Business Journal-Portland articles from December 1999

Business Journal-Portland archives from December 1999

Allen radio empire poised to expand.
December 3, 1999... Paul Allen, the billionaire owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, is considering adding more radio stations to his one-station portfolio. Allen, who purchased KXL and 95.5 FM in October 1998 from long-time owner Les Smith, has reportedly had...

Renaissance Holdings agrees to $300M sale.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Irving Levin, a classical musician turned financial executive, has orchestrated his biggest deal to date: the sale of his Renaissance Holdings Inc. credit-card business to publicly held Household International for about $300 million in stock...

Informix's relocation advances city agenda.
December 3, 1999... The ad might read like this: "Growing international software company with highly skilled, well-paid employees seeks several floors of space in core downtown Portland building for five-year lease, including option to expand. Seeking light-rail...

Latest development trend: Catellus funds city planner.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... This week's Real Estate Quarterly Focus section takes a close look at an agreement between the city of Gresham and Cateilus Development Corp., a large San Francisco-area developer. The contract calls for Catellus to put $87,120--the...

Clackamas CC boldly goes after $47 million in public funding.
December 3, 1999... Clackamas County voters could ultimately pay for the state's refusal to increase Clackamas Community College's operating funds. In unveiling a $100 million facilities master plan, the school's Board of Education will likely ask voters to...

Liglitwave's parent to be more attentive.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Electric Lightwave Inc. has gained a new chief executive and will soon have the full attention of a corporate parent that is getting out of the utilities business to focus exclusively on telecommunications. Rudy Graf replaces Daryl Ferguson...

Parents who rape their kids don't deserve a break.
December 3, 1999... I have a friend whose mother is a pedophile. My friend is middle-aged and has made a life for himself despite his childhood trauma. He knows what his mother is and has confronted her. But he's never turned her in. So she's still out there, on...

Seattle protests against WTO delay conference.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... * Thousands protested at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization, demonstrating against the affects that global trade agreements have had on labor and the environment. The protests delayed sessions of the conference and also erupted...

PacifiCare.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Major health plans serving Oregonians said they would offer external review of their coverage decisions. Starting Jan. 1, members of PacifiCare who are refused coverage for a medical treatment will be offered binding review of the decision by...

Tiger Warren.
December 3, 1999... Restaurateur Tiger Warren and his three sons died Nov. 27 when the family's float plane crashed into the Columbia River. Warren, founder of Portland's Macheezmo Mouse fast-food chain, relinquished executive control of Macheezmo in 1995, when...

PacifiCorp.
December 3, 1999... ScottishPower completed its $10.9 billion take-over of Portland's PacifiCorp, taking control of a utility that serves 1.5 million customers. In six states. ScottishPower negotiated rate concessions, in each state, including $51 million in...

ECS Integrated Technology Solutions LLC.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Fresh acquisition news included a purchase by Los Angeles computer consulting firm Computer Sciences Corp. of Portland's ECS Integrated Technology Solutions LLC for an undisclosed amount. The local company, which pulled in revenue of $18.5...

Teleport Inc.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Also on the acquisition front, OneMain.com Inc., a publicly held Virginia internet firm, bought Portland's Teleport Inc., the largest privately owned internet access provider in the Northwest. The local company employs 50 and provides internet...

Digimarc Corp.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Lake Oswego's Digimarc Corp. has upped the expected price range of its initial public offering, from $11-$13 to $13-$15 per share. The company, which produces a digital identification process analogous to the traditional watermark, said it now...

Precision Castparts Corp.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Precision Castparts Corp. bought the assets of Reiss Valves, an English company that makes knife gate valves used in various manufacturing processes, for approximately $3 million. Portland's PCC will operate Reiss, located in Peterborough,...

Adidas America Inc.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Adidas America Inc. laid off about 50 employees, primarily from its apparel division. The Beaverton-based company said most of the slashed positions were in the Porfiand area. The layoffs come after a year-long stagnation sales of the company's...

Bureau of Planning.
December 3, 1999... The city of Portland tapped Gil Kelley, planning director the past 10 years for Berkeley, Calif., to head Portland's Bureau of Planning. Keiley, who was raised in Portland, starts in January. He will lead a revamped bureau that is overseen by...

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
December 3, 1999... Meanwhile, former Portland Development Commission chief Pat LaCrosse, said he will retire after a three-year stint heading the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The museum, a major tourist attraction for Portland, said it will launch a...

Portland Oregon Visitors Association.
December 3, 1999... Things may soon look different in ads promoting Oregon as a tourist destination. The state's "Things Look Different Here" campaign will get a make-over, tourism official Deborah Wakefield told The Associated Press. The state plans to modernize...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
December 3, 1999... * The names of sisters Patti Gosser and Roberta Barger, owners of Sylvia's Italian Restaurant, were switched in the photo captions located on the cover and contents pages of the Nov. 19, Women in Business section. Gosser was pictured on the...

$12M gift to UO makes benefactors feel terrific.
December 3, 1999... Charles "Chuck" Lills and wife Gwen have written a giant check to the University of Oregon in the name of public education. He's pledged to use his high-tech company's resources to help ensure that his newly endowed buildings won't be obsolete...

Manufacturing sector should have a good 2000.
December 3, 1999... The year 2000 outlook for Oregon's manufacturing sector, two leading economic analysts contend, is looking good. Good, but not necessarily great. So said Dae Baek, the state's senior economist for the Office of Economic Analysis, and...

TV execs find that other screen profitable, too.
December 3, 1999... The newest show on Portland television stations is not the family drama or sitcom, it's dot-corn advertising. Over the past two years, KOIN, KGW and KPTV have joined a growing list of broadcasters launching web sites that showcase...

800.com likes stature of its latest group of givers.
December 3, 1999... Portland electronics retailer 800.com pulled in $57 million in new venture capital, garnering support from some of Silicon Valley's biggest names in venture finance. The cash comes as the e-commerce company embarks on a series of vital,...

Y2K issue ignored by 1.5 million small businesses.
December 3, 1999... Up to 1.5 million small-business owners won't take any steps to address the Year 2000 computer problem before Jan. 1, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The new estimate is based on an October Gallup Organization...

ENTREPRENEURS FORM OWN PUBLIC POLICY COMMISSION.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Nearly half of all Americans nave the wrong idea about who is responsible for the nation's economic growth, reports the National Commission on Entrepreneurship. A poll commissioned by the new organization found that 45 percent of the...

WOMEN'S CENTERS WIN RIGHT TO SEEK CONTINUED FUNDING.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... President Clinton is expected to sign legislation that will allow existing Women's Business Centers to apply for additional funding from the Small Business Administration once their original five-year grants end. The House passed the...

INDEPENDENT INVENTORS VOW TO CONTINUE PATENT FIGHT.
December 3, 1999... Independent inventors who oppose changes in the U.S. patent system said they will continue their fight even though patent legislation was tacked on to the budget bill passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton. Steven Michael...

Upscale child-care centers coming.
December 3, 1999... Construction is under way in Hilisboro, Tigard and Vancouver; Wash., on what Bob Scanlan calls "the Mercedes Benz of childcare centers." Scanlan, principal of Portland-based ScanlanKemperBard Companies, has negotiated a joint venture with...

$200M PA consultant to launch IT unit here.
December 3, 1999... A Portland Interactive design and marketing agency will become the headquarters for a new business unit being launched by a large, Pittsburgh-based information-technology consulting firm. The local firm, Uvona, was acquired by Rapidigm Inc....

Alan Richardson.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Alan Richardson Organization: PacifiCorp, now part of the Scottish Power Group Title: CEO What we do: Serve electricity to our customers Education: Jarrow Grammar School; B.S., electrical...

Galloping to a new horizon.
December 3, 1999... Risk-taking is second nature to the folks at White Horse Ten years ago, White Horse Studios was recording commercial jingles with Nashville musicians. Now it is one of the hottest internet ad agencies around. For a lot of industry...

Leykis' KOTK success proves AM talk draws.
December 3, 1999... Syndicated talk-show host Tom Leykis' ratings grew this past summer, boosted by his most-devoted listeners--men. KOTK 1080AM, which airs the Leykis show from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, received a 6.8 rating among men 25 to 54...

KOIN THINK WEATHER'S GOOD AT OMSI.
December 3, 1999... KOIN-TV will begin broadcasting its weather forecasts live each day from a 40-by-30-foot glass studio inside OMSI's Earth Science Hall. KOIN-TV's Nexrad Weather Center includes computing systems, television cameras and chroma-key...

SLY MOVES ON.(Brief Article)
December 3, 1999... Clear Channel general manager Clint Sly resigned last Tuesday to take over as chief executive of a Tampa, Fla.-based magazine publishing company he helped found. Sly's been with the radio chain for 16 years. Most recently, he's overseen half of...

Mt. Hood protesters won't let a little snow stop them.
December 3, 1999... Young protesters, who have taken on aliases like "Wolverine" and "Cypress," continue to hunker down in intricate platforms rigged among lofty old-growth treetops of Mt. Hood National Forest. Some have been living in the tree stands of roadless...

Beaulieu and Embree finally leave ORTDF behind.
December 3, 1999... After a long period of inactivity, John Beaulieu and Wayne Embree have formally ended their 13-year stint as managers of the Oregon Resource & Technology Development Fund. Working under the name Cascadia Pacific Management, Beaulieu and...

BANCWEST DECLARES SPLIT.
December 3, 1999... Anyone who owns stock in BaucWest Corp. is about to own twice as many shares. The publicly traded holding corporation that owns Bank of the West--the eighth largest financial institution in terms of Portland-area deposits--and First Hawaiian...

SBA LENDING CHANGE.
December 3, 1999... The local loan office of Commerce Loan Company has changed its name to U.S. Bank/SBA Division. The name change is the final step in U.S. Bancorp's acquisition of Commerce Loan Co.'s parent, San Diego based Bank of Commerce. It also reflects...

EUGENE BANK LEADS SBA PACK.(Statistical Data Included)
December 3, 1999... For the second consecutive year, Small Business Administration statistics show that Eugene's Pacific Continental Bank originated the most SBA loans in Oregon in the federal fiscal year that ended Oct. 31. Pacific Continental, designated by the...

PAULSON CUTS WEB DEAL.
December 3, 1999... In an attempt to reach more investors interested in public offerings by small companies, Portland's Paulson Investment Co. has struck a deal with a financial web site based in Los Angeles. The agreement calls for the online service, Direct...

OLYMPIC V IN FORMATION.
December 3, 1999... Olympic Veuture Partners hopes to conduct a first closing on its fifth venture capital fund by the end of the year. Olympic, with offices in Seattle and Portland, anticipates raising about $100 million, and would cap the fund at $125 million....

WILSHIRE ANTES UP.
December 3, 1999... Wilshire Credit Corp. has acquired a loan portfolio and obtained the rights to service a loan portfolio for the first time since its parent company emerged from bankruptcy. Both deals came courtesy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ...

PACIFICORP PLANS DEBT OFFERING.
December 3, 1999... PacifiCorp has filed with regulators to sell up to $1.55 billion in first mortgage bonds, unsecured debt and preferred stock. The utility told the SEC that the offering, combined with $300 million previously registered securities, is worth...

What's news? When OHSU changes its labor counsel.
December 3, 1999... Hold on a second there, esquire. Put down the phone, put away the poison pen and bear with me for just a few minutes. I thought about writing this column item two weeks ago, but held off, thinking things would blow over. But I'm still...

A big deal for Gresham.
December 3, 1999... As it gets ready to renew a unique development contract with a large San Francisco developer, the city of Gresham has raised the bar on Golden State co-opting. In January, the Gresham City Council agreed to accept monthly payments worth...

Project has experts scratching their heads.(Gresham arrangement with Catellus Development)
December 3, 1999... "The public, as well as property owners, benefit from land-use planning, so it's both the general public and the applicant who ought to be paying the bill. It's a question of fairness, because there's a benefit to everybody." Tim Ramis,...

Is Southshore being built on a 'slippery slope'?(Catellus Development project)
December 3, 1999... Those familiar with Gresham community development say Catellus project manager Terry Vanderkooy is one of the city's best planners. But besides that, what does Catellus get for its $87,000-plus? In managing the Catellus project from...

Gresham's turmoil: budget woes, council clashes.
December 3, 1999... In the last 25 years, Gresham has grown from 10,000 residents to more than 85,000, making it Oregon's fourth-largest city. And if such rapid expansion brings inevitable growing pains, Gresham's agony must feel like a pounding migraine...

Fast-tracking works for some, but wetlands suffer.
December 3, 1999... The "fast-tracking" of a development like Southshore Corporate Park is a boon to the city and a boon to the developer, mainly because tax and rental revenue from the project is generated faster. But not everyone agrees that faster is...

Environmentalists set sights on the 'big picture'.
December 3, 1999... On the front line of metro-wide development, Portland environmental groups often have to pick their battles. Recently, when urban naturalist Mike Houck kayaked down the Columbia Slough--a city waterway for which he has traditionally sung...

Gresham deal portends city funding trends in U.S.
December 3, 1999... As developers and cities across the West grow closer to each other; the Gresham-Catellus project-manager program is a logical step. The arrangement, whereby Catellus has put money into Gresham's general fund in exchange for Gresham...

Top area commercial property management firms.
December 3, 1999... Top area commercial property management firms Ranked by square footage managed Metro-area Total metro- ...

Retaining your customers should be your No. 1 goal.
December 3, 1999... When you develop a marketing plan to grow or expand your business, put yourself in the shoes of your clientele. How do consumers reach a decision to buy what you offer? How can you provide them the greatest level of service before the sale? ...

A dollars and sense idea.(Automated Payment Systems LLC)
December 3, 1999... Jeff Cole and Tom Smith are sure they have a product of value. Now if they could find an efficient way of marketing it, they might generate some decent revenue. Their business, Automated Payment Systems LLC, holds licenses to sell certain...

Ensuring continuity of family businesses is a test.
December 3, 1999... Americans are living longer and staying healthier these days. The three-generation family--children, parents and grandparents all alive and kicking--is commonplace, and four - and even five-generation families are much less rare than they were...

Does growing telecom world hurt small businesses?
December 3, 1999... Ever since the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, small business consumers have likely heard more about mega-mergers in the telecommunications industry rather than experienced what was supposed to be one of the key goals of the act...

'Tis the season to ring the register ... ho, ho, hum.
December 3, 1999... The season to be jolly is upon us. It is also the season to sell. But it seems it's also the season to be slack. The excuse has been--we can never get enough good help. That's a bunch of fruitcake. There's plenty of help out there--they...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
December 3, 1999... ARCHITECTURE Soderstrom Architects PC added four new employees: Julie Snow and Todd Willoughby, architect interns; Eric Wilcox, architect; and Rachel Sowieja, interior designer. Fredrick Zal, with WPH Architecture, recieved the...

Alliance launches web site.
December 3, 1999... Two local companies, Creative Media Development Inc. and Leopold Ketel & Partners, have been picked to bolster Portland's budding Creative Services Alliance. The alliance, which represents nearly 13,500 employees working in 800 Portland...

We'll miss Tiger Warren.
December 3, 1999... Tiger Warren wasn't your prototypical Oregon business executive. Where many of his generation are conservative, private, and low-profile, Warren was cut from a different cloth. He enjoyed the spotlight. He didn't mind flaunting his wealth. He...

Taking stock in amateur traders.(American Express)
December 3, 1999... American Express knows something about online stock traders that online stock traders don't even know about themselves. The majority of them are destined to lose money. Most armchair stock traders--whether they're willing to admit it or...

Airlines treat people like freight instead of customers.
December 3, 1999... Monopolies, and, to a similar extent oligarchies, tend to focus on maximizing profits without alienating too many customers. That's a benefit of being a monopoly or oligarchy Your customers are captive and, as long as they're not too unhappy...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.(Letter to the Editor)
December 3, 1999... Natural Resource Defense Council addresses Williamette Industries To the editor: Thank you to Brian Back for his Nov. 12 article on Willamette Industries' "certification" of forest practices under the American Forest and Paper...

Insider Trading.(tabular data, no text)
December 3, 1999... Insider Trading The buying and selling of stock shares by area executives Sidney Deboer Chairman Lithia Motors Shares disposed: 23,000 Share price: NA Share value: ...

Renovation urged for faltering Galleria.
December 10, 1999... Christmas is supposed to enrich retailers, but the handful of stores left in downtown Portland's Galleria building are finding coal in their stockings. The years-long decline of the once fashionable boutique mall, located on Southwest 10th...

AT&T may be ready to settle access suit.(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... AT&T and Portland city leaders have "agreed in principle" to discuss possible dissolution terms of the phone company's much-ballyhooed open-access, internet-line lawsuit appeal against the city. City Commissioner Erik Sten said a...

Internet service team a winner for clients.(Providenza & Boekelheide Inc.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
December 10, 1999... As the internet has gone from a business novelty to a business necessity, entire cottage industries have grown up around the idea of helping small- and mid-sized businesses hook up to the internet. In contrast, Providenza & Boekelheide...

Multi-story office slated for key River District property.
December 10, 1999... With only a few months left in the Portland Development Commission's review process, just one piece of a key River District project off Northwest Naito Parkway remains to be put in place. The plan calls for construction of about seven...

Christmas 1999: Retailers revel in profit-packed internet sales.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... When future academics chronicle the history of retailing, they may point to the holiday shopping season of 1999 as the time when electronic commerce came of age. E-commerce has received plenty of hype in recent years, and a few internet...

Service aimed at homeowner nets funding.(Brief Article)
December 10, 1999... Handyman Online is doing a little expanding and remodeling of its own, thanks to a $1 million-plus investment from a San Jose company. Beaverton-based Handyman Online received $1.25 million in debt financing from Imperial Creditcorp Inc. of...

Top hunger-fighting group is hungry for your cash.(Oregon Food Bank)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... The Oregon Food Bank has become one of the state's leading nonprofits when it comes to community appeal. Since its creation as the result of a merger in 1988, people have grown increasingly fond of contributing to OFB. An independent survey...

Reel.com hopes its IPO will reel in investors.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Hollywood Entertainment Corp. subsidiary Reel.com Inc. filed documents with the. SEC to raise up to $60 million in an Initial public offering. Wilsonville based Hollywood previously said it wou1d sell Reel.com. shares representing a minority...

Analogy Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * The Avant! Corp. of Fremont, Calif. agreed to buy Beaverton's Analogy Inc. for $24 million in cash, or $2.48 per share. The Beaverton operations will remain in place, with few, if any, job cuts, the companies said. Analogy employs 80 people...

Praegitzer Industries Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Another acquisition of a high-tech company was completed when Bermuda's Tyco International Ltd. finalized its $165 million purchase of Praegitzer Industries Inc., the Tualatin maker of printed circuit boards. The terms amount to $5.50 in cash...

WebTrends Corp.(Brief Article)
December 10, 1999... * WebSideStory of San Diego, Calif., filed a law suit against Portland rival WebTrends Corp., claiming copyright and trade dress infringement. The Southern California company also obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal district...

WebCriteria Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Another company involved in evaluating web site usage, Portland's WebCriteria Inc., secured a first round of financing totaling $5 million. President Alistair Williamson said the company intends to use the capital to advance its services,...

Fios.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Financing was also uncovered by Fios, a national provider of electronic discovery services for litigators. The local company's initial round of seed funding yielded $750,000 from angel investors in Seattle and Portland. Fios plans to use the...

Gasoline tax.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Businesses, trudkers and labor plan to jointly spend $3 million to $5 million to campaign for a nickel-a-gallon increase in Oregon's gasoline tax in the May primary. election. The coalition, operating under the name Fair Funding for Better...

Columbia Sportswear Co.
December 10, 1999... * Columbia Sportswear Co. said Friday it will, open a London. office to directly manage the development of its brand in the United Kingdom. The Portland apparel maker currently distributes products in the U.K. through a company called Shoon...

FEI Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Tokyo Electron Limited will serve as distributor for FEI Co.'s charged-particle beam products in Japan FEI, based in Hillsboro, estimates that market in Japan at $150 million annually with 160 percent. growth projected by 2003. TEL is a...

Associated Chemists Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Management at Portland's Associated Chemists Inc., buoyed by a San Francisco investment firm, will buy their business from its parent company, Louisiana- Pacific Corp. The company which makes sealants, adhesives and coatings, employs about...

Skies America International Publishing and Communications.(Brief Article)
December 10, 1999... * Specialty publisher Skies America International Publishing and Communications won a contract .to produce World Traveler, the inflight magazine of Northwest Airlines. The Portland publish er produces the inflight magazines for many airlines,...

Oregon Health and Sciences University.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 1999... * Research awards to Oregon Health and Sciences University increased from $120.5 million in.1998 to $139.5 million in 1999. A previous story reported an incorrect figure for 1999.