Business Journal-Portland articles from July 1999

Business Journal-Portland archives from July 1999

Now Best Buy wants a piece of the pie.(electronics company)
July 2, 1999... Intent on expanding into the Northwest, electronics superstore Best Buy Co. has signed leases for at least three Portland-area locations, and is looking at more. Minneapolis-based Best Buy, a Wall Street darling the past year, promises to...

Its losses mounting, BlueCross cuts back.(Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon)
July 2, 1999... To cut costs, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon is planning to reduce its 4,000-member agent work force. Though the exact number is still uncertain, insurance agents say it could be as much as half of those doing business with the...

OrCAD boss can cash in big if he puts in one 8-hour day.(Mike Bosworth)
July 2, 1999... What's your idea of a healthy payday? Mike Bosworth, OrCAD chief executive officer, will receive a $125,000 bonus if he's on the job a day after his company's proposed merger with Cadence Design Systems Inc. is consummated. If he makes it...

Hoyt Street's Williams sued over failed venture.(Homer G. Williams)
July 2, 1999... Portland developer and investor Homer G. Williams is being sued for more than $8 million by former partners of a failed business venture on an island in the West Indies. Filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the suit stems...

InFocus projectors made in China, for China only.(InFocus Systems Inc.)
July 2, 1999... InFocus Systems Inc. has reached a manufacturing agreement with China's largest electronics company, immediately establishing a major presence in the world's most-populous nation. The Wilsonville-based maker of projection devices has inked...

VA Cancer Research Center fits into new building.(Veterans Affairs)
July 2, 1999... Researchers at the Northwest Veterans Affairs Cancer Research Center have more elbow room than they've had in years. The new $30 million center, located atop Pill Hill, has almost doubled the lab space of most doctors working jointly for...

APP suggests putting probation office in Mecca Building.(Association for Portland Progress)
July 2, 1999... The Association for Portland Progress has proposed an alternative site for a controversial probation office Multnomah County wants to open in downtown Portland, but county officials already have doubts that it will make a suitable location. ...

PR agency influence makes its move.(public relations)
July 2, 1999... When Influence, a fast-growing St. Louis,Mo.-based public relations agency, decided to expand, the internet-focused company first looked at internet hubs Seattle and San Francisco. But eventually it chose Portland, a less expensive market with...

Bulk-terminal exporter gets one-year rate deal.
July 2, 1999... In another example of economic troubles overseas having repercussions here, a bulk-mineral exporter at the Port of Portland has wrangled a one-year rate concession from the port to cope with a downturn in its business. The port has decided...

Blazers' media arm goes after college radio action.(Trail Blazers)
July 2, 1999... Paul Allen's sports marketing firm is in talks to acquire a college broadcast radio company as part of its plan to become a full-service agency for collegiate athletics, said Harry Hutt, senior vice president of Allen's company, Action Sports...

Airport expansion will continue through 2003.(Portland International Airport)
July 2, 1999... The largest and most costly expansion of the Portland International Airport to date was outlined by airport officials at a recent presentation detailing the four-year, $400 million development plan. Airport officials concede the expansion...

United Healthcare's focus now on big fish.(United Healthcare Inc.'s coverage of larger employers)
July 9, 1999... Two years after its splash into the Oregon market, United Healthcare Inc. is pulling back from its money-losing, small-group coverage to go after the more lucrative larger employers. The Minnesota-based insurer lost $1.5 million in Oregon...

Eastside artists in a quandary.(studios as illegal residences in Portland, OR's industrial zone)
July 9, 1999... For two decades, Milton Wilson has lived and painted abstract watercolors in a loft located in an industrially zoned area on Portland's inner eastside. Now, the city fire marshal has told Wilson and other artists living in the same building on...

Water treatment company treads clear path to growth.(Blace Filtronics Inc.)
July 9, 1999... A Vancouver, Wash., firm is using plant skeletons to make water fit for human consumption and to make itself a major player in the municipal water treatment industry. Blace Filtronics Inc. is hoping its novel combination of an accepted...

North Portland's Jubitz Truck Stop grows again.
July 9, 1999... Jubitz Truck Stop in North Portland is revving-up a major expansion that will add another 45,000-square-feet of space to its operations. The truck stop expansion includes everything from an 80-seat movie theater to a second dance floor for...

Nike goes 'street-level' with its Niketown ads.
July 9, 1999... The posters you might have seen on telephone poles around town are Nike's latest, low-key way to lure people to Niketown and advertise Nike apparel. "For a long time we haven't done a lot of advertising for Niketown," said company...

Amicus, now as Cenquest, gets $4.5M.(Amicus Interactive Inc.)
July 9, 1999... The company formerly known as Amicus Interactive Inc. has a new name, a bunch of new cash and some shiny new executives. It has also developed a newfound desire to adopt a more public persona. Amicus, a legal term for "friend of the court,"...

Doc Martens tries to keep pace with consumers.(Dr. Martens USA)
July 9, 1999... Dr. Martens USA is adding even more shoes to its selection. Hot on the heels of its jump into casual workwear, AirWair USA, the company behind Dr. Martens, is introducing U.S. consumers to two new brands, one it is distributing and one it...

Ag investigators charge pair with rustling cattle.(Oregon Department of Agriculture)
July 9, 1999... Carl "Tiny" Bellamy wonders what happened to about 100 head of his cattle that used to roam Eastern Oregon, and have now vanished. State investigators say its likely the work of a pair of alleged cattle rustlers from Milton-Freewater. ...

Shipyards head full sail into yacht building boom.(Washington State)
July 9, 1999... Washington's builders of megayachts are rising on a wave of affluence. Posh, multimillion-dollar motor yachts that can stretch to 100 feet or more are enjoying high demand, propelling shipyards around the state to full production. Priced from...

Sharon VanSickle.(Executive Profile)(KVO Public Relations CEO)
July 9, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Sharon VanSickle Organization: KVO Public Relations Title: CEO What we do: We help companies shape ideas and then take those ideas to market. We work with organizations to establish and build brands...

Monitoring a faint pulse: Protocol Systems Inc. looks to new year, new products.
July 9, 1999... When Dave Bolender agreed to put in an 18-month stint as chief executive of Protocol Systems Inc., he had high hopes for boosting sales in 1998 and 1999. Instead, sales dragged for the Beaverton company, which manufactures portable medical...

Things you have to have.(Small Business)(Something Blue Creators Inc.'s products )
July 9, 1999... The owners of Something Blue have learned that there's more to business than just coming up with a novel idea. Trial and error. Those are the key buzz words for start-up companies making their launch. Just ask Marci Caputo and Haley Lewis,...

GST settles fraud suit for $30 million.(GST Telecommunications Inc.)
July 16, 1999... GST Telecommunications Inc. has reached a settlement with three former executives and directors and a Canadian corporation that GST accused of fraud in a recent lawsuit. The settlement calls for a cash payment of $27 million to $30 million...

AVI BioPharma cancer drug enters critical testing phase.
July 16, 1999... In the race to be first to market with a breakthrough cancer-fighting vaccine, Portland's AVI BioPharma thinks it has reached a crucial milestone. AVI is one of six biopharmaceutical companies competing directly to put a multiuse cancer...

Portland produce kings flex their expansion muscles.(United Salad Co. and Duck Delivery)
July 16, 1999... Portland produce kings United Salad Co. and Duck Delivery have quadrupled their storage space and upgraded their food processing operations as part of a $10 million expansion. The regional produce distributors, owned by the Spada family,...

GranTree's return comes in a new form.
July 16, 1999... After an absence of several years, the familiar retail name of GranTree is back in Portland's furniture market. Furniture retailer David Weiss this spring opened two GranTree Furniture & Bedding stores in greater Portland, and he plans to...

Rapid growth not the only issue facing FirstWorld.(FirstWorld Communications Inc.)
July 16, 1999... FirstWorld Communications Inc., of Denver, Colo., is moving quickly to establish itself as an internet service powerhouse in the West with the recent acquisition of Portland-based Transport Logic and three other internet service providers since...

Building a better tanker pays off for Beall Corp.
July 16, 1999... Portland's Beall Corp. and Kenworth Truck Co. are in the process of building what they say will be the largest highwaylegal tank truck ever produced in the United States. At its local manufacturing plant, Beall is building 8,000-gallon...

Corporate real estate firm gets bigger.(Corporate Realty Advisors)
July 16, 1999... Portland-based Corporate Realty Advisors has merged with nine other tenant representation firms around the United States to become one of the largest tenant representation firms in the nation. The 10 firms had worked together since 1993 as...

John W. Morgan.(Executive Profile)(Epitope Inc. president and CEO)(Interview)
July 16, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: John W. Morgan Organization: Epitope Inc. Title: president and CEO What we do: Epitope develops and markets medical devices and diagnostics products. It focuses on products that use oral fluid in the...

Paydirt by 2000: cancer vaccine may finally make AVI BioPharma a winner.(Corporate Strategies)
July 16, 1999... After years of toiling on its own disease-fighting technology, AVI BioPharma embarked on a new strategy last summer, buying a promising vaccine-maker in an attempt to get a product to market faster. Smart move? It's beginning to look that way....

No ordinary rug dealers.(includes related article on Atiyeh's centennial anniversary in Portland, Oregon)(Atiyeh International Ltd.)
July 16, 1999... Rug dealer Atiyeh International Ltd. has become a million-dollar business despite staying clear of the industry's bustling centers. Rural Newberg is far from the traditional rug import centers of New York City and New Jersey, but Tom and...

Legacy makes better deal with HealthFirst.(Legacy Health System; HealthFirst Medical Group)
July 23, 1999... Legacy Health System this week joined the ranks of health care networks owning physician practices by hiring doctors and buying a medical office building from the soon-to-be-dissolved HealthFirst Medical Group. Last spring, Legacy offered...

No surprise! Mattel decides to end PrintPaks division.
July 23, 1999... Toy maker Mattel Inc. is dissolving its PrintPaks Inc. subsidiary, bringing an end to one of the more intriguing stories in Portland's book of start-up tales. Mattel's decision to relocate PrintPaks' software-making activities to the toy...

Agritope gets $20M from Rhone-Poulenc.(Rhone-Poulenc Agro)
July 23, 1999... Rhone-Poulenc Agro, the world's sixth largest life sciences company, invested $20 million this week in a joint venture with Portland-based Agritope Inc. that may soon sprout a protein-rich corn or new breed of flower. Agritope, an...

Timberline's stalled stock has everyone stumped.(Timberline Software Corp.)
July 23, 1999... Timberline Software Corp.'s 27-month run would be the envy of most companies, except for its performance on Wall Street. It has enjoyed nine consecutive record-setting income and revenue quarters highlighted by 1998's four quarters of...

Crown Pacific is considering conversion to REIT.(Crown Pacific Partners LP)
July 23, 1999... Crown Pacific Partners LP, a Portland wood-products company with a substantial presence in Washington, may follow in the footsteps of Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co. by converting from a master-limited partnership to a real estate...

Hawthorne Auto Clinic's environmental measures honored.
July 23, 1999... The Hawthorne Auto Clinic Inc. is one car shop that cares more about the environment than many people might give its owners credit for. The auto repair shop was Portland's first to be certified as an Eco-Logical Business by a partnership of...

Mariners may actually make make money this year.(Seattle Mariners)
July 23, 1999... The Seattle Mariners are off to a fast start in Safeco Field, at least from the financial perspective. The team has moved into its new home with greater-than-expected sponsorship revenue and suite sales. The Major League Baseball team...

Mohan Nair,.(president and COO of ABC Technologies Inc.)(Interview)
July 23, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Mohan Nair Organization: ABC Technologies Inc. Title: President and chief operating officer What we do: ABC Technologies originates, develops and distributes software and services to manage clients'...

Confronting the future: Miller Nash crafts a strategy for a new millennium.(law firm Miller, Nash, Wiener, Hager and Carlsen)
July 23, 1999... Robert Miller, Frank Nash, Norman Wiener, Orval Hager and Clifford Carlsen Jr. no longer work at the Portland law firm named for them. They all have retired or died. Readying the 126-year-old firm for the 21st century is a task that has...

Many lives of sheet metal.(Neilsen Manufacturing Inc.)(Company Profile)
July 23, 1999... Jack Neilsen set the tone for his business in the 1960s, and the new management team led by Charles Hopewell is continuing the tradition. Neilsen formed Neilsen Manufacturing Inc. in Salem in 1957 as a typical sheet-metal job shop. He...

Wells Fargo gets touchy-feely.(Well Fargo Bank's plan to attract more small-scale borrowers)
July 30, 1999... Fed up with watching bit players and large competitors alike steal away his small-business customers. George Passadore, Wells Fargo Bank's president for Oregon. is vowing to steal some back. In a move that reflects the personal-touch...

Bess Kaiser's demise proves boon for some, but not at all.(Bess Kaiser Medical Center's health care service)
July 30, 1999... Bess Kaiser Hospital didn't survive today's health care competition. But the North Portland hospital's closure in 1998 proved to be a business boon to its year-old Emergicenter, regional hospitals and its former 13-acre site - the future...

800 Support to open facility in Coos Bay area.(Coos Bay, OR)
July 30, 1999... Tualatin-based 800 Support is expanding its horizons in an effort to leverage some hefty financial results by investing in an economically depressed community. The provider of phone and internet customer support services has announced...

Patent a big lift for medical start-up.(AcryMed Inc.'s patent for FlexiGel Strands)
July 30, 1999... AcryMed Inc. this week received a patent for its FlexiGel Strands, a unique dressing for wounds that looks like spaghetti and has multiple healing abilities. The product is the first to reach the market for the 6-year-old medical startup...

Seattle's Speakeasy Network ready to move south.(Seattle, WA)
July 30, 1999... As the Speakeasy Care comes back online, owners Gretchen and Michael Apgar are leveraging private financing to expand the parent company into several other markets, including Portland. The Apgars' Speakeasy Network, a Seattle-based...

Carrier Services flying high with new contracts.(Carrier Services Inc.)
July 30, 1999... Carrier Services Inc. is diversifying its business with a move into two new areas that have the potential to dramatically increase the size of the prepaid phone card company. "We've doubled the size of the business," said Doug Fieldhouse,...

David Evans.(David Evans & Associates Inc.'s chief executive officer)
July 30, 1999... Name: David Evans Organization: David Evans & Associates Inc. Title: CEO What we do: We provide design services for building or rebuildIng the infrastructure for communities. Examples include the redecking and repainting of the...

Going... going... gone....(home auctions are the latest trend to make houses fly fast)
July 30, 1999... You've found your dream home. You've qualified for the loan. And now you're standing in the front yard of that house, holding up a bidding card with a number on it. "Sold!" exclaims the auctioneer, pointing at you. The perfect house is...

Avalon Hotel promises luxury for those at the top.(Avalon Hotel and Spa's opening in Portland, OR)
July 30, 1999... Imagine living in a penthouse where you can order a gourmet breakfast from your room, have your laundry cleaned by the day's end, and take the elevator down to an elegant spa room. Sound like a dream? For some, the dream will come true...

Paddling faster than ever.(Cascade Whitewater Co.)
July 30, 1999... Hood River's Cascade Whitewater has rapidly become a million-dollar business as the demand for the sport explodes. When John "Tree" Trujillo started Cascade Whitewater Co. in 1995, he had two whitewater kayaks and the distinction of being...