| OCR Text |
Show Page D-5 The Salt LakeTribune BUSINESS I CONSUMER CORNER/D-6 @ UTAH BRIEFS/D-6 i BUSINESS GLANCE/D.7 @ DILBERT/D.9 ON TIME Amtrak making fans in the Northwest/D-6 THURSDAY, JANUARY28, 1999 1998 Was Big Year for Utah Banks To Buy Competitors, Boost Income Market | Indicators Dow Industrials PateRs)reaaCe Zions Bancorpincreased market share acrossits operatingterritory in 1998. The company's stock price reflectedits strong performance. Price, High of $62.38 Zions posted 29.4% increase in earnings,andrival First Security joined in making acquisitions BY STEVEN OBERBECK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Zions Bancorporation continued to gobble up competitors across its eightstate operating territory in 1998, adding $5.8 billion in new deposits and 93 new branchesand officesto its already extensive operations. ee “If additional opportunities arise, we'll certainly look closely at them, but our pace of acquisitions maybe a little slower this year.” Dale Gibbons Zionsexecutive vice president == And shareholders of the Salt Lake Utah's Top Performers The Bloomberg Utah Index measuresthe stock performance "of thestate's major publicly held companies. | Stocks ended sharply lower, as | investors cashed in somerecent profits. Salt Lake Valley Hotels Log More Empty Rooms The average occupancy of hotels in the Salt Lake Valley fell to 68.9 percent in 1998, down from 75.2 percent in 1997 and 80.5 percent in 1996. The year-end figures from the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report show the sharpest decline in the South Valley area, where the average occupancy rate fell to 58.1 percent last year from 67.8 percent in 1997. Occupancyrates in downtown Salt Lake City averaged 71.2 percent last year comparedwith 75.2 percent in 1997. Hotels near the Salt Lake City In- ternational Airportalso wereaffected. Average occupancyratesfell to 70.3 percentlast year, down from 75.2 percent. Despite the drop in occupancy, av- erage room rates in the Salt Lake Valley increased to $84.96, up from an average of $82.11 last year. Statewide, average occupancy fell to 63.8 percent last year, down from 68percentin 1997 and 73.1 percent in 1996. Occupancy rates in Ogden and Ce- darCity alsofell. But St. George, Logan and Utah Countyrates rose. The sharpest increase was in Logan, where occupancyrates rose to 57.4 percent last year, up from 53.9 percent in 1997. Data Networks Honored Ten state information projects on Wednesday were given the 1999 Governor’s CIO Awards for Information and Technology Project Excellence. The winners, selected by thestate's chief informationofficer, exemplify best practices in designing and implementing information-technology sys- tems. The winners include: Anetwork for laptop computers used in law-enforcementvehicles. The City-based bank holding company can expect the parent companyofZionsFirst National Bank to continue on the mergers-and-acquisitionstrail this year. “If additional opportunities arise, we'll certainly look closely at them, but our pace of acquisitions may be a little slower this year,” said Dale Gibbons, Zions executive vice president and chief financialofficer. Hesaid Zionswill focusits efforts on bringing new acquisitions under the company’s operating umbrella. “We havea lot on our plate right now.” Forits 1998 fiscal year ended Dec. 31, Zions reported its earnings rose 29.4 percent to $184.5 million. Earnings per share reached $2.40, a 23 percent gain overthe sameperiod yearearlier. The company increased its market share in 1998, said Harris Simmons, Zionspresident and chief executive offi- cer. Internal growth and acquisitions increased the company’s earning assets by 78 percent during the year, while the company’s total shares outstanding increased by only 23 percent during the same period, he said. A securities analyst noticed another accomplishmentby Zions as well. “T was surprised at how strong their loan growth was during the year,” said Joseph Morford, of the California-based Van Kasper & Co. “Excluding their acquisitions, Zions’ loan growth increased 18.6 percent and their deposits were up 8.8 percent.” Zions was not the only Utah bank holding company to take advantageof acquisition opportunities last year. Rival First Security Corp. added $1.5 billion in assets, including 31 branches and three insuranceoffices in 1998. The branches were in Southern California dan, 23 1998 Source: Bloomberg N May 22 Sept. 25 Jan. 22 1999 The Salt Lake Tribune and New Mexico. Forits 1998fiscal year, First Security postedrecordnet incomeof $254.9 mil lion, up $39.6 million, or 18.4 percent from 1997. Earnings per share were $1.32 for 1998, up18 cents, or15.8 percent more thanthe previous year Moms, Others Can Cut Hours, Still Get Ahead Researchers say somecorporations see flexibility as key to managing work force THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Charlotte Hawthorne advanced her high-powered career with Eli Lilly and Co. by working fewer hours and spending more time with her family. Sound like a pipe dream? Researchers at Indiana's Purdue University and Montreal’s McGill University say that in many large North American corporations, that dream has become reality. In fact, some corporations predict that customized work arrangements — which help employees balance careers and family life — will be the key to managing the modern workforce. “I was able to keep my career on track,” said Hawthorne, who reduced herschedule with the drug company in 1993 whenshe had her first child. “It was a more relaxed environment and I wasn't feeling guilty about not spending enough time with mychildren.” Hawthorne had a second child, continued her work as an industrial engineer and won a promotion to a mana- gerial position before returning to full-time work. The universities performed a two-year study of 87 corporate professionals and managers who by choice workless than full time and have their wages reduced proportionately. The results showed that the scaled- Michael Conroy/The AssociatedPress Engineer Charlotte Hawthorne reduced her schedule while raising children,butstill won promotions,“It was more relaxed. . . and | wasn’t feeling guilty,” she says. Such workstories are increasingly common. dents were women starting families, while others were men seeking more time with their kids or greater com: munity involvement. The average age was about 39 back work weeks slowed employees’ careers down, but “Wehad a substantial number of cases where both didn’t stop them. About 35 percent had actually been promoted since they started workingless. The adjusted schedules made about 90 percent of the respondents happier with the way they balanced work and homelife, and only 10 percent of thoseinterviewed planned to return to full-time work within the next three years. the boss and the worker thought that performance had improved,” MacDermid said. “Certainly performance per unit time, but sometimes even overall performance Shelley MacDermid, director of the Purdue Center for Families and an associate professor of child devel- opment and family studies, said some of the respon- wasbetter. Theywereactually getting as much or more ‘Myview is that the way jobs got set up, the way careers got structured decades ago, was based on the old sort of society where men were theones whohad the professional and managerial jobs and they had wives who took care of the family work,” Leesaid. “Even though the traditional family structure has moreor less disappeared, therereally hasn't been any re-examination of how we think about professional done working fewer hours.” work and careers consistent with the changing makeupofthe workforce, workers. In addition, employees on nontraditional schedulesstill bumpupagainst systems wheresuccess is judged by the number of hours workersarein the ‘Theevolution of customized work arrangementsis according to Mary Dean Lee, associate professor of organizational behavior and human resource manage- mentat McGill University and director of the project Not every company offers flexibility for part-time office team was made up of West Jordan City, the Utah Department of Public Safety, the Utah Highway Patrol and other law-enforcement agencies. A case-management system developed by the Utah Labor Commission. WAproject that consolidated the former Department of Employment Security's mainframe computer with those run by the Division of Information Technology Services. The proj- ect, which could save $6 million a ear, was led by employees from the lepartment of Workforce Services, the Department of Administrative Services and the Division of Informa- tion Technology. BAproject that enables teachers to createvirtual field trips and other content onthe Internet. The project developed by a teamat the Utah Education Network ‘The state departments of insurance, corrections, health and commerce also were among those given awards. Business Park Is Planned Thanksgiving Point in Lehi plans to develop a business park on a 100-acre site next to its golf course, gardens and other facilities, according to Quantum Management Group, the project developer. Construction will begin in April Theproject will consist of two- and three-story buildings from 40,000to 200,000 square feet, Most of the buildings will be leased, although a few of the larger building sites will be sold. D & B Commercial Properties LLC will oversee marketing for the proj a ‘Thanksgiving Point is owned by Alan Ashton, co-founder of Wordperfect Corp, Drywall Workers Walk Off Job Site at Library on BYU’s Campus They complain about wages and working conditions. Employer defends practices BY JON LAMOREAUX SPECIALTO THE TRIBUNE PROVO — A dozen construction workers who have been hanging drywall in the new Harold B, Lee Library being built at Brigham Young University walked off the job Wednesday morning, saying their employer has ig nored their grievances on severalissues. Complaints by workers against Alpine Drywall and Floor Covering, based in Salt Lake City, range from broken promises of wage increases to unsafe working conditions, not offering insurancebenefits for new em ployeesand no pay for travel timeto and from the site. “These problems have been here since our job began back in April,” said Bruce Butler, general foreman for the site, who decided to stay but sympathized with the workers who walked “Alpine has flatly rejected any response to theis- ."' said Butler Ken Mayne, the organizer for the Rocky Mountain Everything came to a head Tuesday when the workers expressed their concerns to Alpine, which allegedly threatened to delay paying them their wages for 30 We didn’t likethat, so we decidedtoleavethesite," said Steven Kroschel, one of the 12 employees who walked off thejob site onthe university campus, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ‘Somebodyshould berepresenting the [workers] onthe site,” Kroschel said Regional Council of Carpenters in Salt Lake City, said on Wednesday the workers contacted him about a month ago andhe helped them define their grievances. But that is all he could do because Alpine does not hire union workers Mayne said he has already been working on finding other jobs for the disgruntled drywall hangers. “Workers are becoming brainwashed by union repre sentatives trying to sell themselves to them,” said Lea Russell, safety director for Alpine. Alpinesees it another way Our companyis a non-union organization,” said Dennis Niggeling, managing member of Alpine. He said expect the revolving door syndrome. fered in terms of wages and benefits when they home,” hiring union workers makes it hard to be competitive in today’s business climate Alpine says the workers knew what the company ofwere hired. The company’s policies areclearly outlinedat the beginning, said Niggeling. But the workersfeel they werenot beingtreated fairlybyAlpineso took their complaints to the Carpenters Union for advice. “We have grownto But workerslike Steve Webb, who decided to contin ue working, say the company should offer them insur ance whenthey “But I need the money and, as a student, it’s close to said Webb of why he decidedto stay Alpinesaid workersonly receive insurance benefits if theyarefull-time workers who have been employed by the companyfor more than 90 days “phat is standardin most places,” said Niggeling MergerLeadsto Closure of Provo-Based CD Maker; 155 Will Be Outof Job BY PHIL SAHM ‘THESALT LAKE TRIBUNE Compact-dise manufacturer Nimbus CD Internation al Inc, will close its Provo plant by July, leaving 155 workers looking for jobs, the companysaid Wednesday The closure follows the mergerof Technicolor, Nim bus’ parent company, with Carlton Communications Ple. of Great Britain last year, spokeswoman Lorri Haneysaid. Workat the Provo factory, where Nimbus makes au dio and read-only memory (ROM) products, will move to a plant in Camarillo, Calif., beginning in mid-March Haney said. Nimbus workers and the Provo economy can take the shock, said Steve Densley, Provo-Orem Chamber of Commercepresident Technicolor's Camarilloplant provides better prod: tion-technology companies that can absorb them," It is an issueof operational efficiency,’ Wecan better serve our customers fromasingle West Coast facility.” uct distribution and packaging capabilities than are availablein Provo, she said Workers learned of the closure Tuesday ‘They will receive a severance package andassistance in finding new jobs, Haney A spokeswoman in Provo on Wednesday declinedto comment about the closure. Wefee! sorry, but there are so darn many informa. Densley said Depending on their training, Nimbus’ manufacturing workers should beableto find jobsin the Provoarea, he said Starting hourly wages at Nimbus ranged from $6 for temporary workers to $15 for maintenancetechnicians according to the Utah Department of Workforce Ser vices, |
