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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS 1 M MOTLEY FOOL, E-2 MECHARLES JAFFE, E-3. RHONDA ABRAMS, E-4 HUMBERTO CRUZ, E-5 JUNE 20, 1999 ill WEEKLY PLANNER, E-6 Who Are US West’s Suitors? And what plans do these upstarts have for your former Baby Bell? BY GUY BOULTON Compiled by Lisa Carricaburu Many Executives Find Vacation A Lot of Work If you hate the idea of having to work while on vacation, at least you have lots of company in your misery. In a survey of 5,000 executives conducted by the search firm Management Recruiters International, 82 per- cent said they mix business with picasre Of those who work on vacation, 28 percent said they stay in touch with the office by phone, and 13 pereent send work-related e-mail. Another 13 percent have cut their va- cations short because of work. — The Associated Press o Sweet Potato Truce Spencer Sweetpotato and the dancing California raisins have declared a truce: Spencerwill ditch the shades and saxophone. “I love Spencer,” said Sue Johnson-Langdon, executive di- rector of the N.C. Sweet Potato Com- mission. “I loved the saxophone image. Butit's not worth $100,000." That's what court costs would have run had the commission decided to take on the California Raisin Market- THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Two companies that didn’t exist a few years ago want to buy your local phone company You probably never heard of them. Mostpeoplehaven't. Oneis basedin Ber- muda. The other is an outgrowth of a railroad. Neither of them made moneylast year. Yet both want to buy US West Inc., a company with $12.4 billion in revenue last year, 16 million telephone lines to founded two years ago. The company, based in Bermuda, is building an undersea fiber-optic cable system. Thefirst leg of that system, which crosses the Atlan- tic, began operation in May 1998. A line to Japan, the second major leg, is scheduled to begin service next March. Last month, US West agreed to merge with Global Crossing in a deal valued at the time at $37 billion. Global Crossing also has struck a deal to buy Frontier ues Global Crossing at about $22 billion. “What people are buying in Global Crossing is a business plan,” Mitchell said munications giant, has a market valueof Just whatis going on here? The two companies are Global Crossing Ltd. and Qwest Communications International Inc. Only a few years ago, the idea of these twoupstarts trying to buy US West would have seemed preposterous. And that suggests the revolution — or at least the scramble — now taking place in the telecommunications industry. verybody is grabbing a newpartner,” said Rex Mitchell, an analyst with Banc of America Securities in San Francisco. Telecommunications companies are in a frenzy, set off partly by the projected growth from the Internet. The companies are striking deals almost monthly. AT&T Corp. is buying cable companies. Baby Bells are buying other Baby Bells. And now upstart long-distance compa- work.” Others might see it as combining a Bermuda company laying undersea cable and a phone company that operates in rities, for instance, expects Qwest’s revenue to increase nearly 70 percent this nies are vying to buy US West. Global Crossing, for instance, was But then, dealmakers now reign in telecommunications, and the industry doesn't lack for them. On Sunday, Qwest made a hostile offer to buy both US West and Frontier. Qwest, based in Denver,is bit more established than Global Crossing. It operates a fiber-optic network of more than 18,000 miles. Qwest is controlled by Philip Anschutz, whose family made its first fortune in oil. (Among its discover- ies was a large oil field in Summit County in the late 1970s.) In 1988, Anschutz bought Southern Pacific and used the railroads rights of 1998 Revenu Business. Long distance network. Data and Internet communications. Also in partnership to lay undersea cable. upto its name. Yetthe stock market val- was billed as creating ‘a seamless end- states such as Utah and Wyoming. Founded: 1988_ Global Crossing had revenue of $424.1 million last year. The company, in short, has a lot morefiber to lay beforeit lives residences and businesses and anestimated 25 million customers. to-end local-to-global broadband net- Headquarters: DENVER _ fraction of US West'ssize. Qwest, which had revenue of $2.2 billion last year, has a market value of about$26 billion. The proposed merger with US West InternationalInc. Both Global Crossing and Qwest are a distance companies. Corp., one of the nation’s largest long- Qwest commun C USWest Headquarters: DENVER Founded. 1984 1998 Revenue ‘$12.4Bil 1998 Net Loss: ‘$1. 5 BILLION By comparison, US West, a telecom- about $28billion. But both Global Crossing and Qwest are growingfast. Bancof America Secu- Business: Primarily local and cellular phoneservice in 14 Western and Midwestern states. Aiso providesInternet services and data year, to $3.7 billion. “Today's marketis looking for a highgrowth story,” said Mitchell of Banc of communicationsservice. America Securities. € Global CiWieing Global Crossing’s and Qwest’s high stock prices explain howthey can make credible bids for US West. Both companies proposeusing their stock to buy the company. And Qwest’s bid was hurt when its stock plummeted after making its hostile offer for US West and Frontier. “A high priced stock is good currency if you want to do a deal,” said David way to begin buildinga fiber-optic net- Burks, an analyst with J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L.LyonsIne. in Louisville, Ky. Both Global Crossing and Qwest have work. The company, formerly SP Telecom, went public in 1997. See WHO ARE, Page E-6 Global CrossingLtd. quarters:H. Founded: 1997_ 1998Revenue: $424.1 MILL 1998 INet Loss: $87.9 MILLION Business: Building an undersea fiber optic cable system Sources: Global CrossingLtd., Qwest CommunicationsInternational Inc US West Inc., Bloomberg Financial Markets Rhonda Hailes Maylett The Salt Lake Tribuny ing Board, she estimated. The North Carolina sweet potato promoters had used Spencer as its marketing mascot for two years. But then theraisin boardlast fall complained that he looked suspiciouslylike its raisins, which the board spent $100 million promoting in thelate 1980s. — The Associated Press Oo Climate’s Worth a Lot Whenit comesto rating a place's quality oflife, climate is the most importantfactor, according to a new PennState study. “We built statisti- cal model that associated the quality oflife with housing prices and wage rates,” said Kenneth Lusht, a Penn State professor. Climate was the factor with the biggest effect on these two things. People who live in areas with better climates are willing to pay morefor their houses, he said. In his model, high housing prices, low wage rates or a combination of the two are “signals” of a high quality of life, Lusht said. Tolive in a goodlocation, peoplearewilling to pay more and workforless. — Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa. Oo Office Politics Mention office politics, and many people will roll their eyes and think “Ugh.” Get usedto it, according to MichaelFrisch, a consultant with the humanresources firm Personnel De- cisions International. “Every office has office politics,” Frisch says. “It’s a fact of life — like the weather. And like the weather, it can be good or bad.” He suggests that taking part in office politics is a good opportunity to share ideas with co-workers and bosses, And nottaking part may makepeoplethink you don't have any opinions atall Photos by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune Thefacesof Price and Carbon County are changing as newretail signs beckon customersin the shadowof an abandonedrestaurant, at right. Above,the new Student Union Building at the College of Eastern Utah stands as a gleaming symbol of the area's future potential. Price Prepares for Day When King Coal’s Reign Is Over — The Associated Pre 0 Canadians for Hire It has been six monthssince Con- Officials know mining can’t fuel town forever and seek new business sources gress raised the cap to 115,000 from 65,000 on H-1Bvisas, which U.S. companies use mostly to hire foreign computer programmers and engineers. The Immigration and Natural ization Service has approved 108,386 of thevisas for specialty workers, and expects to hit the cap soon. Ci nies relying mostly on As ropefor skilled workers will then look to Canada, says Greg Osberg, president of Kaplan Professional, a NewYork provider of information. technology careerfairs, Under NAFTA, Canadians can easily get BY LESLEY MITCHELL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PRICE — Business names such as King Koal Theatre and Hard Hat Appliance & Television hint at Carbon County's largest city's dependence on coal Nearly everyoneinPricetraces their livelihood — or that of someonethey know — to one of the half-dozen mines that skirt this sparsely populated county of 21,000, “Welive at the whim of the commodity market," said Michelle Lea of Carbon County's Economic Develop ment Department It is a very precariousposition. Life in the area long has been this way: good when the mines are doing well; bad when theyare not But with the number of mining jobs declining and reserves of the most easily mined coal expectedto grad. ually dwindle in coming decades, community leaders areinvesting morein economic development in hopes of weaningtheareaoff its longtimedependenceon coal Just five years ago, Carbon County's mines — which pay workers an average of $50,000 annually — em ployed 1,400 people Today, employment stands at around 960. Unemployment hovers around 6percent. nearly doublethestate average Technologythat enables fewer workers to produce morecoal haseliminated jobs, as has increased compe tition from other countries that also producecoal. The fear is 30 to 40 years from now, Carbon County will be left with harder-to-mine coal that will translate into morejob losses Planningaheadis areally smart thing for this com said GraceJones, president of the Col lege of Eastern Utah in Price ‘This is an instance where makingtheseefforts now will makeabig differ ence For those wholosemining jobs, therearetwo options take a much lower paying job and remain in Carbon munityto do,” County, or move Therejust are not a lot of other things around here where people can have a half-decent job said Mike Dalpiaz, international ¢ uutive board m nber of Unit ed Mine Workers of America’s District FeatureFilms for Family, a producer of family-ori entedfilms, employs 280peoplein its customer-service center in Price, Rivers West Apparel employs 60 people in a Pricesewingfactory vacatedby Koretof California See PRICE, Page E-6 U.S. work visas, The Wall Street Journal Oo Literary Latte Wanta little something to read with that latte? Starbucks is happy to oblige. This week, the Seattle-based java giant introduces Joe, a magazine of arts and culture that will be avail ableonly at Starbucks locations. “Life is interesting. Discuss,” reads thein spired-by Linda Richman(of "Satur day Night Li Coffee Talk" skit of course) he line onthe cover of the premiere issue. Joesells for $3 andfeatures the likes of Pam Hous- ton, Douglas Coupland, Pagan Kenne- dy and a slew ofeditorial types from TimeIne., which put Joe together — Knight Ridder Newspapers y , “OPY If Necessity Is the Mother of Invention, Then Persistence Is Its Father BY MARY VANAC KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE Eric Mims of Akrondecided at age 5 that he wanted to be an inventor Mims wasridingin his father's white Plymouth Road Runner. Theelder Mims accelerated to get on the expressway leaving behind a cloudof exhaust Where does the black smoke go? Mims remembers asking his father Into theair," was the answer Concerned about the air, Mims re solved “to make a vehicle that was as much fun as that car but without the my life,” Mimssaid smoke,” hesaid Since then, the 29 )-year-old Mims has invented 45 product solar power, analternativeto fossil fuels like gasoline And after years of development work Mimsis on the verge of commercializing his first product — a “mul smokedetector that is designed to work during a power outage. Mims and his friend, Patrick Jordan, received Patent No. 5,883,577 on the solar recharging mechanism for the smoke detector on March16. “That was oneofthe proudest days of Like Mims, most inventors have alot ofideas for products. Bringing any prod uct to market takes several steps @ Defineone product. Do people need your product? If so, can you makea prof. it selling it? WProtect your product with legal means, suchas a patent or confidential iyandlicensing agreements. @ Develop a marketing plan. @ Findfinancing Although many inventors have ideas that merely sit on a shelf or in a patent book, Mims appears to have the perse: veranceand professional supportto get at least one of his products into the hands of consumers. The most important thing he has go ing for himis perseverance,” said Mitch Gingrich, partner in Akronlaw firm Malyuk, Tucker & Gingrich and Mims’ at torney Theprocess has been hard, Mimssaid It’s not a cakewalk. There are a lot of things you needto know, but you won't know themuntil youget there,” he said Every good product starts with an Seen PERSISTENCE, Page E-5 |
