Corning to build optical fiber manufacturing facility in OKC

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 8, 2001

Corning Inc. on Wednesday said that its board of directors has approved a plan to invest approximately $400 million to build its sixth optical fiber manufacturing facility, in Oklahoma City.

Initial fiber production is expected in 2004. When fully operational, the plant will employ several hundred people, said John Loose, Corning's CEO. "Optical fiber is the foundation of our optical layer strategy and a key enabler for driving down the cost of bandwidth," he said. "We continue to believe that the demand for optical fiber worldwide remains robust and are investing accordingly."

Corning announced on Dec. 17 that it would build the plant will be built at W. Reno Avenue and Sara Road, near the current plants for Xerox and Seagate Technology.

The Oklahoma City announcement followed a Dec. 7 Corning announcement to invest $450 million to further expand its Concord, N.C., optical fiber manufacturing facility making it the largest fiber plant in the world. Corning, based in Corning, N.Y., plans to increase its fiber manufacturing capacity by 25 percent per year from 2002 through 2004.

Meeting with the president

Two board members with The State Chamber were among 12 small business owners from the U.S. Chamber who met with President George W. Bush this week.

Richard Ratcliffe, chairman of Ratcliffe's Inc. of Weatherford, and Larry Mocha, owner of Air Power Systems of Tulsa, spent more than an hour at a White House briefing to discuss Bush's Small Business Tax Relief Act.

Ratcliffe, past chairman of The State Chamber, said he supports the president's tax plan and is encouraged by the new administration's focus on small business issues.

"This dialog has restored my confidence in our government and our leadership and its interest in the small business sector," he said.

Fleming to supply Kmart

Fleming, the No. 2 wholesale food distributor in the United States, said Wednesday it will become the exclusive grocery supplier for Kmart Corp. in a deal that could generate as much as $6.5 billion in annual revenues.

The alliance involves meat, dairy, frozen food and other grocery products worth $4.5 billion in sales each year for Fleming, which moved its headquarters from Oklahoma City to the Dallas area in mid- 2000. Negotiations regarding health and beauty products could raise that value by another $2 billion. News of the deal helped boost Fleming shares by 45 percent to a five-year high of $24.40. The company also said profits will be higher than expected this year.

Fleming, one of several wholesalers now supplying Kmart, will become the only grocery supplier for the second-largest U.S. discount retailer beginning July 1. The 10-year deal will allow Fleming to surpass rival SuperValu to become the largest food wholesaler in the country.

The alliance with Fleming will give Kmart and its 2,100 stores more purchasing power in the food industry to battle its biggest competitor, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

"What makes this alliance so advantageous is that it is a perfect blend of strategies and cultures," said Kmart Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Conaway. "Kmart has focused strategically on its retail operations. Fleming, on the other hand, has focused strategically on the procurement and logistics component of its business."

Fleming said earnings will rise 23 percent in 2001 to $1.90 per share, excluding $20 million in one-time writedowns. Analysts had previously forecast earnings of $1.86 per share.

Meanwhile, the company still plans to report earnings of $1.54 per share when it releases final results for fiscal year 2000 on Feb. 14.

Rate hike notice

A state House committee has recommended approval of a measure to require telephone companies to notify their residential customers at least 30 days before rate hikes go into effect. The bill is designed to prevent telecommunications firms from increasing rates without notifying customers in advance, said the measure's author, Rep. Jack Bonny, D-Burns Flat.

"They want to know if they're going to change your rates," Bonny said. He said most large companies, including Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, already notify customers in advance of rate hikes as a matter of policy.

In September 1999, the Corporation Commission passed an emergency rule requiring phone companies to notify their customers in advance of rate changes. The action followed complaints from Oklahoma AT&T customers who were notified by AT&T nearly two months after the company increased rates on several of its calling plans.

The House Energy and Utility Regulation Committee recommended approval of the measure, House Bill 1300.

Hillcrest issues warning

Oklahoma's largest nonprofit hospital system has told lawmakers that it may cancel its Medicaid contracts and do away with its medical training programs unless it receives millions of dollars in state aid.

Officials with the financially embattled Hillcrest Healthcare System of Tulsa said it has lost millions of dollars in recent years because of a burgeoning Medicaid-eligible population that stands at 420,000 and has grown 48 percent since 1997.