Business Journal-Portland articles from December 1995

Business Journal-Portland archives from December 1995

RadiSys wires into embedded systems. (RadiSys Corp.)
December 8, 1995... Makers of everything from ticket vending machines to telephone equipment are scrambling to find computer chips that will give their products more oomph. Solving that problem has become a $35 million-a-year business for Beaverton's RadiSys Corp....

Morgan Park sells in $35 million deal: mystery buyer from Los Angeles lands historic portfolio.
December 8, 1995... Mystery buyer from Los Angeles lands historic portfolio A Southern California company led by Los Angeles investor Richard Wolfen has purchased the jewel-box Morgan Park buildings in downtown Portland for a cool $35 million. Wolfen's group,...

Prudential peruses One Pacific: WCB Properties continues sell-off. (One Pacific Square)
December 8, 1995... WCB Properties continues sell-off In a sign of Portland's rising stature among big-money real estate players, The Prudential is taking a crack at buying the Northwest Natural Gas Co. headquarters in Old Town. Sources said a real estate...

Columbia Sportswear sales jump 24 percent.
December 8, 1995... The tough mother of sportswear is chalking up its fourth consecutive year of record sales with expanded product lines and focused retail strategies. Columbia Sportswear Co. will tally approximately $310 million in sales this year, up 24...

Capital Consultants, Labor Dept. negotiate.
December 8, 1995... Lawyers representing Capitol Consultants, a Portland money management company, met with investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6 as part of an ongoing investigation into possible improprieties regarding...

Despite setback, paramedic group vows to supplant union. (Northwest Paramedic Alliance; Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757)
December 8, 1995... An independent paramedic group trying to drive out the existing union at American Medical Response Northwest has hit a bump in the road. The Northwest Paramedic Alliance filed a petition Nov. 28 with the National Labor Relations Board to force...

Bogle & Gates denies it has problems retaining attorneys.
December 8, 1995... SEATTLE - The Thanksgiving week departure of noted securities attorney Michael Liles only spurred the persistent gossip in Seattle's legal community that the revolving doors at One Union Square are spinning with lawyers leaving Bogle & Gates, the...

Chicago-based Arch Venture Partners targets Puget Sound: fund invests in software, biotech, telecommunications. (venture capital firm)
December 8, 1995... Fund invests in software, biotech, telecommunications SEATTLE - A Chicago-based venture capital firm that specializes in starting software and biotechnology companies has quietly established a Seattle presence. Arch Venture Partners tends to...

Subcontractors feel Boeing strike: after six weeks, suppliers are creating parts stockpile.(Small Business Enterprise)
December 8, 1995... After six weeks, suppliers are creating parts stockpile The good news is that most Boeing suppliers in the Northwest have remained at full production throughout the eight-week Boeing strike. The bad news is that the parts they're making are...

Nordstrom continues expansion despite sluggish sales.(Small Business Enterprise)
December 8, 1995... SEATTLE - Cities woo it, shoppers love it and MBAs study it, but Nordstrom seems to have lost some of its golden touch in the past year. In the past several months, the Seattle-based national retailer has posted sagging comparable-store sales...

Precision Cast shops for new health care deal. (Precision Castparts Corp.)
December 15, 1995... Precision Castparts Corp. is doing some holiday shopping. While others are checking sweater sizes and pricing hobby gear, the benefits manager at Precision is looking for the best deal on health coverage for its 2,200 workers and 2,900...

Hanna Andersson altering market approach: wrinkles in apparel trade spell change for catalog house.
December 15, 1995... Kids mail-order clothier Hanna Andersson is narrowing the focus of its $50 million-a-year business and emphasizing cost controls to deal with soft sales nationwide and an increasingly competitive catalog market. "If there is a theme for us for...

Parker family open five La-Z-Boy outlets. (Parker Enterprises' exclusive license to sell La-z-Boy Furniture in the Portland area)
December 15, 1995... The owners of Parker Furniture have opened the first of five new La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries planned for the Portland area. The new 15,000-square-foot store in Delta Park will diversify the Parker family's retail operations into mid-priced...

Taiwan Semiconductor considers sites in Washington, Oregon. (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.)
December 15, 1995... SEATTLE - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, is expected to decide next month whether to build a $1.2 billion plant in Washington or in Oregon. "We've narrowed it down to three or four...

Nike expands campus footprint. (Nike Inc.)
December 22, 1995... $200 million project to double campus Nike Inc. plans to break ground next summer on a $200 million-plus addition that will double the size of its Beaverton world campus and provide elbow room for 2,600 more employees. Nike expects to...

Warn gears up headquarters in Clackamas. (Warn Industries; Clackamas County, Oregon)
December 22, 1995... Revved up by an impending $50 million-a-year contract to supply four-wheel-drive transfer cases to Ford Motors, Milwaukie's Warn Industries Inc. will erect a new plant and headquarters in Clackamas. Warn, a low-key parts manufacturer that raced...

Smith, Wyden duking it out on airwaves. (Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith; Rep. Ron Wyden; TV advertising)
December 22, 1995... With State Sen. Gordon Smith spending $1,800 for every $1,000 U.S. Rep. Ron Wyden puts into television advertising, time and money are issues as big as taxes and the environment in the campaign for Bob Packwood's Senate seat. The relatively...

Group resurrects Multnomah Hotel. (Multnomah Hotel LLC)
December 22, 1995... Realvest planning Embassy Suites The 84-year-old Multnomah Hotel may soon regain its lost glory. Developers have proposed to turn one of Portland's oldest luxury hotels into one of its newest. A partnership, Multnomah Hotel LLC, says it will...

Mark, Schnitzer join forces in Tanasbourne. (Melvin Mark Properties.; Portland, Oregon's Schnitzer family; Hilsboro, Oregon)
December 22, 1995... Melvin Mark Cos. is teaming up with members of Portland's Schnitzer family to develop a $26 million office complex in Hillsboro's booming Tanasbourne district. The deal is Mark's first-ever development in Portland's suburbs, while extending...

Kaiser chief shifts strategy as health market evolves. (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan CEO David Lawrence)(Interview)
December 22, 1995... A giant among health maintenance organizations, Kaiser Permanente arguably was caught on its heels a few years ago as young HMOs or HMO look-alikes hit the insurance market like locusts. Oregon native David Lawrence, who led Kaiser's Northwest...

U.S. Bancorp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
December 22, 1995... 111 S.W. Fifth Ave., Portland, Ore. 97204 U.S. Bancorp is the last major independent bank in the Northwest, and a recent spate of acquisitions has led the company to describe itself as a super-regional bank company. U.S. Bancorp now has more...

IDC considers downtown sites for headquarters. (Portland, Oregon)
December 29, 1995... A Portland-based design firm that has grown as explosively as its high-tech clients is shopping for a headquarters, a move that could spark a new downtown office development. IDC, a 10-year-old subsidiary of the CH2M Hill engineering firm,...

Failure to win enough contracts kills Coordinated Healthcare. (Coordinated Healthcare Networks Inc.)
December 29, 1995... Coordinated Healthcare Network, a joint venture created by three large Portland medical clinics, is headed for the morgue. Organizers say the groundbreaking venture created by Metropolitan Clinic, Suburban Medical Clinic Inc. and The Portland...

Heald College to open Portland campus.
December 29, 1995... San Francisco-based Heald College is pushing north to offer its training programs to the burgeoning Portland work force. Heald has leased the second and third floors of the Pioneer Park Building at 625 S.W. Broadway to house classrooms and...

Software developer hopes film vaults him into movie biz. (Martin Hash; science fiction film)
December 29, 1995... Steven Spielberg isn't shaking in his Guccis, but a Vancouver software entrepreneur is bringing fighting robots, blazing rockets and hostile space aliens to the silver screen. Martin Hash says he has invested $600,000, out of his own pocket, to...

Mentor Graphics Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
December 29, 1995... 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Ore. 97070 Mentor Graphics Corp. designs, manufactures, markets and services electronic design automation systems and is an industry leader in the field of computer-aided engineering and design. In October...