search for information, surf the Internet, work with mail and access news.

Additional information is available by contacting Manpower, 339-8600.

Record earnings

Commerce Bancshares Inc. announced record earnings of $32.3 million for the quarter, ending June 30, an increase of 12 percent from the $28.9 million during the same period in 1996. Per-share earnings were 86 cents, up 15 percent from the 75 cents of last year. The return on assets for the quarter was 1.36 percent, and the return on equity was 14.1 percent.

Commerce Bancshares, with assets of $9.8 billion, is a registered bank holding company operating at 260 sites in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The company has total loans of $5.8 billion and total deposits of $8.4 billion.

Tops billionaire list

Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's top billionaires for the third straight year, and he's pulling away from the pack as his software empire rides the stock market's record-setting wave.

Gates' net worth doubled to $36.4 billion over the past year. That put him nearly $9 billion ahead of the second-place Walton family, the $27.6 billion heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, Forbes said in its 11th annual rankings, released Sunday.

Forbes limited the list of billionaires this year to the top 200 because the rapid rise of the global economy and stock markets has produced nearly 500 billionaires worldwide. There were 447 on last year's list and just 96 when the magazine started the rankings 10 years ago.

A $3 billion deal

DuPont Co. will buy two major businesses of London-based Imperial Chemical Industries in a $3 billion deal that will greatly expand the global reach of the U.S.-based chemical giant.

Under the deal, DuPont will further dominate worldwide production of titanium dioxide, a white pigment used to provide color and brightness to paper, paint and plastics.

DuPont's market share of titanium dioxide will increase from 25 percent to 35 percent after its purchase from ICI, and it will gain its first titanium dioxide manufacturing foothold in Europe.

DuPont also will buy ICI's polyester films, resins and intermediate businesses, boosting its market share in that area from 10 percent to 15 percent.