| OCR Text |
Show -m The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Sunday, December 24, 2000 MiniMoguls: gxzxsztact2 OliveGarden Builds S Comic Teaches + About Mone @ Continued from E-1 In 1997, he finally persuaded Keith Henry Brown to illustrate the comic books. .. “At first I said no, but he waS persistent,” Brown said. “Every timeIsawhim, he wouldask about doingthe books. He badgeredme— but in a good way.” Brown studied art in New York in the 1970s, worked for Marvel Comics for a couple years in the 1900s and is print andl graphic de-~ sign managerfor Churchill Downs race track. He left Marvel because “I got tired of doing other people’s characters. I wanted to do my own charact Ercwai arid. Marshall became acquainted in the early 1990s when both did some freelance writing She Action Rock ai Aticate ‘American magazine “When I found out what they were5 about — teaching kids —a anUaeyeraTee . gt eo acters, based on his words, and it was like an epiphany. I was really doing good helping kids learn about money, not about some guy in his underwear saving the world.” He started ontheillustrations in November 1998, working “wheneverI had a minute,at least 25 to 30 minutesa night.” Overall, he estimates,it took about50 hours per book, andit took about a year to complete all three. “T'm a rea’ advocate for multiculturalism,” Brown said. “People of color need to understand that what they do as kids can affect their future.” Also in 1998, Carole Cobb came aboard. Anassociate professor in the School of Education at Bellarmine University, she “added legitimacy to the books,”said Marshall, who had becomeherfinancial adviser in 1996. Cobbis a certified teacher with 22 years of experience with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. For the comic books,she created accompanyingstudentactivities, worksheets and teacher guides. “] madeit an educational tool,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to Strong of and “warmth” represent a Se ee leader in cost controls. Oi slumped badly ive Garden, which over the country,” Miller said. So far, Marshall said, Mini Moguls has sold about 1,900 units, enough to reach about 57,000 stu- USA TODAY pachires sets.) ae one Kentuck Mississippi, y. Virginia, Tennessee,Texas and Illinois. Today’s te a San Jessonstarts with great moments ome Wall Street's respect in recent years by, oe a everything.” a es nes ee sie Garden, which quantifies RISERVA DI FIZZANO,Italy — Culinary class starts bright and Gents, (One unit consists of 30 carly here at anithcenturyinn {"= Caries, “Ourbiggestorders—about 150 students — were in San Antonio,” Marshall said, but pending deals with several schools in Chicago have the potential to reach 5,000 more students. For now Mini Moguls is concentrating onits current products, but. remo in the Se “By next year, we hope tobea name around the oounhousehold try,”Cobb said. Among thet: DAD. oo Maria de Medici’s bs the banbon Chefinvents the bonbon. 1962. A.D. — Thefirst Olive Gar9°.ne? in Orlando,Fis. ‘Thesix jet-lagged students here 2° Adtchen managers from Olive... States. They haveleft the world of unlimited salad refills and all-you- Racaiise of marketing comes, the (nem IVES nettSE a is atill Tosiny money, Marshall said, but ecjectiers ie for theenterprise to start makinga Heoie ty the cad aJee Looking a couple of yearsdown the road, Marshall said Mini Moguls could generate about $5 milliona year in revenue andbe worth about $25 million. “We anticipate that in about five years this companycan be sold off, and then we canpunchoutwith anice sackofchange andbe free to work on something else,”hesaid. Mona Mo’ Money would be proud. “All business, large and small, is based on the same principles,” shetells fellow character Big Shirley. “Buylow,sell high and present it to the peneina waythat is appealing to them.” Italian Dining lveGarddominaies he $0 bllon| ia: EL tacmpes Bi.Number of Nuusbers are ani obese at Olve Garden [RR 100 from bathroom cleanli- Macaroni Grit sie to kitchen waste. Prep cooks unching computers know they PI £28 tiinutes to makesix-galions oases sauce and 49 minutes °@0<at breadsticks to travel to TUSCanY: where the chain that omDa = eeis searcheet Italian dining”ie category ing forits Italian roots. , Olive Garden, owned by Orlando-based Darden Restau- executives to Italy, schooling them in winemaking, olive oil production and thetraditions ofthe Italian kitchen. Over six days, they learn to match foods and wines, shop for produce in Florence’s central market and stuff themselves at lavish lunches and dinners at some of Tuscany’s finest restaurants. The hope, said Olive Garden president Brad Blum,is that the chain’s employees will bring back “the passion, warmth and sense of belonging” they encounter here. “We're basically idealizing Italian culture -- the sense of family, the food, the architecture.” Fuzzy concepts like “passion” Amarone - prices the chain once considered too steep for its # Olive Even before the aren was one ofthe world’s top five purveyors ofwine. Check sizes eo taae ato order wine. As a result, the com- pany’s new “Dine with Wine” campaign has becomea personal crusade for Blum. Thirty thousand Olive Garden 137 e $318 =AHives $170 employees have been through 300,000 hours of training on wine alone. Restaurant lobbies are be- halen Gra Bertucci’s Iimae oa0 be treated to Saucon tastings. Eee help tien cartes’ ing configured so waiting custom- USATODAY pick the proper wine for their meals. Industry watchers are impressed. “They're producing great naltsee ee ee — at A.G, Edwards. “This a good investment, andit’s helped them furthertheir lead. Nobody’s : evenclose.” At the inn at Riserva di Fizzano, the six kitchen managers are learning howto wine’s “bass notes” and identify getting asermon on thevital arecitontelteen wine and food in Italy. “The average Italian adult a cat aera Protit, Garden’s Italianization are itsnew _year,butthe country has a low al- watsfactio eae ne ehitall time iiighb: Shares shares hares in ica Dar- Joos andl big einbie onan aie# 2 oe ion yao to renovate ive ie Gar- Ne7 Oli pee ae t oeathe en dol vite Seuee ist in Tatsae ny with ‘i arigid ae we ence to price points and Bo eae to bottom-line seeRahs anwar Layee profit, yey One Gard te World's biggest Italian immer: slon, course. Sinesat ee ummee ite weeeaarea , ae historical data 458 SRMS419 coures pe of lasagna; fi nullsPecaaisMow ittukeé? orker hours to serve 905 culstont- checkoy Garden restaurants in the United tr oe aot ata cos Marshall is trying to make a fiveminute, Saturday-morning television cartoon based on the books;mao is thinking about having ane a aROM; ee ne Ca ee Ge e te Gale & and 6-year-olds how to count. Olive Garden Leads Wile t Italian Roots den, which also owns the Red Lob- ster chain, are trading near a record high. Olive Garden’s sales at restaurants open at least a year have climbed to $3.5 million from $2.4 million in 1994. Weekly customertraffic is up 25 percentfrom three years ago. Turnover among general managers is down 50 percent. Seven of the company’s 10 big- gest sales weeks have comesince the introduction of a new menu in June. The biggest change was the addition of seven dishes inspired by the Tuscan culinary school Olive Garden runs in partnership with an Italian winemaking family. rhe other major pieces of Olive dens by 2002, adding Roman col- ymns in some, a minimalist Milanese look in others and imported Italian tableware in all. At Blum’s insistence, Olive Garden stopped opening new restaurants from 1996 to 1999 to concentrate on operational performance, After 24 consecutive quarters ‘of growth, the chain has embarked on an expansion plan thatcalls for 15 to 20 new restaurants a year, built to resemble Tuscan farmhouses. Amongthe selections on Olive Garden’s expanded and upgraded winelist are a Chianti Classico. Riservafor $6.75 a glass, a $32 bottle of Pinot Grigio and a $110 drinks 150 to 180 bottles of wine a cosasee wt head ‘chef of Olive Gar: len’s developmental kitchen. “W. don’t want HiFi OR eee EA _winos or drunks. We wantto get them to enjoy their meals more. Wine does that.” If nothing else, a week in the Tuscan countryside is a huge morale boost for the sixfar-from-home kitchen managers. They are giddy from epic five-course, four-wine dinners that have featured delicacies such as wild boar, octopus pizza, truffles and sea bream encrusted in salt. They marvelat the chefs they’ve seen. And after intense instruction, the six know when the pasta is done “al dente” and when a BoJognese sauce has been properly “layered.” help students learn at an early age that they can controltheir finan- cial situation rather than let the system control them.” Thelast piece of the puzzle is RohenaMiller, president of Niche Marketing, a public-relations and marketing firm that specializes in image building and brand establishment. Herclients include Blue Chip Broadcasting, Active Transportation Co. and USA Track and Field, a sports association in Indianapolis. “Myroleis to get the word out,” said Miller, who has been a friend of Marshall’s for more than 20 Long distance included that works the same wherever you go. years. “I’m an entrepreneur, and to teach kids at an early age is very exciting.” Marshall “is the financial expert,” shesaid.“I'm the marketing expert, and Cobbis the educator. I makeit look good. Cobb makesit sound good. James just makesit good. We work well as a team. We bringa lotto the table.” Whatthey also brought to the Except maybethe North Pole. Ca'F4500 minutes for $34.99 amonth table was seed money — more than. $75,000 of their own. And a lot of hours and commitment. Marshall devotes about15 hours a weekto the Moguls, mostly in the evenings and on weekends. That’s in addition to the 65 hours a week he spends onhis regular job. “I’m doing it becauseI believe in financial planning.” The comic books are marketed through Mini Moguls Inc., which was incorporated in 1999. “The characters portray kids whoare small, they're young, and they want to be moguls,” Marshall said. “Hence, Mini Moguls.” Tosell the books, Marshall and company have hit the road, Funding Cuts Strain Canada’s Health System le sefforts to recruit radiologists from the United States and elsewhere have largely failed because ofthe relatively low pay, while U.S. recruiters are increasingly luring Alberta doctors with job offers that could as much as doubletheir salaries, he says. The doctors’ association in Alberta is calling for a 50 percentincrease to the province’s medical-services budget. including nationwide long distance, * Calling to anywherein the country from anywhere on our network with noextra charges. for a total of 1500 minutes. * Featurs 1250 Night & Weekend Minutes, all Pa that work the same whereveryou go. Save $100 with a mail-in rebate on * Internet access that gets you e-mail, instant messaging, news and more with the Sprint PCS Wireless Web. any two new Sprint PCS Phones™ * And, of course,crystal-clearcalls, or $30. on one, when you choose a This offeris available to cus. mers whoactivate by December31 with a one-yearSprint PCS Advantage Agreementand continuesfor as long as youre a Sprint PCS customer. Sprint PCS Free & Clear Plan TS Hearthe difference today. of $29.99 or more. iis =}Sprint. ‘THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Doctors across Canada in recent years havetakenjobactionto force governments to greatly increase health-ca.e spending. The latest standoff is in Alberta, where hundreds of rural doctors protested by closing their offices for three days earlier this month. “We're short about 30 radiologists provincewide,” says David Vickar, a radiologist in Alberta, adding, “We're seeing many more patients — we probably should be Get 250 Anytime Minutes plus Somewireless long-distance plans don't get you very far. But Sprint PCS real long distancelets youcall to anywherein the country from anywhere on our network — not just from a limited area.Sprint PCS hastheonlyall-digital, all-PCS nationwide network serving more than 300 major metropolitan areas, which is why you can enjoy all of these important advantages: Sprint PCS’ The clearalternative to cellular.” s To find out more or to order your phonewithfree delivery, visit www.sprintpes.com or call 1-800-480-4PCS. Or shop at oneofthe locations below: 2@SprintStore TeePCSComer LAYTON 052 West Hill Field Road #1800 ‘SALT LAKE CITY 6556 South State Street 4 Sprint PCS Express Center: Tolley Square Sprint PCS Kiosk: Hill Air Force Base, Bidg. 430 SONIC 525-0500 Downtown Sat ako City OREM AAFES Main Exchange Sprint PCS Business Sales: ‘569-4400 1587 South State Street 725-6500 Also available st: @Redloshack. The ‘Store At "azoncom. Cites ‘anmateare OftionMax % comeuss = phones Lo FindBeyer SPATE INKLEY'S |
