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Bryan Cave has its lawyers in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai in secure places. "We also have one lawyer remaining in Kuwait who is expected to leave this afternoon (March 19). We have emphasized to our lawyers and staff in the Middle East that they need to immediately take whatever steps they believe are appropriate to ensure the safety of themselves and their families," the firm said in a statement.

Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Co., the nation's largest maker of combat boots, has stopped selling boots to the public over its Internet site until April 17. "There's huge demand and we can't adequately service small orders at this time, while also meeting the demands of the military," said David Herr, vice president. The company recently received two contracts from the Defense Logistics Agency worth about $34.1 million, although Herr said the largest of the two is not directly related to the pending war with Iraq. Still, Belleville Shoe is "producing as many boots as fast as we can," he said. Since Sept. 11, the company's production has more than doubled.

Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, which is in the process of building a luxury marina in Dubai, issued a memo earlier this month to the leaders at the company's 21 offices, which includes European and Far Eastern locations. They are to "use caution and limit travel to trips that are necessary," said Mike Plotnick, a spokesman for the St. Louis-based architecture firm.

Hager Hinge is postponing all business trips overseas, said Charlie Hager, chief operating officer of the hardware manufacturing company. Hager Hinge has both a sales office and distribution center in the United Arab Emirates and operates a joint venture manufacturing plant in China. Two executives who were scheduled to go to Hong Kong have put those plans on hold for at least two weeks, Hager said.

Shoe importer Elan-Polo, which has many of its 400 employees around the world, is operating normally, and if necessary go into the Middle East, said Paul Cahn, chairman. "We continually monitor the world, and we're living in a different world today," he said. "Traveling is no different now than it was before. It's just like here where you avoid some neighborhoods after dark."

"We're not changing anything. It's business as usual, pass the relish," said Sam Fox, chairman of Harbour Group, a $1.5 billion company that has its own manufacturing operations and joint ventures in Europe and in Asia. "The uncertainty about the war and the uncertainty about how it's going to unfold already has affected the economy."

Engineered Support Systems Inc. has accelerated deliveries of its "chem-bio units," designed to provide protection against chemical and biological agents, said Michael Shanahan Sr., chairman of the firm, which supplies military electronics, equipment and logistics services. There's also been a spate of contract awards: "Any number of products we've supplied through the years, they're starting to replenish their supplies. War in the desert is really tough on equipment."

Sigma-Aldrich Corp., a life science and technology company that makes biochemicals and other sensitive products, has continuously shored up its security since Sept. 11, said Rod Kelley, vice president of safety compliance and quality. The company has enforced a long-standing rule that employees and visitors have to wear and display identification badges. It also has increased the number of people patrolling the grounds.

The American Red Cross in St. Louis has seen a big increase in demand for disaster preparedness seminars it provides to businesses, said Jessica Willingham, spokeswoman. "We used to do five or six presentations a month, and now we're up to more like 50," she said. "We used to have maybe 10 people in the groups, and now we have hundreds." She said the Red Cross has had to train extra volunteers to conduct the seminars due to the high demand.

Crown Optical has organized a donation of sunglasses and other personal care items for U.S. troops stationed in Kuwait. Crown has set up drop-off donation sites at select locations. The sunglasses and other items, such as Kleenex, hand sanitizer, sunscreen and lip balm, will be sent to Kuwait as part of care packages put together by the USO office in St. Louis.

BJC HealthCare hospitals review their preparedness plans and implement the appropriate security enhancements whenever the national alert level is raised, according to a statement from the hospital system. When the level was raised to "orange" March 17, BJC added security staff at high visibility locations, including main entrances and loading docks, within the hospitals. Drive lanes and drop-off points also may be more frequently patrolled and monitored for unauthorized vehicles.

KTVI Fox 2 plans to go to national coverage when war begins. Spencer Cox, vice president and general manager of the station, said KTVI will air Fox News as well as CNN in the event of war, and he anticipates "wall-to-wall" coverage with few commercial breaks. The station has been in ongoing negotiations with advertisers, letting them know that war would limit the amount of advertising time, Cox said.

Janet Wheatley, vice president of operations for TQ3 Travel Solutions, a division of Maritz Inc.'s global travel business, said TQ3 has ramped up its own security reports for clients and has required its travel representatives to work additional hours on site. Even so, Wheatley said several clients canceled international trips this week, while domestic travel has yet to be impacted by the threat of war.

KMOV Channel 4 has worked out several arrangements to show the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament on other stations in the event of war. The latest agreement has ESPN broadcasting the games in the event that local CBS affiliates, such as KMOV, switch to the network's coverage of the war during the tournament.

Since August 2002, Brown Shoe Co. has been partnering with the U.S. Customs Department in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. C-TPAT is a government-business initiative designed to strengthen security within the supply chain and at the borders. Brown Shoe is a major exporter of footwear.

Solutia Inc. will place a 24-hour ban on travel once war begins, said Johnnie Foster, vice president of corporate services and chief information officer. The chemical and materials manufacturing company also will make an assessment of what employees should and shouldn't do during that time frame in terms of return trips home and other issues, he said.

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