Business Journal-Portland articles from April 2001

Business Journal-Portland archives from April 2001

Boeing's 'race to bottom' a plunge into uncertainty.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... The Boeing Co.'s decision to move corporate headquarters from Seattle is a striking example of the worst forces at work in today's economy. To understand what this decision is about, we must be clear on what it is not. This is not...

WebTrends and NetIQ seal their merger deal.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... * Shareholders from WebTrends Corp. and NetIQ met March 30 and approved the companies' merger. The two companies will be traded on Nasdaq under the NetIQ listing, while WebTrends disappeared at the time of the announcement. The joint companies...

Cascade-Siskiyou forests.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... A plan unveiled March 28 by Interior Secretary Gale Norton could open national monuments to more logging, mining and drilling. The changes would affect 19 monuments designated by outgoing President Bill Clinton, including Hanford Reach on the...

Nielsen Media Research.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Nielsen Media Research released a "NetRating" April 3 that ranks Portland and Seattle with the highest percentage of internet penetration in the country Seventy percent of households in both cities have access to the internet from a personal...

ATOFINA Chemicals Inc.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... ATOFINA Chemicals Inc. announced March 30 that rising power prices in the Pacific Northwest are prompting the company to indefinitely suspend operations at its Portland chemical plant. The Philadelphia-based corporation said the plant employs...

Legacy Health System.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Legacy Health System made its plan to build a new Clark County hospital official March 29, when it filed an application with Washington state for a certificate of need. Legacy needs the certification to go ahead with its 220-bed, $162 million...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction Notice)
April 6, 2001... In the March 23 Business Leads section of the newspaper, we reported that Martin Antics Inc.... "aka Aracnet Internet Services" had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. The item should have stated that Aracnet was among the names used by...

Trammell Crow cutting back as economy slows.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Chalk up Trammell Crow Co. as another real estate powerhouse that's been bruised by overoptimistic national retail growth. A one-time write-off of $40.3 million in fourth quarter 2000 has forced belt tightening and reorganization at one of...

Pioneer Place embarks on food court remodel.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Pioneer Place mall officials are attempting to stay ahead of the curve by giving the mall food court a face lift. Among the vendors carved out by the procedure were Macheezmo Mouse and Hot Dog on a Stick. As the mall approaches its 11th...

Hollywood faces lender and accountant scrutiny.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... May 5 is shaping up as a critical day in the life of Mark Wattles and the other executives at Hollywood Entertainment Corp. That's the day when the struggling corporation, parent of the 1,800 Hollywood Video stores, is required to make a...

Q4 results more than they seem.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Hollywood Entertainment Corp.'s seemingly disastrous financial figures for the fourth quarter of 2000 had more to do with accounting changes and write-downs than with the performance of the 1,800 Hollywood Video stores, executives at the...

Ex-GST boss getting another shot with old firm.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Most CEOs don't get a second chance to run the same company. But former GST Telecommunications Chairman and CEO John Warta--who was forced to resign by GST's board amid allegations of fraud in 1998--has teamed with TM Communications Hawaii LLC...

Angry Teleport customers take case to the AG.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... The Teleport saga continues. EarthLink Inc., the internet service provider that purchased OneMain, and with it, Teleport, would like everyone to know that e-mail and internet access problems have been handled. "The congestion is behind...

Locals not too worried about new competition.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Myron Nelson wasn't thrilled with the month of March. Revenue from the fitness club he owns in Milwaukie--Nelson's Nautilus--was off 12 percent compared with March of 2000. And his Portland location on Northeast Russell Street was also down...

Tony DiSpigno.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Tony DiSpigno Organization: University of Portland Title: Vice president for university relations What we do: The University of Portland is dedicated to superb teaching, active faith and service to...

The People's voice?(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Qwest funds "grass-roots" campaign on the web Qwest Communications International Inc. is bankrolling a public relations campaign in 14 states but has it set up to look like an independent grass-roots citizens' effort advocating competitive...

TARGETING KOREANS.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... A group of 49 founders has pooled $550,000 in seed money to form a Korean-American community bank in North Seattle. The founders hope to open as Pacific International Bank in November, reports Peter Neurath of the Puget Sound Business...

DEPENDENT ON JAPAN.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Our own Shelly Strom, temporarily assisting the Pacific Business News in Honolulu, reports that troubled Pacific Century Financial Corp. is nervously watching the Japanese economy, as well as that of the United States. Analysts say that if...

MERGER AFTERMATH.(corporate culture shock at Hambrecht & Quist after acquisition by J.P. Morgan Chase)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... In the pages of the San Francisco Business Times, reporter Mark Calvey reports that management and employees at Hambrecht & Quist, the legendary investment bank that financed many a high-tech corporation, are undergoing culture shock as H&Q...

SCHWAB RETRENCHES.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Also in the Business Times, Ron Leuty reports that Charles Schwab Corp. has slammed the brakes on a long hiring and real estate binge. He said that industry observers expect that deep cuts in people and premises are possible if the firm's...

WATCHING WAFERS.(Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices invest in nLine corp.)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... From the Austin Business Journal comes news that microprocessor rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. have co-invested in a Texas wafer inspection company. AMD and Intel Capital, Intel's venture capital arm, were among several...

CUSTOMERS ONLINE.(Bank of America continues to add online banking customers)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... The Business Journal in Charlotte reports that Bank of America is steadily adding online banking customers, but is quickly learning that its web customer base is less profitable than some have predicted. Many banks say that online customers...

HOUSING PLEDGE.(Washington Mutual to acquire FleetBoston's home mortgage unit)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Washington Mutual said it will pay $660 million for the home mortgage unit of FleetBoston. The Boston Business Journal noted that housing advocates still expect FleetBoston to fulfill a 1999 pledge to make $14.6 billion available to urban...

Web site chief doubles as women's beer guru.(Lisa Morrison)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Lisa Morrison, the managing director for KOIN-TV's web site, Channel 6000, has developed her pastime into a part-time gig. The beer aficionado teaches "Beer Appreciation for Women" classes at Portland Brewing Co. Your first thought may be:...

LARS 'BRAINSTORMS' FUR NEW IDEAS.(Lars Larson writes column for Brainstorm)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Lars Larson, whose opinions have blasted through KOIN-TV and KXL radio, has now debuted as a columnist for Brainstorm magazine. His first column, "View from Planet Lars," weighs in on the race for governor, and effectively ends any speculation...

A NEW VOICE AT Z100.(Leah Brandon)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Z100 has brought on a new morning person from L.A. to replace Nelson, its funny man who was lured away with a sweet contract to Entercom's Rosie 105. Leah Brandon, the former midday host on Star 98.7 in Los Angeles, last week joined John...

Turning the energy tide with a Blockbuster move.(Blockbuster stores remain lit up during energy crises)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... While a survey recently conducted by Portland General Electric offered chilling social commentary (one-fourth of the respondents said they couldn't even reduce energy consumption by 10 percent), there still are some do-gooders out there. ...

SWMC celebrates grand opening of new Pavilion.(Southwest Washington Medical Center)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Southwest Washington Medical Center celebrated the opening of its new $32 million Physicians' Pavilion March 28, formally rolling out the red carpet on a project that was more than two years in the making. The upper floors were still dusty...

The difficulties Of DSL.(digital subscriber line service and installation problems)
April 6, 2001... Everyone seems to want DSL these days, and companies are burning up ad dollars to sell it to us. But getting Portland-area customers hooked up with DSL--high-speed internet service--isn't exactly happening at warp speed. Even as...

New Edge: provides a peek into the state of DSL.(New Edge Networks exemplifies problems in the digital subscriber line industry)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... All is not sunlight and roses in the telecom world these days, and high-speed internet access companies have taken it very hard recently. * ReFlex Communications, a Seattle company which has been selling wireless Internet access to...

Oresis' new switch captures attention.(Oresis Communications Inc.'s ISIS-700 Integrated OmniService digital switch)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... While new telecom companies are building all-digital networks from the outset, older companies are scrambling to digitize their networks so they can carry the new telecom services that are in demand. Oresis Communications Inc., which made...

Just how much fiber-optic cable? Who knows?(fiber-optic cable infrastructure in Portland, OR)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Fiber-optic cable is generally reckoned to be an amazing development. Made of a very pure glass, fiber carries digital signals in vastly greater quantities than any other kind of cable, and over much longer distances. No one really seems to...

Tektronix profits from its own niche in telecom.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
April 6, 2001... While many telecom companies are going heavily into debt or closing their doors, other companies are booking nicely profitable sales in the equipment that enables telecom to run. One of these is Tektronix Inc., which has returned over the...

Antique collection tells history of telephones.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Down a long narrow hallway, upstairs in a nondescript Beaverton industrial building, is hidden one of the biggest and most complete collections of antique phones in the United States. Don Walton's collection started with his father, Fred...

One year later: lessons learned and forgotten.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... What a difference a year can make. A year ago, local telecom and internet startup companies were going strong, raising capital, expanding staffs and looking unstoppable. Concepts like the New Economy were being promoted as a way of...

Wireless users pull the plug on landline phones.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Americans are hanging up their traditional immobile landline telephones and are turning to wireless phones to make calls while on the move. The numbers tell the story. In 1999, about 6.5 percent of the 2.1 trillion conversation minutes in...

Taking it Into Account.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Far-reaching Rules on Accounting for Stock Options Repricing of Stock Options Essentially Taken Away The NASDAQ's all-time high of 5,048 in March of 2000 dropped to a two-year low of 1,923 in mid-March 2001. During the last two years,...

Technology Banker.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Beyond the Term Sheet--Capital Strategies Nothing more aptly describes the public and private equity markets over the past three years than that old phrase, "A rising tide floats all boats." In 1998, just 78 venture backed companies...

In Search of...(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Executive Search--Choosing The Right Partner The term "headhunters" or, as our brethren like to be called, "executive-search consultants" could easily be substituted in all those great lawyer jokes. Some search folks are good and some are...

Assisted Living faces host of problems.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Portland-based Assisted Living Concepts Inc. is in turmoil-facing massive debt, management turnover and the possibility of being booted off the American Stock Exchange. The company warned investors it is "highly leveraged," with $231...

Team Oregon prepares for mission to Taiwan.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Poised to position Oregon at the forefront of the international sustainable movement, a delegation of Portland executives are flying to Taiwan April 6 to share their expertise with top government brass. A coalition of Portland businesses...

Burns Bros. Wilsonville site could house Costco.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Two years after Burns Bros. Inc. dismantled its North Wilsonville truck stop, the Lake Oswego-based company is looking at plans to redevelop the 43 acres into a mixed-use retail, hotel and commercial center. The family-owned company has...

Columbia County at center of regional energy debate.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... This week, the eye of the West Coast power storm was centered on a small Columbia County high school in the northwest corner of Oregon. Both Portland General Electric and a developer representing Northwest aluminum smelters have expressed...

Using technology to find the right clothes for real people.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Ever tried to buy clothing online? Or from a mail-order catalog? It can be a frustrating experience, that's for sure. What looks fabulous on a tall, thin 20-something model doesn't look quite the same on a short, round, middle-aged person....

Say goodbye to Princeton, hello Nautilus.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... A trio of investors are banding together to buy the Princeton Athletic Club in downtown Portland. Myron Nelson, owner of several Nelson's Nautilus clubs in the metropolitan area, is one of the investors. The others are Greg Diamond of...

The Numbers Game.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... The Numbers Game PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FINANCIAL SUMMARY 1999-2000 Where does the money come from? State aid distributed via...

Insider Trading.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... The buying and selling of stock shares by area executives Terri Timberman Officer Merix Corp. Shares to sell: 26,250 Share price: $13,62 [*] Roland Wheeler Share value: $357,656 Director Direct Focus...

Trouble-shooter seeks cell-phone problems.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... With stealth not unlike his famous counterpart, Clark Kent prowls Ohio in search of trouble. His goal isn't to entangle himself with it; he aims simply to pinpoint it for his employer, Verizon Wireless Inc. Since February 1993, Kent's...

Firms laying fiber are stumbling over debt.
April 6, 2001... To build or not to build? That is the question facing telecommunications companies as they extend their broadband networks, hoping to offer their customers faster data and video transmission. Increased use of bandwidth-hungry...

Go online for the latest reports on DSL.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Thinking about DSL? Surf over to www.dslreports.com. This consumer information site allows the prospective DSL customer to sift through provider reviews and ratings posted by current DSL users, both the satisfied and the disgruntled. ...

Top area software companies.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Top area software companies Ranked by Software revenue Rank last Rank year Company 1 Cadence Design System Inc. 13221 S.W. 68th Parkway Portland,...

Urbanabox has a box for the boss and one for mom.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... What do you get the person who has everything? You can get them more of everything. Well, then, how about a box of great stuff? What kind of stuff goes into each and every box? What's your poison? An Urbanabox is tailored to meet each...

Staying inside the box.(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 6, 2001... Kate Dyer-Seeley couldn't have packaged her future any more colorfully than the boxes she sells. Dyer-Seeley, founder and chief "brainchild" behind Urbanabox, spent five years as a special education teacher for autistic children. Despite...

Ignore Buffet and Soros for the sake of small business.
April 6, 2001... Some of America's wealthiest individuals have launched a quickie campaign to halt momentum behind repealing death taxes. The super-rich behind the effort enjoy staggering wealth, which coincidentally allows them to avoid death taxes through the...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... ADVERTISING Robley Marketing added Tracy Dale as public relations account executive. Sanda Communications promoted Debbie deTar to production manager. Leopold Ketel & Partners hired Lori Cekoric as media director. ARCHITECTURE...

Don't call it a downturn yet.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Are we missing something here, or is the economy in better shape than the Wall Street folks would have us believe? It is true that most of us have seen our net worth drop along with the Dow and Nasdaq. But is your net worth in worse shape...

Hire me, I'm working too hard.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... In recent months, Dan Cook, editor of The Business Journal, has opened a dialogue in Portland's business community on the subject of balancing work and personal commitments. An organization's ability to address the relationship between...

Our legislature faces a question of workplace safety.(Oregon Senate Bill 485 workers' compensation reform bill)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... If you care about workplace safety keep your eye on a volatile piece of legislation now progressing through the Oregon legislature. Recent news reports have failed to address the danger contained within Senate Bill 485, the so-called workers'...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... What we need is leadership in the effort to conserve and be green To the editor: I really appreciate Brian J. Back's March 16 column, "Don't use energy crisis to gut the environment." Long-range planning for any business should...

Winners & Losers.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Tucker-Maxon Oral School The SE Portland school appeared on ABC's "PrimeTime" on March 15. The story featured an animated talking face "Baldi," developed cooperatively with OGI and UC Santa Cruz, that uses innovative computer technology to...

SLAPSHOTS.(Tapeo Cocina de Espana restaurant in Portland, OR, gets average rating)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Great idea; average execution *** If you drive too fast down Northwest Thurman Street, you might just miss Tapeo Cocina de Espana, known to the locals as "Tapeo". Tucked between a small architectural firm and the Fat Tire Farm bike...

Inside the Mind of a VC.(Why the Venture Capital Industry Crashed)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Needs vs. Wants: Why the Venture Capital Industry Crashed The last five years of the 1990s were the best years the venture capital industry has ever seen. Three major technology waves (Internet, broadband and wireless communications, and...

EBTEC Legal Briefing.
April 6, 2001... The New Economy Lawyer in a Reversionary Environment We all live every day in virtual environments, defined by our ideas. Over the past year, our Emerging Bio-science, Technology, and E-Commerce practice group (EBTEC, as we call it)...

PR Insights.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2001... Responding to Rapid Change Flourishing Amid the Changing Forces Taking Place in the Media, Business and Competitive Landscape Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on one's perspective. As co-authors Spencer Johnson and...

An expensive insider legacy.
April 13, 2001... Portland-based Assisted Living Concepts Inc. has cleaned house in the past year, replacing its top executives and developing a strategy to stay alive while American Stock Exchange officials decide whether the ticker sign ALF should remain on...

Portland Brewing plans to hit Seattle with hops.
April 13, 2001... Take "brewer's gold" hops, grown exclusively on a farm near Woodburn. Ship 132 pounds of those hops to a first-rate distiller in England, where 600 milliliters of aromatic hop oil can be extracted at low temperatures. Sprinkle in a hint of...

Dammasch facility eyed for a mixed-use village.
April 13, 2001... Five years after it closed its doors to mental patients, the former Dammasch State Hospital may soon have a new lease on life as a residential neighborhood and village center with offices, retail and community facilities. Wilsonville...

JustSayNo Wey organizers hope to galvanize opinion.
April 13, 2001... A loosely organized gaggle of Willamette Industries Inc. information services workers plans to rally in Terry Schrunk Plaza Monday against Weyerhaeuser Corp.'s hostile overtures. Billing themselves as the JustSayNoWey Committee, the workers...

Nordstrom decides to pull its expansion plans off the rack.
April 13, 2001... After months of negotiations with city officials and a local developer, Nordstrom has suspended discussions to expand across the street from its downtown store. The Seattle-based retailer had been in negotiations since November 2000 to...

Nike slapped with lawsuits over forecasts.
April 13, 2001... Over the past few weeks, Nike Inc. has been the target of at least four class-action lawsuits filed with the U.S. District Court in Portland charging the company and several of its top executives with insider trading. This is not a new...

The Numbers Game.
April 13, 2001... NATIONAL SURVEY UFREAL ESTATE TRENDS !OR SINGLE-FAMILY MARKETS Survey of Real Estate Trends summarizes opinions of 255 senior examiners and asset managers at federal hank and thrift regulatory agencies on changing conditions in local real...

Insider Trading.
April 13, 2001... Insider Trading The buying and selling of stock shares by area executives Michael Flannery Chairman, CEO Prope & Talbot Inc. Shares acquired: 8,800...

White guy spy finds that women are on the move.
April 13, 2001... Men, listen up. Your humble servant was once again on the front lines of the sexual revolution at the workplace, and I am here to make my report. For those who missed it (which apparently included every guy in Portland except Maynard Orme...

PG&E driven under by mounting debt load.
April 13, 2001... * San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which possesses natural gas interests in the Northwest, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 6 in San Francisco Bankruptcy Court. The company said it is taking this action "in light of its...

Wieden+Kennedy.
April 13, 2001... Wieden+Kennedy announced April 6 that it laid off 12 percent of its U.S. staff, or approximately 38 people between the Portland and New York offices. Company spokesperson Liz Hartge cited the dot-com slowdown as the main catalyst for the lay...

Merix Corp.
April 13, 2001... Merix Corp. said on Tuesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance remained unchanged after Teradyne Inc. terminated a sale agreement, citing the downturn in the economy. Teradyne accounted for 10 percent of Merix's fiscal 2000 sales of $155.9...

KinderCare Learning Centers.
April 13, 2001... Portland-based KinderCare Learning Centers announced April 9, the acquisition of Mulberry Child Care Centers. Mulberry, based in Dedham, Mass., has 74 child care and early education centers and 12 before and after school programs, located...

Amazon.com and Borders Group.
April 13, 2001... Amazon.com and Borders Group announced an agreement today that will relaunch Borders.com as a co-branded web site. Scheduled to debut in August, the new site will feature books, music and DVDs that are already available at Amazon.com, while...

CORRECTIONS.
April 13, 2001... In an article entitled "Oresis' new switch captures attention" on page 24 in the April 6 edition, the surname of RHK Inc. senior analyst John Kuzma was misspelled. An incorrect e-mail address for "Notebook" author Michelle Winningham was...

PacifiCare looks beyond the HMO care model.
April 13, 2001... At The Business Journal's health care forum last month, PacifiCare vice president Steve Lynch forecasted a consumer trend away from health maintenance organizations and toward health plans that offer more choice. Lynch took time to answer...

Another telecom provider moves into Northwest.
April 13, 2001... A former AT&T telecommunications spinoff company has signed a lease for 78,000 square feet in Portland's "Brewery Blocks" development on West Burnside. TyCom Inc., the former submarine system division for AT&T, plans to take over two...

Planar inks deal with Puerto Rican transit agency.
April 13, 2001... Planar Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: PLNR) has won a seven-year contract to supply and service displays for Tren Urbano, Puerto Rico's transit system. Cubic Transportation Systems, a division of Cubic Corp. (AMEX: CUB) is the designer and builder...

Cascade Station looks to recapture Main Street.
April 13, 2001... Marriott Residence Inn is moving into Cascade Station, the retail/restaurant center under development next to the Airport MAX line. Marriott plans to operate a 170-room, seven-floor hotel, one of three hotels planned at the 45-acre site on...

SKB moving its gaze from Seattle to Los Angeles.
April 13, 2001... ScanlanKemperBard Cos. in recent weeks acquired three California office parks for $53 million. The Portland real estate investment firm's acquisitions included the 100,000-square-foot Valley Corporate Park in Van Nuys, Calif., for $30...