Business Journal-Portland articles from April 1997

Business Journal-Portland archives from April 1997

Hanna Andersson learns Japanese. (planned Japanese-language catalog)
April 4, 1997... Asian mail-order pays off for clothier Kids mail-order clothier Hanna Andersson is testing a Japanese-language edition for the roughly 400,000 people who receive the company's catalog in the land of the rising sun. "Our sales in Japan have...

Software sleuths win support. (New Technologies Inc.)
April 4, 1997... Gresham's New Technologies lands $2.4 million investment A Gresham-based software startup founded by government and industry computer talent hopes to tap into the $30 billion-a-year computer security business. New Technologies Inc. is a...

Pacific Gateway Hospital up for sale. (planned sale of Sterling Healthcare Corp. properties)
April 4, 1997... A couple of national psychiatric hospital chains are considering acquiring Pacific Gateway Hospital in Portland and Pioneer Trails Adolescent Center in Gresham. Sterling Healthcare Corp., the financially ailing Bellevue, Wash.-parent of...

Efficiency ratio to gauge merger's success. (First Bank System Inc.)
April 4, 1997... MINNEAPOLIS - The way First Bank System Inc. CEO Jack Grundhofer talks about efficiency, it's not hard to envision a bank pared down to a handful of executives, a bunch of automatic teller machines and a 24-hour phone bank. Though that image...

Biotech firm gets funding for virus drug. (Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals)
April 4, 1997... Hollis-Eden is raising $25 million for promising HIV, hepatitis research With $6 million in hand from a merger, a Portland biopharmaceutical startup with ties to. Ireland is developing antiviral drugs that may be used to fight HIV, AIDS,...

Media buying's most wanted. (Portland-based media buyer Diane Barasch)
April 4, 1997... With Scott Thomason as her No. 1 fan, this media maven sparked a new business - and controversy - last year Diane Barasch, one of Portland's savviest media buyers, wants to set the record straight about her supposed stint list summer with Cole...

Trio of used-car superstores peels across U.S. (Driver's Mart Worldwide; AutoNation USA; CarMax)
April 4, 1997... Dealers rev up their competitive motors Driver's Mart Worldwide, AutoNation USA and CarMax. The names may be unfamiliar to Portland-area consumers, but car dealers here and across the country know them all too well. This dynamic trio...

A business that grew organically. (Organically Grown Cooperative)
April 4, 1997... After difficult startup, Organically Grown Cooperative grows 400 percent in three years A shaft of sunlight paints the early morning sky with brilliant crimson streaks as Jack Gray, of Wintergreen Farms in Lane County, tows a flock of Indian...

Driving into a new transportation era. (decline of Oregon's transportation system)
April 4, 1997... Reducing congestion and improving roads requires that we create new funding sources Oregon's transportation system is failing. Growth and increased traffic congestion in communities statewide exceed our ability to serve basic transportation...

Real estate experts question ODS Tower. (ODS Health Plans expresses confidence on its decision to build office building in downtown Portland, OR)
April 18, 1997... Some contend ODS should get outside analysis of high-rise deal The rebel dentists at ODS Health Plans aren't the only people questioning the feasibility of the planned 23-story ODS Tower in downtown Portland. Some local real estate experts...

Business, labor groups oppose employment training effort. (business and church groups back new bill that will subsidize industry-training for unskilled workers in Oregon)
April 18, 1997... An unlikely alliance of Portland utility executives and progressive church activists is pushing a bill to subsidize employer training of low-skilled Oregon workers. The alliance, dubbed The Learning Group, proposes to siphon $50 million from...

Oocha makers brewing growth plans. (TeaPiliz Inc. adds second brewing plant)
April 18, 1997... TeaPiliz will open new plant, expand distribution into Western states The makers of Oocha Brew - fermented tea that's a modern version of an ancient Chinese beverage called kombucha - will soon open a new brewing plant and expand distribution...

Smashing through the glass ceiling. (Linda Hoffman, managing partner of Coopers and Lybrand)
April 18, 1997... Recent Business Week cover model has also become a role model for other women in accounting San Diego businessman Neil Senturia only has two photographs on the walls of his overloaded office: one's of a sailboat, and the other is his business...

BEST award winners find two kinds of green. (Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow)(Focus on Environment)
April 18, 1997... Saving the earth and saving money go hand-in-hand for local companies Think about it as conserving resources. Or maybe saving the planet. Or maybe just plain saving money. A week before Earth Day, the City of Portland Energy Office has...