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Yes that sounds better to me. What do you use for the co logo - a tag with a bg image or just a straight image?

Google really doesn't pay attention to footer links much anymore. Because of that exact reason: they know they're commonly used for spam and keyword stuffing. Write for humans; not for robots. Good luck!

I agree with not repeating company name, unless it's a different company than in the base url. Try only making those deep links if you absolutely have to! Good luck!