Washington DC

Legislators Lauded by Small-Biz Group

Kansas lawmakers are solid supporters of small business, according to a study by the Small business Survival Committee. The group's annual scorecard analyzed how U.S. legislators from each state voted on 12 issues key to small-business owners. Top issues included reducing taxes and regulations, capital gains tax relief and making healthcare more affordable. The study scored Kansas' Congressional group as number seven out of the 50 states, with its lawmakers voting pro-small business 88% of the time. (Idaho was tops, at 100%.) Missouri was ranked tied for 22nd, at 62%.

Livestock Producers Get Drought Aid

The USDA says it will make approximately $752 million available for a new measure, the Livestock Compensation Program, for cattle, sheep and buffalo producers in Kansas counties and other regions designated primary disaster areas due to drought in 2001 and 2002.

The move is "great news for Kansas livestock producers who are in real trouble because of this drought," said U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback. "Unlike many farmers who have been able to count on crop insurance, our livestock producers have been taking it on the chin for months."

He said this year's decreased exports and low prices in the market have exacerbated the drought's effect.

Jefferson City

Tax Credit for KC Revitalization

Missouri has approved nearly $2.8 million in state tax credits for 18 community-based organizations in the Kansas City region. Announced Sept. 27, the tax credits will be used to leverage funds for projects that help revitalize neighborhoods in the greater Kansas City area.

The Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), administered by Missouri's Depart-ment of Economic Development, provides partial tax credits to businesses for contributions to approved community improvement projects, enabling not-for-profit organizations to raise more private-sector funds. Statewide, more than 100 organizations were approved for $14.9 million in state tax credits.

Sprint to Sell Directory Biz

Sprint Corp. has agreed to sell its directory-publishing operations to R.H. Donnelley for $2.3 billion. Overland Park-based Sprint says the business, called Sprint Publishing & Advertising, encompasses 1,030 people, about 400 of them in the Kansas City area. Donnelley, based in Purchase, N.Y., plans to continue operating Sprint's Yellow Pages business locally and offer jobs to the Sprint employees. The cash sale, announced Sept. 22, is expected to be completed during early 2003.

Sprint is the nation's sixth-largest directory business, publishing more than 260 business and residential directories. Its Sprint Yellow Pages is distributed to more than 18 million customers in 18 states and accounted for annual sales of $560 million.

Meantime, Len Lauer, president of Sprint's Global Markets Group, was named president of Sprint PCS. He succeeds Charles Levine, who is retiring.

Aquila CEO resigns

Robert Green has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Aquila Inc. With the Oct. 1 resignation, Green turns the reigns of the troubled energy firm--Kansas City's largest public company, (based on 2001 revenues)--back to his older brother, Rick Green, Aquila's chairman. Formerly known as UtiliCorp United, Aquila is the parent of Missouri Public Service and other Midwest utilities.

The younger Green is leaving the company after a turbulent six months, during which Aquila has shuttered much of its energy-trading division, laid off approximately 1,000 KC-area employees and announced plans to return to its utility roots. Bob Green will continue with the company for 18 months and receive a $7.6 million severance.

Kauffman to Realign

The $2 billion Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, long a backbone of area entrepreneurism and philanthropy is overhauling its structure. Foundation leaders announced in early September that the changes, which will span two years, aren't intended to curb giving but to better focus Kauffman's grant-making processes.

American Italian Pasta Expands

American Italian Pasta Co. has added to its bushel of food brands. The Kansas City company announced Oct. 2 it had acquired the Martha Good and LaRosa pasta brands from ADM in the United States, and Lensi brand of pasta products from Pastificio Lensi of Vinci, Italy. The acquired brands add approximately $15 million in annual revenue to the firm; the acquisitions, both in cash, totaled $9.5 million. Founded in 1988, the company is the largest producer and marketer of dry pasta in North America. It operates four plants--in Missouri, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Italy--and plans to open its fifth, in Arizona, late this year.

New CEO for Interstate Bakery

Interstate Bakeries Corp. on Sept. 5 named James Elsesser as its chief executive officer. Elsesser, a seven-year board member, most recently was vice president and chief financial officer of Ralston Purina Co. Elsesser succeeds Interstate's Charles Sullivan as CEO.

One of Kansas City's few Fortune 500 companies, Interstate Bakeries is the largest wholesale bakery company in the United States, producing a range of household brands, including Wonder bread and Hostess and Dolly Madison products. Founded in 1928, it encompasses 34,000 employees, about 475 of them in Kansas City, including about 200 at its headquarters on Armour Blvd.

AirTran flying to town

While the future of Vanguard remains up in the air, Orlando-based AirTran plans to debut service to Kansas City International starting Oct. 8. A subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc., the airline will operate three daily nonstop flights to KC from its Atlanta hub, with connections to dozens of additional East Coast destinations, including Baltimore, Myrtle Beach and Miami. The low-cost airline, one of the few carriers to post a profit last year, has an average of 388 flights a day to 38 cities. Meantime, KCI said scheduled passenger boardings were down 12.4% through the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period in 2001. That compares with a drop of 11.6% nationwide.