$4 Million For Downtown
Senator Kit Bond brought welcome news to Kansas City, announcing that $4 million in federal funds will be used for downtown revitalization. The money will go toward redevelopment of the Grand Corridor and the renovation of the Old Courthouse. The money was secured by Bond from the 2002 Veterans and Housing and Urban Development and Post-Treasury spending bills.

The Grand Corridor will see $2.5 million for redevelopment, while $1.6 million will go to the Old Federal Courthouse on Grand. The money will be used to complete the design for the renovation of the historic building.

The Halls’ Christmas Gift
Children’s Mercy hospital received a full stocking this season as the Hall Family Foundation donated $30 million in gifts to the hospital. $24.75 million was given toward the hospital’s expansion, which is planned to cost $64 million as part of its “Destiny” program.

The program outlines the development of additional facilities at both the Hospital Hill and Children’s Mercy South locations. The remaining $5 million will be used to fund collaborative research programs.

This gift is the second time in a decade that the Hall Family Foundation has thrown in such generous financial support for the hospital. In 1993 the foundation donated $25 million to Children’s Mercy’s $68 million Centennial Campaign.

90 Jobs Through McKessons
McKesson Medical-Surgical has opened a new distribution facility in Kansas City which will eventually employ 90 workers. The facility, which opened the first of the year, is one of 58 distribution centers in the country. McKesson leased 125,000 square feet and plans to bring $8.25 million in capital investment.

The company, founded 50 years ago as Richmond Surgical Supply, provides a range of medical-surgical supplies, equipment and related services. McKesson Medical Surgical is headquartered in Richmond, Va. Nationwide, McKesson employs 4,000 and serves 85,000
customers.

MU and Stowers Team Up
The University of Missouri-Columbia and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the two organizations’ intent to collaborate on life-sciences research and education. The memorandum solidifies the agreement to conduct joint medical research programs, provide access to research data, apply for joint research grants, share facilities and research equipment, and develop and implement programs that foster transfer and commercialization of life-sciences and biomedical technology.

KCI Expands and Improves
The Kansas City International Airport is soon to add a fifth intermodal air freight facility on the airport’s grounds. A land lease agreement was recently approved with Haith & Company, which currently operates one of the four KCI facilities. Haith expects to break ground in 2002 and complete the 30,000-square-foot center next fall.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced the KCI has also improved its aviation system with software that allows controllers to spot flight-path conflicts up to 20 minutes in advance. Former path checks were done with paper and mental calculations. The prototype testing in Memphis, Tenn., and Indianapolis airspace saved the airlines approximately $1.5 million per month.

A.G. Edwards Cinches Its Belt
A.G. Edwards announced that its third-quarter earnings were $22.2 million, $35 million less than the same quarter last year. To reduce expenses, wage increases will be put on hold until the middle of next fiscal year. The company stated that it also plans to reduce non-branch salary expenses by 8 percent, or $21 million annually. Job reduction will be through voluntary retirement, attrition and additional work force reductions.

Easy Living In Missouri
Missouri remains the third least expensive state in which to live, with all cities reporting better than the national average. Only Arkansas and Tennessee rank more favorably.

CORRESPONDENT

Washington, D.C.
Funds for K.C.
U.S. Representative Karen McCarthy announced that metropolitan Kansas City will benefit from federal funds targeting critical needs in the community. The funding was approved with the passage of the Fiscal Year 2002 Appropriation Conference Report. $440,000 will help fund the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute in collaboration with the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Other initiatives in the appropriations measure are Operation Breakthrough—$250,000; Mid-America Regional Council—$250,000; Samuel U. Rogers Community Health Center—$250,000; UMKC Institute for Biomedical Research—$250,000; Lee’s Summit Education Foundation—$500,000 and Swope Park Health Center—$250,000.

Cutting Red Tape
The U.S. Senate passed a welcome Small Business Paperwork Relief Bill. In 1998 roughly 23 million U.S. small businesses spent 7 billion hours filling out federal paperwork. The cost associated with that paperwork burden is estimated at $229 billion annually and does not include state and local requirements. The relief bill provides regulatory assistance to the nation’s small business paperwork requirements.

Jefferson City
Employers Facing Tax Increase?
Fiscal responsibility will be the focus of debate over Missouri’s unemployment insurance trust fund in the 2002 legislative session, according to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. The Missouri Division of Employment Security recently released projections that Missouri’s Unemployment Insurance Fund will be bankrupt by 2003. The division has projected that a $170 million to $320 million employer tax increase will be necessary to maintain solvency of the fund.

This news follows the release of data that indicates unemployment benefits paid to claimants has jumped in the last two years more than $150 million, or about 30 percent, at a time of historically low unemployment. Of that increase, more than $1 million in benefits went to individuals fired for illegal drug use.