| Show 4zv - 'Ivre op 1 1 p trt 'Coq emir &RP (t tv ts 0 for 4 ti '0444 4 - 1 !n11 ' BUSiness Desk: IIi t4k" SATURDAY March 7 1992 237-205- 0 116 IF I I vp I 1 11 0 art Gil C' tj) intr Expert Says Jtah Economy Sfrong moirennori - ::: mai By Christopher Smith Around the Nation NEW YORK — Air travelers got a reprieve from higher prices Friday when airlines in bankruptcy balked at an effort to impose a fare increase forcing healthier rivals to postpone the plan United Airlines which was pushing the 2 percent fare increase on domestic discount tickets said the price hike has now been set for March 14 Continental Airlines one of three big carriers flying under Chapter 11 protection had entered the delay into airline reservations computers apparently because Trans World Airlines and America West Airlines the other two carriers in bankruptcy would not raise prices El fixed-rat- e WASHINGTON — Thirty-yea- r mortgages averaged 885 percent this week up from 883 percent last week and the highest since last October according to a national survey released Friday by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp It was the highest rate since mortgages averaged 891 percent during the week ending Oct 25 Rates have been rising since they dropped to 823 percent during the week ending Jan 10 On adjustable-rate mortgages lenders were asking an average initial rate of 599 percent up from 593 percent last week The rates do not include add-o- n fees known as points one-ye- officials that Utah's overall economic growth should level off next year at about 3 percent While that's not as strong as he believes it should be Mr Robson foresees several positive developments in the years ahead: Job creation in the state during the 1990s will be an average of 22000 a year the highest in Utah history All sectors of the economy with the exception of the defense industry will prosper Defense contractors in Utah will lose 3000 to 6000 jobs annually for at least the next three years Housing starts will continue to climb although there will be little expansion of office space since Utah already has a surplus The largest capital investments in state history will occur during this decade THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ar Around the Area McGraw-Hil- l Inc reports residential construction contracts in Utah for January increased in value by 30 percent over last year The residential figures which include houses apartments motels and dormitories for January were nearly $465 million compared with $357 million the same month in 1991 Nonresidential construction value which includes commercial manufacturing recreational and other buildings dropped 38 percent in January to $229 million compared with $369 million in January 1991 Nonbuildmg construction value including streets and highways for January was $15 million compared with nearly $29 million in January 1991 Total value of construction in the state in January was $844 million up 12 percent compared with $755 million in ST GEORGE — Utab's economy currently is the strongest in the country but it's still not as healthy as it should be according to one of the state's top analysts R Thayne Robson director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research acknowledged Utah is leadind the nation in income growth andbem- ployment But that doesn't mean the pic- ture is perfect "The Utah economy is not as strong as it ought to be at the moment" Mr Robson said during the opening of the Governor's Conference on Economic Development Thursday night "The reason we look good now is becaus& everybody else in the nation looks so lousy not because we're headed in the right direction" he said Contrary to popular opinion Utah has been hurt by the national recession said Mr Robson who also serves as chairman of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bu- The biggest obstacle facing Utah's future economic growth is the deteriorating quality of its labor force Mr Robson said He claimed 25 percent of the students graduating from Utah high schools are "illiterate and dysfunctional" and worthless in today's job market "Used to be those kids got hired at the steel mill" Mr Robson grinned glancing at Geneva Steel President Robert Grow "But now the mill doesn't even want them" reau The growth rate in the state economy dropped from 46 percent to 23 percent in the past year he said Mr Robson told the gathering of 200 state and city government DOD The Baker Design Group a Salt Lake design and advertising agency has moved to 361 W 200 South and changed its name to The Baker Group to reflect expanded services The firm has added several staff members City-base- d ODD e PROVO — The Walton Group Inc a public relations agency is the first tenant in Provo Town Square which is undergoing renovation expected to be completed in October Walton Group's new address is 8 W Center St Provo full-servic- ODD PROVO — Fast Signs a sign lettering and banner franchise with 200 stores across the nation will open a third Utah location at 265 W 1230 North on Thursday Other Utah locations are in Salt Lake City and Murray O D D ST GEORGE — Wheeler Machinery Co has opened its new St George parts store at 611 N Bluff Wheeler Machinery based in Salt Lake City has been Utah's Caterpillar Equipment dealer for 40 years Wheeler also has facilities in SalMa Vernal and Ely Nev If Managers Let Them Says Head of Group By Christopher Smith THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ST GEORGE — American workers are capable of taking more control of business operations if managers would let them the head of a national industry group said Friday US workers need more authority in the workplace said National Association of Manufacturers President Jerry Jasinowski during a speech at the Governor's Conference on Economic Development "We don't train our workers enough and we don't empower them enough to do what they are capable of" said Mr Jasinowski of Washington DC "I don't buy this business that American workers are lazy and incompetent If properly trained and given the tools they will do a great job" As head of a coalition of some 12500 American firms Mr Jasinowski oversees an organization that represents 85 percent of US manufacturing jobs But many of the people in those jobs he said are not working American Airlines Ranks First TWA list in 'Quality' Ratings How tho In a corrections item in Wednesday's Salt Lake Tribune an outside information source was listed as the genesis of erroneous information about a winner of a business magazine award In fact the error was caused by The Tribune itself 1 - '- -- - 1 'N t I II i 1 - Mr Curtis At ) L:-- i ' - 1 ' i Mr Jones : -- - e ' ' '' A i 1 ii Mr Egan - ') I ' i i 1 Mr Halterman il ' - 4 11 I F 1 4: 26wk ' ' it 4 Mr Eller Mr Anderson Mr Olsen Ms Belden WinP - Trade - Valley Bank named Bruce Curtis commercial loan officer in the special credits department in Salt Lake City Issae H Jones is a new examining officer for First Security Corp in Salt Lake City Drew Egan joined the Utah League of Credit Unions as executive vice president Mari Herbert joined the league as communications coordinator The Larry H Miller Automotive Group Salt Lake City recognized Kenneth L Halterman as Lexus "Salesman of the Year" - Nu Skin International Provo named Richard Eller international logistics coordinator larksville Acme Boot Co Tenn presented L'raig --Addrr olmfloM son of Sandy with its regional sales award Salt Lake City advertising agency Dahlin Smith White Inc hired Jeff Olsen as art director and Heather H Belden as an assistant account executive Eddie P Mayne president and secretaxy-treasurof the Utah AFL-CIis the new chair of the Salt Lake City Airport Authority John IL Rich vice president of marketing and sales for IHC Health Plans Inc Salt Lake City is a new member of the advisory council for the state's Centers of Excellence Program er O Edwin L Erickson CPA is a new senior audit manager at Hansen Bradshaw & Malmrose Salt Lake City He was previously with Grant Thornton up to their capacity "Both management and labor unions don't do as much as they should to invest in trainirg and break down the structures by which workers can assume more responsibility" Mr Jasin- owski said in an interview In many factories supervisors are being replaced by worker teams and doing jobs better and cheaper he said And although labor unions stubborn to change may have hurt America's ability to compete globally in some areas the blame lies "more on management's back" "I put the responsibility on management I'm not into bashing unions although I don't think unions do their job either" Mr Jasinowski said It is a misconception that the United States is falling behind in foreign trade Mr Jasinowski said In 1987 the foreign trade deficit was $158 year it was down to $66 billion "If you take autos and oil out of the trade deficit we have a trade surplus today" he said 1 0 0 0 0 0 I q I Japanese Bicker Over Way to Cure Recession By Dave Higdon WICHITA Kan — American Airlines airline emerged as the nation's and Trans World Airlines placed last in the results of the Airline Quality first Rating created and compiled by the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University The institute developed the system in 1990 and released the first ratings — for January 1991 — in April The rating system was developed to give consumers and the industry a means of comparing the 10 largest domestic airlines said Brent Bowen organizer of the rating system and director of Aviation Management Research at the institute The rating system weighs 19 factors — ranging from average age of aircraft fleet to financial stability passenger complaints and accident record — to come up with a single number representing overall quality Each factor is assigned a value based on e its importance For example performance is assigned the highest value at 863 and the average cost of a seat is lowest top-rate- full-ye- THE ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS catirlinos ronlz d The Airline Quality Rating system devised at Wichita State University calculates 19 different factors in a formula to generate a simple numerical rating ar Mean WSU Airline scores ranking American 2 3 United USAir 4 5 6 Pan Northwest Am Continental America West TWA at 449 After each factor and its value are plugged into the formula out comes a number like the 0323 drawn by e TWA American or the 0435 of American ranked No 1 when the institute revealed its ratings for January 1991 and it stayed at the top all year Other airlines shifted places in the monthly ratings last year Southwest Airlines finished second after starting the year in third Delta and United swapped spots a couple of times during the year before they settled into the third- - and fourth-plac- e positions Delta operates a major Lub out of Salt Lake City International Airport It's rankings improved on baggage handling and suffered because of complaints about bumping and advertising Creating the rating system was a team effort at WSU Working with Bowen were Dean Headley assistant professor of marketing at WSU's W Frank Barton School of Business and Jacqueline Luedtke business manager for the institute Airlines' reaction depended in large part on where they placed John Hotard American's manager of corporate communications said his company was "gratified by the findings" But spokesman Ned Walker at eighth-plac- e Continental questioned the validity of the institute's work "We're concerned that the study may be flawed and may not reflect in the customer's actual experience" Walker said 323 220 1 Southwest Delta 193 168 115 050 7 -- 143 8 9 10 -- 266 325 435 --- Airline serves Wichita Airport top-rank- -- SOURCE: Wichita Eagle Wichita State University National Institute for Aviation last-plac- Research Knight-Ridd- er Graphic The airilne quality rating: Hew it was developed Factor Might seat-mll- e cost (average yield) Average Number of aircraft Average age of fleet Credit Financial stability Adverbsing Load factor Ticketingtboarding Customer service 449 454 585 594 652 682 618 708 720 Frequent flier awards 722 724 735 Fares 760 Refunds Other Mishandled °versales - bee 792 803 803 105 838 863 Pilot deviations Flight problems Number of accidents On-tim- e Citicor aural CoorP1 ?elides USXMa Limit Eaton illia RJR performance Graphic Knight-Ridd- Gap Malta Arable RAM PRESS TOKYO — Japanese politicians and bureaucrats are engaged in unusually divisive squabbling over how to pull the economy out of recession with much of the criticism directed att Bank of Japan Governor Yasushi Mem Most agree that eroding corporate profitability excessive inventories and sluggish cap- ' ital investment are signs of an unexpectedly severe slowdown Mieno's own bank released a quarterly survey Friday showing a plunge in business confidence The scandal-strickeTokyo Stock Exindex has Nikkei languished justt change's above the psychological barrier of 20000 points for almost two months But there is no consensus among policymakers on how to guide the economy Politicians goaded by business constituents are demanding a relaxation in monetary policy to stimulate the economy Mieno struggling to preserve the central bank's autonomy is resisting Elder lawmaker Shin Kanemaru in a harsh statement growled last week that the discountt rate should be cut even if it means firing Mien° After fumbling for months with various suggestions the ruling Liberal Democrats set up a special "project team for studying the economy's direction" which on Wednesday urged a discount-rat- e cut A cut in the discount rate — the interestt charged on loans to banks — would tend to encourage stock and capital investment helping to spur growth The bank last lowered the discount rate by 05 percentage point to 45i percent on Dec 30 the fourth cut since June One telltale sign of weakness in the economy came Friday from the Bank of Japan's quarterly report on business sentiment commonly called the "tankart" The bank's survey of 7447 companies showed that its index of business confidence fell to minus 5 from 13 in December the first negative reading since November 1987 The index represents the percentage of the companies who saw business conditions as "good" minus those who said they were "not ' &OIL : A MR ACMIn ACM idM ACMS ACM ACMM ADT s MLA( ALL Ivory and Arch Madsen former president of Bonneville International the parent company THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE of KSL Television The FDIC sued the former bank officials in 1990 alleging they were negligent in managing the institution from 1982 to 1988 that they let e loans the bank make too many West One Bancorp eventually took over Tracy Collins US District Court Judge David Sam last year granted a motion to dismiss the case He held the FDIC could not seek damages simply under the premise the officers were negligent The FDIC had to prove they were "grossly negligent" — that they acted far beyond how a normal reasonable perm would have acted But the appellate coti7t reversed the decision "One of the problems the FDIC saw with The US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in a Utah case that makes it easier for the FDIC to collect millions of dollars for taxpayers funding the cleanup of the savings and loan crisis In a recent ruling the Denver court gave the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp the to pursue a $7 million lawsuit against 17 former Tracy Collins Bank & Trast officers anci real-estat- go-ahe- directors ruling makes it much easier for the FDIC to sue former officers and directors of failed financial institutions Defendants in the lawsuit read like a who's who in Utah's business community They inclothier Mac Christensen clude automobile dealer Gus Pau los developer Ellis The appeals-cou- well-know- rt n la AM AM la AMEVI AMR ARCO( ARX ASA AbtLe Abztibi Ansel ?kernel: ACIU1011 ) AdERE Adobe Adob Adob AM D Alin Adeest Aegosi Ammi s Ali1Pb AACsall Abram Aieea AsrPrcl AirPrd Atrhl Alrgas Airleas MAP AlaP t AlaP AlaP MskAss AlOnylt Alberto Mb Lod Eie' 2:31 - Mile - Alith AlldPd MdSen ' 102 AMID AM ' AM ET Amir AM ET: - AMP! qT: 1112aa Amex Ambse Amcut Ant Bet lAtAAgc ABiTh ACapk AcapCN ACopin ACYan Ant'" AmEa AGai'l AspGvi ZIP good" ACT? A li EW AHemt AHomo Amigic AlotUr AmMun AMuT AQIF APree APrem AREA Despite the gloomy findings a bank officialI told reporters the report just confirmed the BOJ's stance: that its latest discount rate cutt still is taking effect Economists say results from December's rate cut can be expected to show up in the nextt three to six months Excessive lending due to extremely low interest rates are thought to be a key reason behind the phenomenal inflation of Japan's landI and stock prices in the late 1980s The centralI bank raised rates to counter those excesses and still worries they could reoccur lunitity ASB ASB AStup AtoSt AmSIP AT&T AWFte AmW tr Meet Amrseb - Ainteb Amery 'Ajtorta Amoco AMP Ampeo Amphot t Awe Auarrox Anadrit Aoog AIkdlC Judge Sam's ruling was that it is hard to define gross negligence" said Craig Jacobsen a Saltt Lake City lawyer representing the FDIC "Gross negligence can mean reckless conductt or the failure to exert even the slightest bit ofr care In some states it could mean the FDIC would have had to show they did it deliberate ArtheiM AnnThy Angle! Anthen Am ( Ma Apae h Apex ApPw A poi Mg Aqurn ArrflLfl 1 ArrAba Arç pafpL ixArkta t9 r AthiI t Armee t Arme The appeals court said the FDIC had only to show "simple negligence" Robert S Campbell Jr who represented several defendants said if the appeals courtt decision stands banks will not be able to attract strong business leaders to their boards "Every decision made can be second guessed Bank directors will have to vote their own pocketbook every time a business judgment needs to be made for the bank" 4 Aemc AnxW ArowE AnE Arira krvio Arno ALsrea kri As: but EsPc letio kmitiC I'rsts titnr tks 1 MO mwott i Ok i i I 1 i I Ii 4 tft ' I Abuse Court Ruling Could Help UtaIms Recover S&L Losses By Steven Oberbeck F Amex n INSIMOMMINIMIll on-tim- Correction 0 0 NY KNIGHT-RIDDE- New on the Block 0 0 0 US Workers Can Make Firms Competitive January 1991 The director of the state's Labor and Division of the Utah Industrial Commission has announced his resignation effective March 27 for a position in Las Vegas Nev John Medina who has headed the division for 13 years is leaving Utah to become manager of equal opportunity employment for Reynolds Electric and Engineering Mr Medina's replacement has not named U i akAr-O- V k0") ! 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