BUSINESS BRIEFS
Deadline nears to enter college savings sweepstakes
Time is running out to enter the 2017 Summer Savings Adventure Sweepstakes for a chance to win $ 5,529 toward an Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan account.
The sweepstakes, which ends July 31, promotes the savings plan to Oklahoma City Zoo and Science Museum Oklahoma visitors, but is open to anyone to enter into online.
Oklahoma taxpayers who open plan accounts may deduct up to $ 10,000 ( from an individual return) or up to $ 20,000 (on a joint return) annually in adjusted gross income for Oklahoma taxes for contributions to an account.
Plan account earnings are federal and Oklahoma income tax- deferred, and distributions are federal and Oklahoma income tax- free when withdrawals are made for qualified purposes to pay dependent students’ expenses at most higher learning institutions.
The sweepstakes is open to Oklahomans who are parents, grandparents or legal guardians who are at least 21 years old and have a child or grandchild 16 years old or younger who also is an Oklahoma resident.
Go online to ok4saving. org for more information about the plan and the swweepstakes giveaway.
Love’s, Schwab to celebrate Hot Dog Day
Love’s Travel Stops is partnering with Schwab Meat Co. to celebrate National Hot Dog Day on Wednesday, store officials have announced.
The company will issue a bar code good for a free hot dog or roller grill item at any Love’s that day that customers can obtain from Love’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
To obtain the free hot dog or roller grill item, all the customer will have to do is show the code saved to his or her phone to an attendant at a register.
“Love’s and Schwab have a long-standing partnership of offering quality products in Love’s stores. The two companies wanted to partner in a way that would thank customers for their loyalty over the years,” said Mark Romig, director of merchandise for Love’s
New airline coming to Oklahoma City
A new airline soon will provide connections between Oklahoma City and other cities, an airline spokeswoman said.
A news conference is scheduled for noon on Tuesday at the airport to provide more details.
“I think it’s an announcement our Oklahoma fliers are going to like,” airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said. “We’re not only getting an airline, but also additional destinations. That gives our fliers more choices. These are going to be good destinations, some of our high-frequency destinations. We always welcome when we have more choices and competition. That’s a real positive for our community.”
SemGroup completes $2.1 billion terminal purchase
TULSA — SemGroup Corp. has completed its $2.1 billion purchase of Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Co. from investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners.
The 16.8 million-barrel terminal covers 330 acres and includes five ship docks, seven barge docks and three crude oil pipelines to four refineries.
“As planned, this acquisition helps fulfill our long-term strategy to further de-risk our business by adding secure, downstream cash flow to our portfolio mix,” SemGroup CEO Carlin Conner said. “In addition to generating stable earnings for SemGroup on day one, this remarkably versatile asset provides an entirely new growth platform to capture opportunities within the Houston Ship Channel’s massive processing, trading and import/export complex.”
Tulsa-based SemGroup said it paid the sellers $301 million in cash and about $400 million in stock and assumed about $761 million in debt. The buyer said it will make the final payment of $600 million in cash by the end of 2018.
Trial date moved to 2018 for former El Reno banker
The trial date for a former banker who faces charges accusing him of orchestrating a series of fraudulent loans has been moved to March 2018, federal court records show.
John Arnold Shelley, former chairman of El Reno’s The Bank of Union, was indicted in December by an Oklahoma City federal grand jury. The indictments claim the loans Shelley is accused of orchestrating ultimately led to the bank’s failure and losses that were estimated to exceed $100 million.
In a hearing last week, both prosecutors and Shelley’s attorneys sought to delay the trial because ongoing discovery has produced a voluminous number of documents to review. The case’s judge issued an order Friday authorizing the trial date change.
The charges accuse Shelley of committing various acts that defrauded The Bank of Union and federal regulators, including issuing loans with under- or unsecured collateral and falsifying financial statements for several high-dollar bank borrowers. State banking regulators closed The Bank of Union in January 2014, about a month after Shelley resigned from his positions there.
If convicted of all 23 counts, Shelley faces up to 50 years in prison and millions of dollars in potential fines.