Business Journal-Portland articles from August 1998

Business Journal-Portland archives from August 1998

Revived Plaid Pantry refills cupboards. (grocery stores operator Plaid Pantries Inc. gets financing)
August 7, 1998... Eight years after emerging from bankruptcy, Plaid Pantries Inc. has finally garnered some of the financing it needs to expand. In a series of recent maneuvers, the Portland-based operator of 105 Northwest convenience stores has secured backing...

Paine Webber set to join Fox Tower. (stock brokerage firm sign office space lease)
August 7, 1998... Paine Webber will be the first major office tenant to sign a lease for space in the Fox Tower, under construction on Broadway in downtown Portland. "The parties have reached a meeting of the minds, a letter of intent has been signed and leases...

Air Portland among small carriers ready to fly. (airline)
August 7, 1998... WASHINGTON - After remaining inactive for more than two years, the low-cost airline docket at the U.S. Department of Transportation is once again filling up with new applications. At least five new carriers that promise to offer flights from...

Lithia Motors posied to purchase indy auto dealership. (Lithia Motors Inc. to acquire Camp Automotive Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Publicly traded Lithia Motors Inc. of Medford, which owns 24 auto dealerships in three states, has approached Camp Automotive Inc. of Spokane about buying the Camp dealership. With 1997 revenue of $106 million, Camp is one of the state's...

DOT says airlines guilty of predatory practices.
August 7, 1998... WASHINGTON, D.C. - Competition for airline passengers is decreasing at an alarming rate in most American cities, resulting in higher air fares for most leisure and business travelers, according to a new study by the U.S. Department of...

EFTC completes Current transformation. (Current Electronics Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Current Electronics Inc.'s transformation to EFTC Northwest Operations is complete. The family-owned Newberg contract electronic assembly business is now part of a publicly held, national company; the borne-grown owners have been replaced by...

Denver company seeks local assembly domination. (EFTC Corp.'s acquisition of Current Electronics Inc.)
August 7, 1998... EFTC Corp. already is a major player in the local electronics contract manufacturing picture, but that's not enough. EFTC gained its local foothold about 18 months ago when it acquired Current Electronics Inc. It may already be the largest...

The Woodstock, where a wall of wine awaits. (Woodstock Wine and Deli)
August 7, 1998... Jim Clark, wine buyer for Woodstock Wine & Deli, is worried about champagne. More specifically, he's predicting an impending shortfall of the bubbly beverage, and is encouraging customers to stock up while they can. "People should be buying...

New Seattle bank will target Northwest trade. (Northwest International Bank)
August 7, 1998... A new community bank is forming in Seattle with a three-pronged international market strategy it hopes will distinguish it from the competition. Seattle already is home to one other small bank with an international emphasis, Washington First...

Aggressive arts supplier hits Portland.(Aaron Brothers Art Marts Inc)
August 14, 1998... A well-financed chain of picture frame and art stores is preparing to invade Portland, bringing heightened competition to the already crowded field. Aaron Brothers, a 75-store California chain that is wholly owned by arts and crafts...

Port's channel plans too deep for some.(Port of Portland in Oregon)
August 14, 1998... The Port of Portland's attempt to get the Columbia River Channel deepening project on a faster track has Oregon's oldest environmental group threatening to wash its hands of the review process. The maritime industry has argued for two...

Heady dreams: microbreweries targeting store sales for growth.
August 14, 1998... The owners of Golden Valley Brewery, a microbrewing operation and pub producing only 1,000 barrels of craft beer annually, are trying to quench their thirst for profits by getting their beers on retailers' shelves. McMinnville-based Golden...

Crabbe Huson founder plants new seed fund.(Coldstream Capital Management partner David Hudson)
August 14, 1998... Intending to put an organized investment fund to work where now only angels tread, principals in Coldstream Capital Management are trying to raise $2 million to $5 million. Start-up companies often find themselves starved for cash after...

Mentor, embroiled in suit, offers to buy rival.(Mentor Graphics Corp)
August 14, 1998... Mentor Graphics Corp. has made an unsolicited cash offer for a company that not only competes against it but which slapped Mentor with a nasty lawsuit two years ago. The raid targets Quickturn Design Systems of San Jose, Calif., which was...

Enron critics question competitive commitment.
August 14, 1998... Time was when harsh words were tossed about in the utility business, it was between customers and providers and usually had to do with rate hikes or siting decisions. Now comes deregulation, and a new era of acrimony has dawned. This time,...

Enron ups community support after buying PGE.(contributions to PGE-Enron Foundation)
August 14, 1998... Portland General Electric has not maintained its level of financial support to the community following its acquisition by Enron Corp. Instead, the company has increased its foundation endowment from nearly $6 million to $26 million, with...

Balance of labor power changing at Southwest.(Southwest Washington Medical Center in Clark County, Washington)
August 14, 1998... Aug. 8 marked a turning point in labor relations at Southwest Washington Medical Center. That day, 700 nurses and 20 operating engineers voted in unions to represent them. It was the first time any union has successfully organized workers at...

Jack Cain.(president of Portland Baseball Inc)
August 14, 1998... Name: Jack Cain Organization: Portland Baseball Inc. What We Do: Operate the Portland Rockies Title: President Education: School of hard knocks - one year at Pacific University; Grant High School Residence: Portland ...

Into the changing room.(changes at Nordstrom Inc)(Industry Overview)
August 14, 1998... Nordstrom remakes downtown and its own corporate culture Change is the name of the game these day at Seattle's Nordstrom Inc., in many ways the most sought-after department store nameplate in America. The $4.8 billion (FY97 sales)...

Internet's not for the weak.(Transport Logic's national expansion plans)
August 14, 1998... Sometimes you grow or die. Transport Logic is choosing the former as it charts an ambitious nationwide expansion course, which, if successful, will ensure that the local internet service provider is the exterminator, not the one going...

Exodus continues: QualMed loses CEO. (QualMed Oregon Health Plan President and CEO Marty Preizler fourth to leave company)
August 21, 1998... Marty Preizler, the president and CEO of QualMed Oregon Health Plan, is leaving to take another insurance post in Madison, Wis. Preizler attributes his exit to an opportunity which arose that he just couldn't refuse. "In part, it's kind of...

New York, New York, croons David Wright. (Davis Wright Tremaine to launch branch office in New York City)
August 21, 1998... Davis Wright Tremaine announced this week it will be the first Pacific Northwest-based law firm to establish a satellite office in New York City. Beginning Sept. 1, DWT will expand its national communications, media and information...

Overseas markets bolster gauge maker's fortunes. (ISSPRO Inc)
August 21, 1998... ISSPRO Inc., a manufacturer of gauges and instruments installed on the dashboards of heavy trucks, construction equipment and farming machinery, is shifting its international sales into high gear. The Portland company's sales this year are...

We share bus seats and colds, so why not a car? (CarSharing Portland Inc)
August 21, 1998... CarSharing Portland Inc. wants to make money by weaning Portlanders away from car ownership. The small company, the first of its kind in the United States, has attracted the attention of environmentalists, transportation officials and business...

ODS set to buy doctor-owned health insurer. (ODS Health Plan; SureCare Health Plans Inc)
August 21, 1998... Oregon's first and only physician-owned, for-profit commercial health insurer may soon cease to exist. ODS Health Plan has reached a preliminary deal to acquire the 8,000 commercial policyholders of SureCare Health Plans Inc., the Roseburg-based...

Portland firm integral in hooking up truckers. (communication services offered by SmartStop Inc to trucking companies)
August 21, 1998... America's truck stops are about to get a technology tune-up thanks to the combined efforts of a small Portland technology company and telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies. SmartStop Inc., based in Portland, wants to bring truckers...

Phoenix Gold may lose NASDAQ's national listing. (Phoenix Gold International Inc; NASDAQ Stock Market Inc)
August 21, 1998... Phoenix Gold International Inc. has a date with the NASDAQ Stock Market Inc., the outcome of that meeting could mean demotion from the national market system. The Portland-based maker of high-end car audio equipment was notified in June that...

Pope & Talbot takes tumble in second quarter. (Pope and Talbot Inc's earning for second quarter of 1998)
August 21, 1998... With pulp prices stagnant and lumber demand decreasing, Pope & Talbot Inc., the Portland wood products company, continues to struggle in its effort to achieve a turnaround. Pope & Talbot's dilemma - concentrating its assets in two battered...

Poly-Cast reshapes future; Tigard plastic injection molder builds teams, diversifies work. (Poly-Cast Inc of Tigard, Oregon)
August 21, 1998... Poly-Cast Inc. is trying to mold itself a new future. The small Tigard injection-molded plastic company had worked its way up to 85 workers and annual sales of $8.8 million when it "lost" a major client last year. Hewlett-Packard, which...

Morrow to launch corporate jet maker. (Morrow Aircraft Corp)
August 28, 1998... Oregon entrepreneur Ray Morrow of snowboard renown and famed aviation engineer Burt Rutan have joined forces in a venture that could eventually manufacture a new generation of twin-engine airplanes in Salem. At the Experimental Aircraft...

Zeppelin king rules skies with fleet of floating ads. (American Blimp Corp.)
August 28, 1998... American Blimp Corp. has risen to the top of its rarefied industry. Thanks to the ingenuity of American Blimp founder James Thiele, the Hillsboro company has redefined the category of airship advertising. The aeronautical engineer, who used to...

Black & Co. takes action to fortify its NW influence. (Northwest)
August 28, 1998... Seeking firm ground while the securities industry undergoes a shake-up, Portland's Black & Co. is pouring money into hiring more analysts and producing more research products. From a competitive viewpoint, better research on Northwest companies...

Web site offers long-term care infor. (Health Spectrum Inc's Internet-based patient referral network)
August 28, 1998... Health Spectrum Inc., a medical software provider, is roiling out a new internet-based patient referral network called SeniorPlace. In June, Health Spectrum acquired SeniorPlace from Dr. Jeff Pentecost, who had developed the program in his own...

OGI Telecomm leaves OGI behind; buys ISP. (Internet service provider)
August 28, 1998... OGI Telecomm appears to have decided its old name was too limiting and has changed the corporate moniker to Integra Telecom. The company also snatched up a local internet service provider to bolster the newly named firm's internet presence....

Vancouver telecom firms expand in different ways. (GST Telecommunications; Electric Lightwave)
August 28, 1998... The two Vancouver telecommunications companies, GST Telecommunications and Electric Lightwave, are both racing to expand rapidly - one by extending its fiber optic route and the other by opening a new sales office. GST is in the midst of a...

Bill Williamson. (Pacific One Bank president and CEO)
August 28, 1998... Name: Bill Williamson Organization: Pacific One Bank Title: President and CEO What We Do: We're a small- to middle-market business bank, a consumer bank and a real estate lender. Education: B.A., business administration, University of...

Roller coaster time-shares. (Trendwest)
August 28, 1998... An odd combination of events took Trendwest's stock for a ride Trendwest, a Seattle-based time-share company, has delivered tasty top line sales growth and double-digit earnings since its initial public offering last August. So it seemed...

Everything but the baby. (Babies-On-The-Go Inc)
August 28, 1998... Ruth Hocks had 17-month-old twins coming into town from Tokyo, no place to put them, and as a great-grandmother, no plans to buy a couple of cribs and a playpen just for a week. That's when she heard about Babies-On-The-Go Inc., a year-old,...

Morrow to launch corporate jet maker.(Oregon businessman Ray Morrow)
August 28, 1998... Oregon entrepreneur Ray Morrow of snowboard renown and famed aviation engineer Burt Rutan have joined forces in a venture that could eventually manufacture a new generation of twin-engine airplanes in Salem. At the Experimental Aircraft...

Pension fund pumps $200M into hot fund.(Oregon Investment Could to invest in Hicks Muse Tate and Furst Inc.)
August 28, 1998... Happy with the results of two earlier plays, directors of the state employees pension fund will invest $200 million with leveraged buy-out masters Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc. The Oregon Investment Council voted Aug. 26 to commit the money...

Zeppelin king rules skies with fleet of floating ads.(American Blimp Corp.)
August 28, 1998... American Blimp Corp. has risen to the top of its rarefied industry. Thanks to the ingenuity of American Blimp founder James Thiele, the Hillsboro company has redefined the category of airship advertising. The aeronautical engineer, who used...

Metals internships come to the rescue of worker-short industry.
August 28, 1998... Not many teen-agers keep metal meat tenderizers in their rooms. Justin Tiller does. Tiller has a handful of his best welding projects on display, including items as small as 4 inches wide to an 18-inch pipe welded in the middle of a...

Black & Co. takes action to fortify its NW influence.(Northwest)
August 28, 1998... Seeking firm ground while the securities industry undergoes a shake-up, Portland's Black & Co. is pouring money into hiring more analysts and producing more research products. From a competitive viewpoint, better research on Northwest...

Web site offers long-term care info.(Health Spectrum Inc. launches Internet-based patient referral network called SeniorPlace)
August 28, 1998... Health Spectrum Inc., a medical software provider, is rolling out a new internet-based patient referral network called SeniorPlace. In June, Health Spectrum acquired SeniorPlace from Dr. Jeff Pentecost, who had developed the program in his...

Roller coaster time-shares.(stock of time-share company Trendwest gyrates)
August 28, 1998... An odd combination of events took Trendwest's stock for a ride Trendwest, a Seattle-based time-share company, has delivered tasty top line sales growth and double-digit earnings since its initial public offering last August. So it...

Foreign workers overcoming language barriers.
August 28, 1998... Wee Ong could speak the Queen's English, but he had trouble talking "American." While the Singapore native and Freightliner Corp. engineer had worked in the United States for 16 years, Ong spoke English in a rapid, monotonic fashion that was...

Everything but the baby.(profile of Babies-On-The-Go Inc., a Portland, OR-based company that rents out baby supplies, toys and related paraphernalia)(Company Profile)
August 28, 1998... Babies-On-The-Go fills a need for childless people who find themselves caring for an infant without a crib, carseat, etc. Ruth Hocks had 17-month-old twins coming into town from Tokyo, no place to put them, and as a great-grand mother, no...