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AROUND THE BLUEGRASS
- February '98 NORTHERN KENTUCKY Delta Air Lines has announced that it will begin daily, one-stop service to Munich, Germany from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The new service will commence May 15. Although Delta previously offered service to Munich from Cincinnati, the route was discontinued several years ago. Increasingly favorable market and economic conditions in the area led the airline to reinstate the service, said Dave Anderson, Delta's district director of civic and promotional affairs. Cincinnati and Munich are "Sister Cities," meaning that they have similar urban characteristics such as population size, economic conditions and community relations. Delta officials noted that due to the relationship between the cities, numerous business groups, educators, and students frequently travel between the two cities.
Rainbow Trucking, a privately-held long-haul trucking company headquartered in Louisville, has been acquired by Transit Group, Inc., an Atlanta-based holding company that specializes in acquiring and consolidating short- and long-haul trucking companies. Rainbow operates a fleet of 83 power units, 10 owner/operated tractors and 167 trailers. The company primarily serves customers in the plastics, textiles, electronics, paper and retail industries in the Southeastern and Southwestern regions of the country. The company's 1997 revenues were approximately $12.5 million. Transit Group serves customers nationwide with a fleet of more than 400 trucks and 1,000 trailers. Rainbow Trucking and two of its affiliates, TWT Inc. and Hawks Inc. will be combined with Transit Group's Capitol Warehouse unit in Louisville.
Community Trust Bancorp Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement with Banc One Corp. to acquire 17 Bank One branches in West Virginia. Concurrent with the agreement, Community Trust will sell the Bank One branches located in Madison, Philippi and Van to Premier Financial Bancorp, Inc. of Georgetown. Bank One will continue to operate banking centers in eight other West Virginia markets, including Charleston and Huntington. The 17 branches included in the agreement have deposits totaling approximately $565 million. (The three being sold to Premier have total deposits of approximately $152.6 million.) The purchase price to be paid by Community Trust will be a 9.7 percent premium on deposits as of the closing date plus approximately $4.5 million for fixed assets Both agreements are subject to the approval of federal and state regulatory agencies. Community Trust Bancorp Inc., formerly Pikeville National Bank, has assets of $1.6 billion and has 56 banking locations within Central and Eastern Kentucky,
CapStar Hotel Company, which recently attained ownership of the historic Seelbach Hotel from Medallion Hotels as part of a $150 million acquisition, has announced that it will spend approximately $3.2 million to upgrade the 13-story, 321-room hotel. The property has been converted to a Hilton franchise and renamed the Seelbach Hilton. Plans include replacing guest room soft goods, refurbishing corridors and enhancing business work stations in the Business Class rooms.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has awarded a contract to TRW Inc. to develop a traffic management system it designed for the Louisville-Southern Indiana area, which ranks as one of the top 50 congested areas in the nation. The initial award of $26 million represents funding to build and initiate operation of the first phase of the system by this fall, with interim operating capability as soon as May. The proposed system will increase traffic flow along the I-65 corridor by providing timely and accurate traffic information that will help public safety agencies better respond to freeway incidents and help motorists find alternate interstate routes during traffic congestion. Known as TRIMARC (Traffic Response and Incident Management Assisting to the River Cities), the system is being developed as part of the Federal Highway Administration's plans to deploy Intelligent Transportation Systems to the 75 largest metropolitan areas in the nation. TRW is responsible for construction, system integration, operation and maintenance of TRIMARC from design to final transfer to the Transportation Cabinet in 2007. Initially, 11 video surveillance cameras and 28 road sensor detector stations will be placed along approximately 10 miles of I-65 to determine real-time information such as speed, volume, and vehicle classification. The information will be fed to an incident management control center. The public will be advised of traffic incidents and conditions through 10 variable message signs, highway advisory radio and real-time web sites. TRW will also provide the information to the media, public transit and public safety agencies for their use. TRIMARC is expected to reduce the impacts associated with incidents by an average of 20 minutes per incident and possibly save motorists $7.1 million in terms of lost time and fuel during the first year.
Micro Computer Solutions has acquired Intersys Inc., a Nashville-based computer services company. The acquisition was the fourth such move for Louisville-based Micro Computer Solutions over a 10-month period of time. (The company bought Magnum Group Inc. in February, CompuPro Inc. in June, and April Group in October. All were Louisville companies.) The newest acquisition positions Micro Computer Solutions to continue a surge in growth that has taken the company's revenues from $8.6 million in 1996 to a projected $13 million for 1997. Micro Computer Solutions offers a wide array of technology services, ranging from assistance with hardware and software to setting up and operating Web pages. In addition to its Louisville office, the company is located in Lexington and Frankfort, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Evansville, Jeffersonville and Indianapolis, Indiana. The acquisition of Intersys gives the company offices in Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee.
Thomas Industries Inc.'s Lumec Lighting Division has announced the acquisition of ZED Inc., a manufacturer of decorative outdoor urban lighting headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Thomas Industries Inc. is headquartered in Louisville and has operations through the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia with approximately 3,000 employees. The company is recognized as one of the leaders in the design and manufacture of commercial, industrial and consumer lighting products.
Bluegrass Briefs FRANKFORT
GEORGETOWN
IRVINE
LOUISVILLE
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