Bob McCarty Writes

Three months ago, I met Trine Bøhnsdalen on a bumpy twin-prop commuter flight from Grand Junction, Colo., to Denver. During the 55-minute flight, we became quick friends as I learned the 24-year-old student from Oslo, Norway, was working toward a professional photography degree at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs, Colo. With my background in [...]

[Read more →]

In an investigative report that aired last night on NBC affiliate KSDK Channel 5, reporter Leisa Zigman tried to stoke the fires of anger and discontent that have been brewing in St. Louis ever since the 2008 purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgium brewer InBev.  She went so far as to compare the actions of executives [...]

[Read more →]

I was surprised to find a news release for Budweiser in the rotation of ads featured today in “THE HOLIDAY SPOTLIGHT” on PRNewswire.  Why?  Because the ad appeared on the same day that ABInBev, the beermaker’s parent company as of Nov. 18, used another news release to announce it would slash approximately 1,400 U.S. salaried [...]

[Read more →]

Wachovia Corp. officials announced in a news release today that they would cut dividends and jobs — 6,350 in all — after suffering nearly $9 billion in second-quarter losses tied primarily to the mortgage crisis. The news could result in a second economic body blow in a month hitting the St. Louis region. Earlier this [...]

[Read more →]

In a news release today, Anheuser-Busch announced it will broadcast its second quarter 2008 earnings conference call over the internet at 12 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, July 23. Unfortunately, I expect the conference call to be broadcast only in Flemish, French and Portuguese, the native languages of top executives at InBev. Based in Belgium [...]

[Read more →]

In a post one month ago, I focused on the impact a foreign company’s takeover of Anheuser-Busch would have on St. Louis residents and charitable organizations. Today, the Teamsters are raising doubts about the future of the largest U.S. brewer following its purchase by Belgium-owned InBev. I don’t agree with everything about which the Teamsters [...]

[Read more →]

Many St. Louis residents and nonprofit organizations alike are nervous about what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described today as a Kingdom under siege (see headline at right). The “kingdom,” in this case, is Anheuser-Busch, while “under siege” describes the possibility that A-B shareholders will accept an unsolicited $47 billion takeover bid and cede control of [...]

[Read more →]