Business Journal-Portland articles from February 2000

Business Journal-Portland archives from February 2000

Bank stocks pounded despite profits.(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... Banks active in Oregon grew modestly in the fourth quarter of 1999. But investors' continuing fears of interest-rate hikes--punctuated Feb. 2 by the Federal Reserve Board's 0.25 percent rate increase--continue to punish bank share prices. ...

DEQ's plan to clean up River District slammed.
February 4, 2000... The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's $5.1 million plan to clean up. polluted soil in the River District will likely meet resistance from the neighborhood's developers, Hoyt Street Properties LLC. But this is not a case of a...

Russian immigrants love new lives in USA.
February 4, 2000... Stanislav Moukhtarov, a political refugee from Uzbekistan, feels reborn as one of the more than 60,000 Russian-speaking immigrants who have settled in the Portland-metro area in recent years. Moukhtarov came to Portland two and a half-years...

Allen's KXL radio creates Oregon broadcast network.
February 4, 2000... KXL 750 AM has launched Radio Northwest, a statewide network of radio stations that will share in news, talk and ongoing coverage of the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland-based news/talk station will beam seven shows via satellite, from...

Does Oregon Sports Hall of Fame have a quota system?
February 4, 2000... Here's a story to which I'm way too close. Sorry, but I have friends on both sides. Hope that didn't ruin my dramatic build-up: (cue music). This story involves sports, race and one man's sense of self-worth. The man: Thad Spencer. His...

Portland Brewing makes Saxer its own, but brands stay alive.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Nearly three weeks ago, Saxer/Nor'Wester President Steve Goebel and Portland Brewing Co. executives Robert "Mac" and Scott MacTarnahan bumped into each other at the Hall Street Grill in Southwest Portland. As the three sat down for a beer,...

Tribes to take control of PGE's hydro projects.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Portland General Electric's largest single hydropower system will soon be transferred from the utility's authority to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. The agreement provides the tribes the opportunity to purchase a third of the...

The Numbers Game.
February 4, 2000... The Numbers Game ANNUAL PERSONAL EARNINGS WITHIN OREGON INDUSTRY GROUPS Total personal earnings for Oregon:...

Insider Trading.
February 4, 2000... Insider Trading The buying and selling of stock shares by area executives Alfred Gleason Director Tektronix Inc. Shares sold: 1,500 Share price:...

Best Buy to open four stores in Portland area.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Best Buy Co. Inc. has announced its intent to open shop in the Portland area. The Minneapolis-based consumer electronics retailer will open four 45,000 square foot stores in the late spring. The stores will be located at: 3055 S.W. Cedar Hills...

Portland Speedway.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Portland Speedway has selected One-Eighty Inc. to help transform its image, after its change from asphalt parkway to a clay oval venue. One-Eighty will manage media buying, advertising, sponsorship acquisition, marketing and specialevent...

Williams Controls Inc.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Williams Controls Inc. has received two offers to purchase one of its divisions--the agriculture business of Hardee Williams Inc. and related assets. The company has accepted both offers but has not granted exclusivity to either potential...

The Ackerley Group.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Ackerley Group, a Seattle-based media and entertainment company, expanded its dominion in the outdoor advertising arena when it purchased Oregon-based Media Art earlier this week. The purchase price was approximately $14.5 million; Ackerley...

Black & Co.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The National Association of Securities Dealers has fined Black & Co. and former financial officer Dennis Reiter $10,000 for failure to keep the company's net capital above the required $250,000 minimum. Reiter and Black & Co. admitted no...

Paragon Restaurant.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Pearl District's Paragon Restaurant and Bar renewed its contract with Miller Marketing Advertising and Public Relations to plan, negotiate and manage special events. The firm, based in Multnomah Village, has worked with Paragon since August...

Portland Family Entertainment.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Portland Family Entertainment finalized an agreement to purchase the Portland Rockies baseball team from the Northwest League. Though finalized, the agreement is still contingent upon the PFE's successful acquisition of a Triple-A baseball...

Morrow Snowboards Inc.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Morrow Snowboards Inc. announced that it acquired 100 percent of the outstanding shares of International Display Works Inc., a Rocklin, Calif. company that designs, manufactures and distributes liquid crystal displays. Morrow planned to call a...

Centennial Bancorp.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Centennial Bancorp's board of directors gave the green light for the company to repurchase 5 percent of the company's outstanding shares over the next two years. Centennial, which recently announced an 11-for-10 stock split, currently has...

Smash International.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Eugene restaurant company Smash International, franchiser of the Andrew Smash restaurant concept, bought the Jamie's Great Hamburgers locations at 838 N.W. 23rd Ave. in Portland and at 2445 Hilyard St. in Eugene. The restaurants will convert to...

CORRECTIONS.
February 4, 2000... Owners of the Willamette Week are Richard Meeker, Mark Zusman and Russell Martineau. An article in the Jan. 28 edition of The Business Journal spelled Martineau's name incorrectly.

Naitos finally close last of Import Plaza stores.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Naito family will soon close its Import Plaza store in Portland's Old Town, bringing an end to a retail chain that once spread across the city and the Willamette Valley. Changes in retail trends and buying habits have eroded Import...

Acme's puppets strut their stuff at Super Bowl.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Bill Burbach endured two weeks and two ice storms in Atlanta to help organize Disney's Super Bowl halftime show, including the giant, multi-colored puppets created by his company. Acme Scenic & Design's 30 minutes of free TV exposure--10...

Aquarium selects Leopold Ketel for ad campaign.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Oregon Coast Aquarium has selected a new advertising agency, Leopold Ketel & Partners, to oversee its biggest exhibit since Keiko the killer whale. Leopold Ketel beat out the Coates Agency and four other competitors with its "Immerse...

Port solicits public input into planning.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The nine-member board of commissioners that oversees the Port of Portland is inviting the public to participate in the planning of the port's current and future development activities. The board is holding a series of strategic planning...

On-campus kiosks give MBALink a unique look.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Even before their sheepskin is conferred, MBA students struggle with one main question: What good is an MBA if companies don't know about their skills? Conversely, recruiters must make countless campus visits and weed through reams of...

Baseball's owners need to unite.
February 4, 2000... Baseball needs its own Jack Mara. It was Mara, longtime co-owner of New York's football Giants, who in 1962, at a gathering of NFL owners, stood up and reminded several of his squabbling cohorts that their destiny was inexorably entwined....

Portland Center's top floor is no longer an attic.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Portland Center for the Performing Arts next week will unveil a $1 million renovation to its fourth floor, serving as a crowning touch 13 years after it was built. The center's management will use the occasion of a gala dinner and...

E&B's gains in internet ads extends to SF.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Northwest Portland ad agency Elvis & Bonaparte Inc. has opened a satellite office in San Francisco, and hired seven new staff members to handle its growing number of internet accounts. The agency has added four technology clients to its...

House tax chief seeks seller-financing relief.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The effort to undo a tax law change that makes it harder for small business owners to sell their enterprises found a powerful ally in Congress. Rep. Bill Archer, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asked President Clinton to...

CLINTON'S PENSION PLAN TAX CREDIT.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... President Clinton wants to give small businesses a tax credit worth 50 percent of the qualified contributions they make to the retirement plans of rank-and-file employees. Businesses with 100 or fewer employees would be eligible for this...

$10M FIGHT VS. POSTAL HIKE.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Magazine Publishers of America plans a $10 million campaign to fight the US. Postal Service's proposed 15 percent postage increase for periodicals. The industry association, which also will lobby for overall postal reform, says the...

SBA EXPANDS ANSWER DESK.(Small Business Administration)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The Small Business Administration has expanded its answer desk to the internet. Small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs can now e-mail their questions to www.sba.gov. The answer desk staff also will continue to be available...

PTO STARTS ONLINE MAGAZINE.(U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office launched a new monthly online magazine, "PTO Today," that PTO Commissioner Q. Todd Dickenson says will be an "ongoing forum to discuss topics that are of interest to our customers." The magazine...

Insurers have no problem with change.
February 4, 2000... Oregon insurers say they welcome a pending rule that would give employers greater leverage in disputes over workers' compensation contracts. The rule, under consideration by the state's Division of Insurance, would strengthen a requirement...

Steven Koblik.(Pres of Reed College)
February 4, 2000... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Steven Koblik Title: President. Organization: Reed College What we do: Education Education: McClatchy High School in Sacramento; B.A., history and Scandanavian languages and literature,...

Doing triage for 22 months'.(Hutch Johnson, CEO of Cadet Manufacturing Co.)
February 4, 2000... Hutch Johnson wanted a challenge. Cadet gave him one. Warehouseman, truck driver and president. That's how Hutch Johnson learned the ropes in the electrical industry over the decades. Taking over the family business, electrical parts...

AMA's Reardon pushes health care in campaign.(American Medical Association President Tom Reardon)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... If you're looking for American Medical Association President Tom Reardon, just follow the presidential campaign trail. Reardon, a Portland family practitioner, called last week from the airport in Des Moines, Iowa, where he'd landed to...

HEALTH-CARE REFORM STRUGGLE BEGINS.(Dr. John Santa, the Oregon Health Plan's deputy administrator)
February 4, 2000... Dr. John Santa, the Oregon Health Plan's deputy administrator heading up this year's health-care reform, likened what's ahead to "a strategic six-month planning retreat." Starting Feb. 18, the state Health Resources Commission will begin...

DECISIONS? WHAT DECISIONS?(health care; Dr. Ian Morrison)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Dr. Ian Morrison had this prediction for the future of health care: Large companies will decide to cut their benefits and pass the management baton onto Fidelity or other outsourcing companies. A greater share of the cost would fall to...

A SELF-HELP BOOK FOR THE SPECIALISTS.(Integrated Publishing)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Eugene-based Integrated Publishing has come out with its second edition of "Health Resources Online: A Guide for Mental Health and Addiction Specialists." The book, compiled by a group of five mental health researchers, reviewed more than 300...

Fluence deal's worthy of notice, even if it's tardy.
February 4, 2000... Privately held Fluence Technology Inc. is a perfect example of how news value is relative. A spokesperson for the company, which makes software for the design and integration of mixed-signal devices, let us know that the company was going...

Which is taller, 'Big Pink' or 'Tower of Off-White'?(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... When you gaze at Ptown's skyline, obvious standouts are the Wells Fargo Tower and "Big Pink," more soberly known as U.S. Bancorp Tower. But which is the biggest of 'em all? As I recently found out, there is no easy answer to this question....

Behind the ACI buyout.(Associated Chemists Inc.)(Company Profile)
February 4, 2000... Dick Wilch grew a little concerned last July when Louisiana-Pacific Corp. instructed him to locate potential buyers for one of its subsidiaries. After all, Wilch was the top executive at that subsidiary, called Associated Chemists Inc., or...

S.F. financier finds ACT a perfect fit for investment.(Industrial Growth Partners)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... When Gottfried Tittiger received a telephone call touting the virtues of a specialty chemical company in Portland, Oregon, he immediately understood that the unnamed business fit his profile of an acquisition target. Keep talking, the San...

Selling ACI was part of refocusing effort for L-P.(Louisiana-Pacific Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Strategies can change fast at a publicly held company. Louisiana-Pacific Corp., pursuing diversification in the mid-1990s, acquired a string of companies, including Portland's Associated Chemists Inc. ACI produced a variety of...

From ACI to olives, the Rosenbergs won't retire.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Some folks dream of retiring in a foreign country they love. A few hardy souls dream of using their retirement savings to launch a new business enterprise, age be damned. Dick and Mary Rosenberg did both, exporting olive oil from their...

Learning about buyouts--from the inside out.(Interview)
February 4, 2000... Over the last half of 1999; Dick Wilch learned what it was like to conduct a management buyout of an industrial company. The 52-year-old executive was president of Associated Chemists Inc., a 70-year-old Portland company whose three divisions...

Corillian, cameraworld.com: two different paths.(Company Profile)
February 4, 2000... In May 1997, when Ted Spooner and fellow employees bought out their division from CheckFree Corp., backers weren't exactly pounding down the doors to finance them. Instead, managers and staff members who would work for the new company,...

Will cameraworld.com's corporate culture change?(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... It's natural to think that a cool $60 million extracted from venture capitalists would change the way a fledgling company operates. It's especially true when the company in question hopes to transform from a retail/mail order specialist to...

Consolidated financial services on the horizon.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... Whether planning for retirement, launching a small business, taking a company public or selling a family business, few would suggest the financial services industry in this country is simple and user-friendly Laws written more than 50 years...

Top 25 accounting firms.(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... Top 25 accounting firms Ranked by number of metro-area staff Rank last Metro Rank year Companies ...

Galleria gallery to give Russian art a venue in Portland.(Russian Gallery Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... A Russian art gallery opens this week in the Galleria in downtown Portland, and the timing couldn't be better. Last month, Portland launched the three-month series of Russian cultural events known as Winterfest, an arts extravaganza held in...

Food from Mother Russia.(increase in Russian food businesses in Portland, Oregon)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... Mikhail Pereverzin is in an entrepreneurial hurry these days. In less than three years, the 33-year-old established, the city's first Russian food market and launched a wholesale food-products business. In December, he and his brother, Sergei,...

Congress considers restricting OSHA's authority.(Occupational Safety and Health Administration)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... It's a manager's worst nightmare: Your subordinates make a controversial decision without checking with you first, your boss quickly overrides that decision, internal e-mails contradict what you say about the decision, and a member of...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... ARCHITECTURE WPH Architecture hired Louis Kuan as architect for its hospitality design team. BOORA Architects Inc. added project architects Narada Golden, Jerry Conduff, Robert Hoffman, Lisa McClellan, Michael Milakovich and William...

A toast to this craft beer merger.(Portland Brewing and Saxer Brewing)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2000... The decision by the management teams at Portland Brewing and Saxer Brewing took both vision and guts. The craft brewing industry is one in which ego and pride play substantial roles. Despite the shake-out among craft brewers nationally, many...

Inside the H-P torture chamber.(Hewlett Packard reliability laboratories)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2000... I went to the Hewlett-Packard compound in Camas, Wash., in search of the secrets behind H-P printers' legendary dependability. I met with Paul Medica, an engineer who works in the reliability laboratories. What I found were H-P printers...

Oregon offers many donor-advised charitable choices.
February 4, 2000... In the Fourth Estate column which appeared Jan. 14, editor Dan Cook discussed the National Philanthropic Trust, a donor-advised philanthropic fund based in Philadelphia. In response, we have received several commentaries from Oregon-based...

SMART: One-on-one reading program needs volunteers who care.
February 4, 2000... Every Wednesday morning I leave my house and drive to North Portland to spend the best hour of my week at Boise Eliot elementary school. I sign in the visitors log in the office and head up the stairs to meet Wendy Douglas, my volunteer...

A look at the region's Winners & Losers.
February 4, 2000... Walt Pollock, PGE Pollock, a senior v.p. at PGE, and his wife Louise are spearheading the corporate support campaign for Cascades AIDS Project's AIDS Walk 2000. The fundraiser isn't until fall. Yet the Pollocks have already secured $40,000...

SLAPSHOTS.
February 4, 2000... 'Magnolia' Length does matter Like a Herman Melville novel, "Magnolia" didn't seem to want to end. Cut this film to two hours and we would have added another half-puck. Director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson gets docked for not...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
February 4, 2000... Owners of the Willamette Week are Richard Meeker, Mark Zusman and Russell Martineau. An article in the Jan. 28 edition of The Business Journal spelled Martineau's name incorrectly.

OHSU goal: cardiac center.
February 11, 2000... To boost its revitalized heart-surgery program, Oregon Health Sciences University says it will develop a new center for cardiovascular disease in the next year. The center, to be located in either an existing or newly built structure on...

Can toxic site become brownfield showcase?
February 11, 2000... The Rose City Plating redevelopment tale is thick with plot lines and rich in characters. It features a rising developer, an applauded concept and a national showcase, not to mention a library debate, hazardous waste and a criminal who takes it...

Off-the-court press wins Blazer fan raves.
February 11, 2000... Having just played a key role in a January win over the Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers guard Bonzi Wells sat at his locker, quietly smiling as he flipped through a mammoth construction-paper card signed by 30 kids. "Very, very cool,"...

Wieden & Kennedy kills idea to hire Cuban boy for ad spot.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Wieden & Kennedy says it was bouncing around ideas and never seriously intended to use Elian Gonzalez as a poster boy for an internet search site it represents, says an agency spokeswoman. Wieden's Liz Hartge said the 6-year-old Cuban boy's...

How Benito's art found its way to Margarita's gallery.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... No matter how large a business becomes, when you break it down, its success or failure depends upon relationships. People who thrive in their work over a long period of time tend to be people who, either consciously or that other way,...

Washington auto dealers busy after state goes to a flat $35 fee.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Washington's status as a state with one of the lowest cars-to-people ratios may be changing with the lowering of vehicle licensing fees. Auto dealers in Clark County say they've seen a sharp uptick in sales, one that they mostly attribute...

Portland to get its own version of The Stranger.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Seattle's hippest alternative weekly The Stranger will launch a Portland edition sometime this summer, steaming up the weekly competition. The city of Roses version is expected to have the same spice as its Seattle parent, known-for its...

Insider Trading.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
February 11, 2000... Insider Trading The buying and selling of stock shares by area executives Cyrus Tsui Chairman Lattice Semiconductor Shares exercised: 7,696...

PGE names new leader; Nike's stock plummets.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... * After a dozen years with Ken Harrison at the helm of Portland General Electric, the utility will have turnover at the top. Peggy Fowler, president of the utility, will take over as chief executive officer when Harrison retires March 31....

Nike Inc.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Nike Inc. stock continued plummeting to new 52-week lows in the wake of unsettling announcements about future earnings, hitting the 32 3/8 mark on Wednesday A day earlier, Nike stock opened at $45 a share and fell to $37 by the day's close....

Michael Powell.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Michael Powell said Powell's Books has proposed to pay 75 percent of the cost for a court reporter to transcribe the store's ongoing contract negotiations. Powell, in a letter to the store's staff, said the move would provide "verbatim common...

George Fox University.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... George Fox University has publicly launched its $22 million Legacy Campaign fund-raising drive for new facilities, scholarships; faculty development and technology. The school has a good head start on its goal, having raised nearly two-thirds,...

Northwest Pipe Co.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Northwest Pipe Co. has cemented a $7 million deal with Westra Construction Corp. to supply more than 119,000 feet of 42-inch water pipe for a project near Port Charlotte, Fla. The Portland-headquartered company is scheduled to deliver a portion...

KinderCare Learning Centers Inc.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... KinderCare Learning Centers Inc., a Portland-based provider of child care and education services, announced plans to open a facility in Burnsville, Minn. This will be one of the 1,154 centers KinderCare has developed across the nation, serving...

Southwest Washington Medical Center.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Southwest Washington Medical Center's Michael Ontekean, D.O., was recently honored by the American Board of Internal Medicine with board certification in interventional cardiology. This medical subspecialty focuses on catheter-based treatments...

Your Northwest Travel Marts.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Two new retail outlets have opened at Portland International Airport. Port officials awarded contracts for the retailers, Your Northwest Travel Marts and Hudson News, in December. Your Northwest Travel Marts, where locally grown and made food...

Oregon Health Sciences University.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Gov. John Kitzhaber has nominated former U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield to serve on Oregon Health Sciences University's Board of Directors. A confirmation vote in the Senate is expected to take place Feb. 24. Kitzhaber and Kohier praised Hatfield as a...

Red Lions Hotels & Inns.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Red Lions Hotels & Inns appointed Tom Murray, a Promus Hotel Corp. veteran, as its chief operating officer. Murray replaces Jim Dina, who resigned late last year after leading an effort to re-invigorate the brand. The Vancouver, Wash.-based...

Reebok.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Reebok has reported a slight profit from operations on top of a drop in net sales for 1999. Net sales fell to $2.8 billion from 1998's $3.2 billion. The net profit from operations numbers were $400,000, or a penny per share, for the fourth...

CORRECTIONS.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... In the Feb. 4 article "Russian immigrants love new lives in USA," the administrator of the Refugee/Immigrant SelfEmployment (RISE) program was misidentified. Mercy Corps International administers RISE, including its business training and credit...

Some in city think AT&T ruling will go their way.(Portland, Oregon/ATand T legal battle over broadband open access)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... Any day, the Ninth Circuit US. Court of Appeals could render a decision in Portland's "broadband open access" lawsuit with AT&T. At stake: faster and more efficient internet services for all Portland-area residents and businesses. ...

Another telecom firm awaits AT&T outcome.(Western Integrated Networks has offered its services to Portland, Oregon)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2000... A third telecommunications provider has contacted the city in hopes of offering broadband-internet and cable-television services. The incipient Western Integrated Networks, which last week won a cable license in Sacramento, hopes to offer...