IN BRIEF

     Council to honor
     minority businesses
     
      The Nevada Minority Purchasing Council will host its annual Excellence Awards dinner Friday at Caesars Palace.
      The black-tie event honors Nevada corporations and minority businesses which have excelled in supporting and promoting minority business development programs.
      The council is a nonprofit organization working to increase the purchase of goods and services between minority suppliers and the private and public sectors.
      Additional information and reservations can be obtained by calling 894-4477.
     
     Leasing Edge
     changes name
     
      Las Vegas-based Leasing Edge Corp. will change its name to LEC Technologies Inc. and increase the authorized common stock to 25 million shares.
      The company's new name better reflects its corporate structure and various business lines, said Michael Daniels, Leasing Edge's president and chief executive officer.
      The name change will take effect after the regulatory process is completed. The company will keep its trading symbol LECE on Nasdaq.
      Leasing Edge and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Pacific Mountain Computer Products Inc. and Superior Computer Systems Inc., lease computer and telecommunications equipment to large corporations that have extensive information and teleprocessing needs.
     
     Alliance facilitates
     Internet commerce
     
      AT&T and Wells Fargo Bank have formed a strategic marketing alliance that will make it easier for merchants to establish and manage an electronic storefront on the Web.
      The two leaders in Internet commerce will work together to provide AT&T's website hosting and transactions services and Wells Fargo's credit card processing services to business customers.
      During the first phase of the program, the companies will launch a co-branded direct mail campaign targeted to a selected set of their small business customers.
     
     Sutro schedules
     investment seminars
     
      Sutro & Co. is holding investment seminars in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Dane Madsen, first vice president and branch manager for the brokerage firm, and Janice Poland Tanno, a financial services and management consultant, will speak.
      Sessions will be held at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway, at 9:30 a.m.; the Country Inn, 1401 S. Rainbow Blvd., at noon; and Las Vegas Country Club, 3000 Joe W. Brown Drive, at 5:30 p.m. Call 650-1000 for reservations.
     
     Vista Gold
     reports net loss
     
      Denver-based Vista Gold Corp. reported revenues of $36.4 million for 1996, compared with $41.3 million for 1995. The company took a net loss of $11.8 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with $2.2 million, or 5 cents, for the previous year.
      The net loss was primarily attributed to a $6.7 million increase in the gold inventory at the Hycroft mine in Nevada and a reduction in revenues caused by lower production in early 1996.
      Operating cash flow for 1996 was $6.4 million, compared with $7.6 million for 1995.