Today's number: 733,000 - People who claimed a deduction on their income taxes for donating a car in 2000, the latest data available, reducing their taxes by a total of $654 million.

Today's career talk: In Expect the Unexpected or You Won't Find It: a Creativity Tool Based on the Ancient Wisdom of Heraclitus author Roger Von Oech suggests that ego gets in the way of discovery: "If I allow myself to lower my resistance to ideas I typically dismiss as irrelevant or unattractive, I find that they can become doorways to solutions I've been overlooking."

Today's mover: Mike Karman has joined Harmon Inc. as senior sales representative serving architects glass and glazing need for new construction projects in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, and Lexington. Bringing 22 years of experience in the glass industry, Karman is a member of the Construction Specifications Institute, and a past director of the Ohio Glass Association.

Today's money tip: Don't buy what you don't understand. Do some homework first. One key place to learn about a company is from its annual report. Call the company, visit its corporate Web site, or contact a service like the Public Register's Annual Report Service, a Connecticut firm that offers more than 3,600 reports: (800) 426-6825, by fax at (860) 974-2229 or at www.prars.com. Other documents filed with the federal government are available online. The Securities and Exchange Commission's Web site is www.sec.gov.

Today's company: CDS Associates Inc.

BLUEPRINTS: In its 35 years, CDS has grown from an engineering firm into a multi-faceted company that employs about 80 people. Founded in 1968 by Donnel Spencer, P.E., Construction Design Services Inc. has established its headquarters in Blue Ash and expanded to include architecture and structural engineering as well as master planning, facilities planning, site development, surveying and mapping. Its name was shortened to CDS Associates in 1982.

PORTFOLIO: Clients are a mix of corporations, institutions, residential developers and local governments throughout the Tristate. Recent projects include improvements at the intersection of I-275 and Reed Hartman Road; design, floodplain studies and surveys at the Mills of Carthage development and engineering for River's Bend golf community in South Lebanon.

AT THE HELM: CDS's leadership team consists of John L. Eisenmann, president; Kathy D. Coleman, COO; J. Frederick Gossman, Roger L. Kerlin and Mark A. Kluesener, principals; and Wayne F. Shuler, chairman.

KENTUCKY CONNECTION: In 1997, the firm opened a branch office in Florence.