Biz Buzz

Good Handsy. Oklahomans are in good hands with the five Allstate agency owners who were recently honored with The Premier Service Agency designation for their outstanding customer service and business results. Agents in Owasso, Jenks and Broken Arrow were awarded for upholding the "Good Hands" promise by delivering a knowledgeable customer experience for consumers looking for auto, home, life and retirement insurance products as well as strengthening local communities. In 2011, the Allstate Foundation combined with the effort of Allstate employees, agents and agency owners donated a whopping $28 million to many relevant causes and nonprofit organizations across the country.

Do It Up in Green. The Brady Arts District will be receiving a makeover pretty soon. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust recently received $50,000 for the Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the arts, to use for programming efforts for the new park in the Brady District, the Guthrie Green. TPACT is one of 80 grantees, nationwide. Joining forces with the George Kaiser Family Foundation to bring performances to the park, TPACT believes with the extra funds to support the local arts scene, the "Our Town Grant" will assist in putting the spotlight on local talent and bringing national attention to the rich, artistic scene in Tulsa.

Can I Get A Refund? Inverness Village, a Life Care retirement community recently closed a bond refunding $47 million to institutional and retail investors. Inverness Village's residents purchased 44 percent of the bonds, showing a strong confidence in the company's financial stability and future while, institutional investors purchased $26.4 million and retail investors purchased $21.7 million in bonds. Many of the bond maturities were over-subscribed, causing a re-pricing of the long bond's interest rate yield to 5.69 percent, more than 1 percent below the original rate. Zeigler Capital Markets noted that the fixed rate market allowed the retirement community to refinance a larger portion of the Series 2007A Bonds.