The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 47

i Classified vi Need a pal? Peruse Livestock 2E Harvey I our 403 pet ads, 7-18E THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2000 tttaDNii SM8 SKALDS MS the largest MCO, has announced that it may drop out of the program because of mounting financial losses. Access MedPlus switched to a new computerized claims-processing system last Dec. 17, but the new system failed and the company has been unable to pay claims. One of the principal rea- Please see ACCESS, 3E correct problems in paying claims, which have occurred since December when a new computer system was installed. Pearre also will have to approve any flow of money out of the company.

"We regret that the state deems this action necessary, However, we are confident that the supervision can be resolved in a short period of By DOREN CHEEK and BILL SNYDER Staff Writers The second-largest Ten-nCare plan, Access MedPlus, has been placed under involuntary state supervision until it can pay doctors, hospitals and other health-care providers on time, state officials said yesterday. State officials said they would take "appropriate porters at a late afternoon news conference. The health plan, which covers 325,000 TennCare en-rollees, will continue to be operated by its owner, Nashville-based Tennessee Coordinated Care Network. But the state will sgnd in a three-person team, headed by former counsel to the governor Courtney Pearre, to monitor efforts by the company to time," Access MedPlus spokeswoman Andrea Thaler said in a statement The company "reassures its members, health-care providers, legislators and others that it remains financially strong and able to meet its obligations," she said. Access MedPlus is one of eight private managed-care organizations hired to process and pay claims under the $4.4 billion TennCare program, which provides health benefits to 1.3 million low-income, disabled and previously uninsured Tennesseans.

Last spring, the state took over the third-largest MCO, Xantus HealthPlan of Tennessee, after it accumulated millions of dollars in debts and unpaid claims. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which operates steps" to ensure health-care providers in its network are paid. "What we are saying to providers is if for some reason Access is unable to pay their claims through all this, the state will assure that the providers get paid," Finance and Administration Commissioner John Ferguson told re- Microso ft Opry Mills drains labor pool asks judge for dismissal Mall says jobs filling up Nashville metropolitan area. So far, so good. Retailers and eateries report they are close to fully staffed for today's official grand opening.

But with the arrival of Opry Mills, area employers say the shallowest labor pool in Middle Tennessee history is being drawn down to mere puddles. "The labor market is brutal," said Kathy Roadarmel, vice president of human resources for Opryland Hotel, which lost a handful of its Please see WORK, 3E Breakup plan called'radical' shaped like a toucan and working the crowd in Jillian's hibachi grilL "I wanted to be part of this," said Savage, one of more than 300 workers hired by Jillian's. "They're cool people." Opry Mills estimates its nearly 200 tenants will need more than 3,500 employees equivalent to more than one-fifth of the entire unemployed work force in the By MICHAEL DAVIS Staff Writer Dave Savage wasn't even looking for a new job when his new job found him. Savage "just wanted to see what was going to be at the mall" when he visited Opry Mills' job fair last month, where he met officials with flashy Jillian's restaurant. Now the Michigan native is flipping rice into guests' mouths, wearing a hat RANDY PILAND STAFF Jillian's bartender Carter Wilson tops off a soda glass for a customer at the restaurant's pre-opening VIP party.

Mills CEO hypes mall's fun factor SEATTLE (AP) Microsoft Corp. asked a federal judge yesterday to dismiss the Justice Department's "adventurous proposal" to break it into two parts, saying such a punishment would be too severe. In its legal response to the government's proposed remedy, Microsoft said there was no basis for a breakup and that the issues involved do not warrant "such a radical step." "The record of this case simply does not support the government's efforts to dismember Microsoft and reshape the software industry in a speculative effort to weaken Microsoft's market position," company attorneys told U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jacksoa Microsoft also maintained that no company that attained its monopoly power through growth rather than acquiring its rivals has ever been broken up. Last month, the Justice Department and 17 states submitted a plan to break Microsoft into two companies one that would make operating systems and one that would sell software.

The plan was submitted to Jackson, who on April 3 found Microsoft to be a monopoly with business practices that violated state and federal antitrust laws. Microsoft said if Jackson was not willing to dismiss the government's proposal outright, the company would be willing to take actions addressing some of the business practices that the government found objectionable. It said it was willing to bide the computer screen desktop icon in its Windows operating system that leads users to its Web browser, and would allow computer makers to feature any software, including that of Microsoft's competitors, on the Windows desktop. However, Microsoft stopped short of offering to remove Internet Explorer entirely from Windows, saying it wanted to retain the right to use it in various other functions. Microsoft also said it would be willing to offer equal contracts to computer makers, regardless of whether they agreed to support competitors' software.

"I really believe people will come hundreds of miles to see this thing." Laurence C. Siegel, Mills Corp. CEO V'- i -a is, fa I Z-, I By STACEY HARTMANN Staff Writer As he walks the corridors of Opry Mills on the eve of its grand opening, Laurence C. Siegel, chairman and chief executive officer of Mills has a questioa "You having a good time?" he asks, testing his fun gauge on employees, store managers and visiting dignitaries. Very much the mayor of a small retail city, Siegel is picking up the vibe of his Arlington, company's latest project He's walking the pathways of his new development, and describing to a reporter the retail science he believes his management team is creating.

But mostly, he's emphasizing the fun stuff. With good reason. Siegel knows Opry Mills has to deliver more than good shopping. It has to deliver entertainment, the kind that attracts people from far outside the Mid-state. And he believes it will.

"This will become the mall for Tennessee," he said. "This will become the mall for mid-America right now. I really believe people will come hundreds of miles to see this thing." He notes a multimedia show in the entertainment court, added just months ago. He describes a 40-foot-talL $500,000 jukebox planned later for the court near Regal cinemas and Ealdn Smith, namesake merge Jillian's. And he points out re-cendy announced plans for daily live entertainment sponsored by Opry Mills partner and Opryland Hotel owner Gaylord Entertainment Co.

Even those who can't imagine why Gaylord Entertainment closed the Opryland theme park to make way for a mall will find Opry Mills to be a "happier amenity," Siegel said. "What we replaced it with is a 12-month activity," Siegel said. 'As you go through this mall, you'll see the color and stores and the activities and the participatory nature of what we've done here is very theme-parklike anyway." Siegel admits the Opry Mills opening today is a much different project than originally planned. And most of the change came in the name of entertainment Examples are such tenants as Gibson Bluegrass Showcase and Apple Barn, Please see CEO, 3E BILL STEBER STAFF Mills Corp. CEO Laurence C.

Siegel says he passed on trying the ice-climbing wall at Opry Mills' Sun and Ski Sports. He's tried the rock-climbing side. Gaylord spices shareholder meeting with logo launch By RICHARD LAWSON Stuff Writer Eakin Smith Real Estate is putting a Smith back into the firm's ownership in a merger announced yesterday. The company, co-founded by Tom Smith 13 years ago, has merged with Smith's 2-year old retail and residential firm Smith, Crowe, Wilson to create Mission Property Co. The combined unit will become one of the largest commercial brokerage and property management firms in the area "It spreads our base as a local company," Terry Smith, managing broker of the new firm, said of the merger.

"It clearly puts us into a retail market" Other than Russ Morris, who does retail development and brokerage, Eakin Smith didn't have retail business to blend with its office and industrial business. Smith, Crowe, Wilson is developing the Market Place Shopping Center in Franklin, for example. The firm has ties to global real estate firm Cushman Wakefield. "It's important to be multidimensional in the local market to connect with national tenants," said Terry Smith, no relation to Tom Smith. Tom Smith, who formed Eakin Smith with developer John Eakin, left the firm in 1996 after selling the company's real estate to Raleigh, N.C-based Highwoods Properties for $100 million.

In 1999, Eakin Smith employees bought the firm from Highwoods. Smith formed Smith Crowe Property in 1998 with residential developer Nelson Crowe. It became Smith, Crowe, Wilson in 1999 when retail specialist Glenn Wilson became a partner. With the merger, Tom Smith becomes chairman of Mission Property's board. The merger is the second in Nashville this year.

In March, RCM Realty merged with Taylor-Vaugh-Greene to form Mathews Partners. The renamed firm has more than 50 employees and manages 4.5 million square feet of property. cept. Gaylord is attempting to convey with its logo the elements of the company. "The word 'entertainment' is both the foundation of our logo and of the company," London said.

The varying style in the graphic and the text represents the company's effort to blend innovation and tradition. In addition, the around the star is unfinished, which London said represents the "creativity that is at the heart of the company." hotels. Most of the shareholders who attended were either employees of Gaylord and its properties or lived in the Nashville area Shareholder and Nashville resident Jack Langham liked what he heard from London. "I told them it was very good," he said. Since last year, Gaylord, parent of Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry, has been trying to build the corporate brand.

One piece of that effort involved a 20-year moving star entwined with a blue capital sitting on top of the company name. Gaylord Entertainment also blue, is two-tiered with Gaylord in bigger letters. The old logo simply featured the company name with the words side by side. The new logo served as the backdrop for London's roughly hour-long presentation to shareholders at the Ryman Auditorium, which outlined what Gaylord had done last year, including moving into the Internet business and building more By RICHARD LAWSON Staff Writer Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Co. yesterday unveiled a new corporate logo at its annual shareholders meeting as part of the company's effort to brand the corporate name.

"It's more reflective of where we are headed in the future," Gaylord President and Chief Executive Officer Terry London said after the meeting. The new logo updates the old one with a little flash. It features a yellow, forward- GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT" deal for naming rights on the downtown arena where the National Hockey League Nashville Predators play. Gaylord graphic designer Tim Rucker came up with the logo concept Nashville advertising and public relations firm Dye, Van Mol Lawrence honed the con Miller named GM at Salem Closing figures for May 10, 2000. Dow Jones Business Editor: Lisa Green, 259-8096 Assistant Business Editor Bill Choyke, 664-2156 Personal Finance Editor Candy McCampbell, 259-8076 lb report business news: E-mail: newstipsOtennessean.com State to sell itself to manufacturers Tennessee is selling itself to heads of some of the country's best small and mid-sized manufacturing companies during a three-day conference, "Blueprint for Growth, Best Practices for Building a Growing Manufacturing Cor May 22-24 at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza hotel.

Turning Pennies Into Prosperity: May 23, p.m., Tennessee Christian Medical Center. Free seminar. Financial planner and adviser Lawrence Sharp III will reveal investment strategies to grow wealth no matter how small the seed. For information or to register, call 325-1213. 10,36778 168.97 1.60 1383.05 29.09 2.06 3384.93 200.08 5.58 178.51 3.42 1.88 Michael S.

Miller has been named general manager of Salem Music Network, a division of the Dallas-based Salem Radio Network. He will manage Salem's greater Nashville radio stations, WVRY-FM and WBOZ-FM. The new facilities are at 402 BNA Drive, Suite 400, Nashville. Nasdaq Tenn. Index Russell 2000 Bloomberg News 474.28 16.58 3.38 MILLER www.tennessean.com 1S' 11.