| Show DOWJCHES 11 us at 6A Standard-Examin- Business Editor Tuesday May 1 8 1 999 er ‘Stair Wars’ may hit workplace However Top of Utah companies not expecting film’s impact to have much Force By BRYAN CORLISS SlanOard-cJiamn- er staff OGDEN - They’re calling it “Wookie Hooky” and the number of people playing it this week could be as epic as the new “Star Wars” movie itself Some 22 million Americans will skip work Wednesday to watch the premiere of “Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace” the chief executive of a national human resources consulting firm estimates “Historic” proclaimed John Challenger of Challenger Gray and Christmas in Chicago “It may be the biggest absenteeism in corporate history” Corporate officials in the Top of Utah however don’t think that absenteeism will be that big of a problem “The only employee as far as we know who has opening day tickets is our CEO and we don't expect him to be able to wrestle them away from his children” said Delonie Call vice president of administration at Vitrex in Ogden But nationwide the lost productivity will total in the hundreds of millions of dollars Challenger said His advice to business managers: Let The Force flow through you Your employees are going to be gone that day - just make sure you’re ready for it It may even be a chance for some staff bonding he said “We’ve heard stories of companies who are renting whole theaters out” so workers can watch the movie together And it’s not just Wednesday that should worry companies Challenger said He predicted that similar numbers of people will suddenly come down with “Skywalking Pneumonia” on Thursday and Friday That would mean some 66 million people will miss work this week just under 5 US West merger percent of the entire 1331 million-stron- g US work force At that rate it would mean some 11000 workers in the Top of Utah will take a day off “And that’s not including all the people who stood in line for tickets (last week)” he said If 5 percent of all working Americans take a day off it won’t bring the economy to a halt But Challenger predicted that technical workers - among the biggest “Star Wars” fans - especially will be likely to skip out “This could be a Y2K event for computer departments across the country” he said “One guy called it a ‘massive geek leak’ " Local technology company managers said they doubt the danger of this Darth Virus “I don’t see that happening with anybody here” said Terri Nelson operations manager for Northrup Grumman Data Systems at Hill Air Force Base “NoI body’s requested time off at this point ed hard don’t know anybody personally who has tickets” But those who took time off to stand in line for tickets last week said they definitely will skip work to see the show Wednesday “We’re going to shoot for the evening (shows) but we’ll take what we can get” said Dena Bushman of Ogden who waited with her brother Sean Poole of Roy The two of them said they’d been “Star Wars” fans since they saw the original in 1977 They’d been to the opening-nigh- t shows for each of the original three movies and for the released remastered editions “It’s a tradition in our family really" Poole said Poole who works at America First Credit Union cleared it with his boss before taking the day off to sit in the ticket line It was no problem he said “Actually another boss is in line ahead of me” You can reach reporter Bryan Corliss at 4 or bcorliss(S standard net more-recent- ly 625-424- Hew dispenser raises questions Phone company’s deal business leaves with risky investors scratching heads The Associated Press NEW YORK - Solomon Trujillo and Robert Annunziata have a common vision of uniting a conservative Baby Bell and a risky undersea cable network Unfortunately some of their investors are having trouble seeing it Trujillo chief executive of US West Inc and Annunziata chief executive of Global Crossing Ltd watched shares of both their companies fall Monday after announcing plans to combine their telecommunications companies in a complex $37 billion stock swap “Investors are still trying to sort the deal out" Robert Wilkes a telecom analyst with Brown Brothers Hamman & Co “And if you don’t understand something the first impulse is to sell” US West Inc a Baby Bell in West and Midwest states is hooking up with Global Crossing a Bermuda-base- d upstart that is building an undersea cable network to wire the continents for high-spee- d data and voice communications “It’s just not intuitively obvious” said Kevin Moore an analyst with BT Alex Brown Shares of US West fell $4 to $5825 on the New York Stock Exchange They stayed down throughout the day despite a report by financial news TV network CNBC that Qwest Communications International Inc the No 4 company may try to break up the deal with a counter bid for US West Qwest couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Shares of Global Crossing meanwhile dipped $143 34 to $5993 34 on the Nasdaq Stock Market 14 Associated Press CLEVELAND - TRW Corp plans to sell four automotive operations to help reduce debt The company which makes automobile airbags and defense and aerospace equipment and has operations in Utah said Monday it will sell TRW Engine Lucas Diesel Components Systems operations TRW Nel- son Stud Welding and the Lucas-Varit- y Wiring companies “Debt reduction is an immediate priority for TRW” said Jo- seph Gorman chairman and chief executive officer “Exiting these businesses will contribute significantly to the timely achievement of that goal" Net proceeds from the sale estimated to be $12 billion to $15 billion will be applied to the debt from TRW’s purchase of British auto parts maker Lucas-Varit- y PLC for $7 billion TRW fax information to at 625-429- 9 or (as a basic message without attachments) bwaiiacefa standard net News send them by deadline June 30 SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah businesses are being encouraged to apply for the 1999 Utah Best Practices Awards which honors excellence in three categories: exceeding customer expectations motivating and retaining employees and strategic leadership Sponsored by Arthur Anderson the law firm of Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless First Security and KSL Radio the award program is in its third year in Utah The application deadline is June 30 Winners will be honored at a Sept 29 symposium and will be considered for the international Best Practices Awards program plus a Fortune magazine feature Last year’s Utah winners were Amalgamated Sugar Co of Ogden for unleashing the power of technology Cameo Construction Inc and Mity Lite Inc for excellence in customer satisfaction and the Homestead Resort and Gentner Communications for employee motivation and retention Amalgamated Sugar subsequently won the 1998 International Best Practices Award in their category NATIONAL Mistrial declared in in the US Dolores Wheeler is the company’s president The list in the magazine’s April issue ranked Gossner Foods 121st based on revenues The company had revenues of $107 million in milk-produ- 1998 Gypsy Blinds & Rugs has moved from North Ogden to West Point The company sells custom window blinds and area rugs Its new phone number is 540-811- 2 Chevron Credit Bank in Mur fen-phe- case n - CANTON Texas A Texas woman who blames the maker n of diet drug for damaging her heart valves will try again in court A judge on Monday declared a mistrial after attorneys fen-phe- determined they couldn't seat an impartial jury to hear Debbie Stone Lovett’s case against American Home Products Inc and subsidiary Wyeth-AyerLaboratories Several prospective jurors in Van Zandt County said they had relatives who took and would feel uncomfortable hearing the case The Dallas Morning News reported Others the newspaper said said Lovett was responsible for her injuries because she continues to smoke a of cigarettes a day despite the st fen-phe- n half-pac- k known health risks Also named in Lovett’s suit are Economy Drug of Grand Saline and Stores where the prescriptions were Wal-Ma- rt filled Trial lawyers contend thousands of people suffered problems such as leaky heart valves and primary pulmonary rd nesses er Award application accessing TRW Engine Components Gossner Foods of Logan was the only company listed in Working Woman magazine’s list Busiof top 500 Women-Owne- d BusinessWatch reports urn and information about Top of Utah businesses Items for this column should be sent to BusinessWatch Business Editor Stamlard-Examin455 23rd St PO Box 951 Ogden JT 84402 You can also Utah 519-459- took a $853 million charge for buying LucasVarity items about individuals in Top of Utah companies are featured in the Business People column which runs every Sunday The deadline for submitting items for that column is Wednesday at 5 pm 5 BRIEF CASES long-distan- produces more than 300 million engine valves annually It has about 6000 employees and operates in 12 countries Lucas Diesel Systems employing 9200 people is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of diesel fuel injection systems serving the car van truck bus agricultural industrial and marine industries It supplies fuel injection systems to more than one-thiof Europe's diesel car and van market TRW Nelson Stud Welding which makes stud welding fasteners and equipment employs 250 people The Lucas Wiring businesses previously announced for sale March 29 are the leading supplier of electrical winng systems in the United Kingdom 625-424- More information is available 3 or by calling TRW tries to reduce debt with unit sales TTie 10S23J7 7 023 V 3' J hypertension an lung disease JM SUILEYIhe Aaoaated Pres ESMGVA1M: Designer Martha Davis examines the new Ortho Dialpak Tablet Dispenser that she helped design to resemble a make-u- p compact The first redesign in 20 years tor the nation's most widely recognized symbol of birth control trie packaging is now reliable estimated to save more than 1 4 million pounds of plastic per year wrien women reuse the compact each month ray recently presented a check of $16500 to the Olene Walker Trust Fund which helps provide a match for federal funds for which an application will be submitted to help build transitional housing for the Davis County Women’s Shelter in Kaysville The fund is used to construct rehabilitate or buy multi- - and single-famil- y housing throughout the state designed to make housing affordable for elderly disabled and other Utahns with special needs low-inco- The Defense Logistics Agency's National Stockpile Center based in Virginia is one of five recipients of the 1999 s Award for Installation Excellence The center is a field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency and has 1 1 stafTed depots and 66 unstaffed depots worldwide A facility is Clearfield is one of the 11 staffed depots Five installations or activities - one each from the Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force and DLA - are honored each year This year’s DLA recipient is the entire Defense National Stockpile Center organization Wardley Better Homes and Gardens which has headquarters in Murray recently became the first realty firm in Utah to conduct more than 1000 open houses on one weekend Kevin Cameron managing broker of the Ogden office reported that the office had 101 open houses in one day The office normally would conduct 40 to 50 open houses in a weekend Four registered patent attorneys have formed a law office in Salt Lake City - Moniss Bale-ma- n O’Brjant & Compagni PC Their office is at 5882 S 900 East Suite 300 IM! ifBtwygimeei ECONOMY often-fat- MARKETS NORTHWEST Grain Monday POCATmO - White wheel 2 47 (down 3) barley 3 55 (steady) 14 percent spnrtQ 3 28 (down 27) ordrivy wrraer 2 42 (down 9) OGDEN - WNt whoat 2 76 (steady) barley 3 80 (steady) 14 percent spnng 3 10 (down IQ 1 percent wmer 2 45 (down io) PORTLAND - White wheat 3 18 (down 5) X (steady) 14 percent spnng barley 88 4 10 (0wn 8) 1 1 percent winter 3 16 (down 10) CALDWELL White wheat cwt 3 92 (down 13) baney 4 X (steady) - Housing on a big slide The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Construction of new homes and apartments plummeted by 101 percent in April the biggest monthly decline in more than five years Builders started work last month on 157 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate the Commerce Department said today April marked the third straight month of declines in housing starts According to updated estimates however construction fell by just a tiny 006 percent in March better than the 13 percent estimate previously METALS PRICES Monday AHimmum 60 6 cents par London Metal Excn N V Merc spot Cooper 70 65 cents per Lead 48 cents per Zmc 53 22 cents deevered Gokl $274 10 voy oz NY Merc spot Sever $5 364 troy az NY Merc spot flask NY Mercury Si 50 00 per 78 Piefinun - $356 X troy OZ N Y Merc spot b b b b b INTEREST RATES Monday Inflation note 1 year Ml bond note 400 400 D4I Funds Munopei Ponds Federal - 609 603 303 488 630 Standard-Examine- r staff and wire services BUSINESS (N |
