Business Journal-Portland articles from June 1999

Business Journal-Portland archives from June 1999

Another local 'net player hits pay dirt.(Internet company Salu.net)
June 25, 1999... Salu.net, a Portland internet company catering to the online requirements of physicians, expects to shortly obtain approximately $5 million in venture capital. The company, which has labored quietly for four years, plans to use the...

Karakas takes the K from KVO - amicably.(resignation of Steve Karakas from Karakas VanSickle Ouellette to form Karakas Parmley/Eisner & Associates)
June 25, 1999... Two executives from KVO, Portland's second largest public relations agency, will leave to launch their own advertising agency geared at the swift-paced internet market. Steve Karakas, former partner and advertising director at Karakas...

Toshiba projector deal fits neatly into InFocus strategy.(In Focus Systems Inc.)
June 25, 1999... In Focus Systems Inc. announced this week that a major part of its strategy has fallen into place. The company has signed an original equipment manufacturer deal with Toshiba Corp., a leading laptop and notebook computer maker. The...

Stoel Rives adds internet law group.
June 25, 1999... Jere Webb credits Stoel Rives with creating a high-tech legal practice long before that kind of company became such a common one. Today, he's pushing Oregon's largest law firm a little further off business' cutting edge by creating an...

Dreyfus Group absorbs more downtown space.(Louis Dreyfus Property Group)
June 25, 1999... Louis Dreyfus Property Group continues to beef up its downtown Portland portfolio, purchasing a 183,895-square-foot office building for $23.1 million. The 11-story building at 400 S.W. Sixth Ave. is currently best known as the...

Legacy removes brain specialist from Pittsburgh.(Legacy Health System's hiring of Roger Simon)
June 25, 1999... Legacy Health System has lured a nationally renowned neuroscientist to build a cutting-edge program for the study of brain injury at its research and technology center. The hiring of Dr. Roger Simon, professor of neurology at the...

Weyerhaeuser won't commit on clear-cutting.(continuation of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd.'s logging commitments after merger)
June 25, 1999... It's uncertain whether Weyerhaeuser Co. will continue MacMillan Bloedel Ltd.'s plans to phase out clear-cutting by 2003. But environmental groups already are readying for protests and demonstrations in Canada and the United States should...

800.com gets ready for the big boys.(consumer electronics discount chains' plans for online marketing)
June 25, 1999... Competitors of 800.com are revving their motors. Major discount chains that specialize in consumer electronics - Circuit City, Best Buy and The Good Guys - are preparing to start selling their wares online. That puts them directly up...

Executive profile: Scott Sandbo.(president of Pacific Crest Securities)
June 25, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Scott Sandbo Organization: Pacific Crest Securities Title: President What we do: We are an investment bank which sells securities to institutional investors and does financing and merger and...

Endangered turnaround: Praegitzer's high hopes for 1999 have been dashed.(Praegitzer Industries Inc.)
June 25, 1999... Praegitzer's high hopes for 1999 have been dashed Praegitzer Industries Inc.'s 1999 turnaround took a hit in the third fiscal quarter. And the fourth fiscal quarter, which ends June 30, won't be any different. The question now is...

Keeping the goo off shoes.(Small Business)(Shoe Rx)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... Start-up Shoe Rx offers a work shoe that is stain-repellant and comfortable for wearing in hospital and food-service jobs. James Grelle has sensible shoes for messy situations. After hearing nurses complain incessantly about white...

Pixelworks snares $11.6M.
June 18, 1999... Pixelworks Inc. has landedan investment of $11.6 million in its most recent venture-funding round, representing one of the top five investment rounds in the semiconductor industry since 1997, company officials said. The round, one of the...

'Burger placement team ready to sell.(Gardenburger Inc)
June 18, 1999... Gardenburger Inc. has filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register more than 4 million shares of common stock, with a maximum value of more than $31 million. The action is directly tied to an earlier private...

Sorry counselor: we're not aping Wilson Sonsini again.(Portland, OR, law firms will not follow rival Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosatti's decision to raise employees' pay and bonus packages)
June 18, 1999... Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the Palo Alto law firm which shook up pay levels here last year, has hiked its pay and boosted its bonus potential for mid-level and senior associates. But some of Portland's largest firms said their lawyers...

Retailers clog the runway to sell to PDX's buying flyers.(Portland International Airport terminal shopping center)
June 18, 1999... Portland International Airport is throwing open its gates for as many as 27 new stores and food vendors. But if they haven't done airport retailing before, they better be ready for some surprises. Several hundred prospective airport...

OrCAD needed a suitor, found one in Cadence.(Cadence Design Systems Inc acquires Beaverton, OR-based rival)
June 18, 1999... The announcement of OrCAD's pending acquisition by Cadence Design Systems Inc. seems to have caught some of the electronics design automation world by surprise. But it was the logical move for Beaverton-based OrCAD. sources said. "It...

Mentor, Quickturn enter federal court many, many millions apart.(Mentor Graphics Corp; Quickturn Design Systems Inc)
June 18, 1999... Mentor Graphics Corp. hoped to reach an out-of-court deal with San Jose, Calif.-based rival Quickturn Design Systems Inc., but that's not going to happen. At least not yet. Instead, officials and attorneys for Mentor and Quickturn are...

Headhunters of the airwaves.(Lee Enterprises' KOIN-TV station)
June 18, 1999... Aggressive KOIN 6 is going after "the best people on the air" KOIN-TV general manager Peter Maroney says it was "a bad experience." News director Kerry Oslund describes it as a "debacle." And nearly everyone at Channel 6 agrees that the...

The law of land use.(Focus on Real Estate)
June 18, 1999... Urban growth boundaries once again take center stage as various interests argue the merits of a proposed "build-able lands" bill at the Legislature Are Oregon cities doing an adequate job of planning for business? The region's commercial...

Traveling at their own pace.(Walking Softly Adventures)(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... John and Amy Osaki have combined their love for art and the outdoors to put together a most unique travel agency. Word association. Mention the word "travel," especially during the wanderlust summer months, and no doubt plenty of images...

Service union protests actions by Providence.(Providence Portland Medical Center)
June 11, 1999... A labor union's battle to organize some 1,000 workers at Providence Portland Medical Center has stalled. But don't assume the war is over. For much of this year, organizers with Local 49 of the Service Employees International Union have...

Ryka can't keep pace as show demand explodes.(athletic shoe manufacturer)
June 11, 1999... A thumbs up from Consumer Reports magazine can be both a business boon and an inventory debacle. But Portland-based Ryka is taking it in stride, bundling favorable reviews and subsequent spring sneaker sellouts into a positive, promotional...

WellMed welcomes CNN group as new customer.(software company's contract with Cable News Network)
June 11, 1999... WellMed Inc. has signed up a Cable News Network programming service as one of its largest and most visible customers. The new deal, announced last week by Portland-based WellMed and CNN's AccentHealth service, will make online health...

MedicaLogic leases in heart of San Francisco.(computer software company)
June 11, 1999... Hillsboro-based MedicaLogic has signed a 10-year lease in downtown San Francisco as part of a $35 million push to rule the online medical data market. The $60 million (revenue) company has leased 40,000 square feet on three floors at...

Clarity Visuals.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(video monitor manufacturer)
June 11, 1999... It's a clear sign: This company's a winner At first glance, little seems new at Wilsonville's Clarity Visual Systems Inc. A year ago, company executives were hoping to make it big in a field they called dynamic signage - the use of...

Easystreet: the climb to success wasn't easy.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(EasyStreet Online Services Inc.)
June 11, 1999... For a guy who had two legs of his three-legged business plan kicked out from under him, Rich Bader is doing OK. The former Intel executive, who launched EasyStreet Online Services Inc. almost four years ago, has seen his company's revenue...

Uniglobe: travel agency takes to the skies.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(Uniglobe Lane Travel)
June 11, 1999... Travel has been good to Rich Lane. At No. 15 on our list, his company, Uniglobe Lane Travel has maintained strong and consistent growth by surfing the changes in travel trends as the travel industry itself has become tougher. Lane signed...

Go Fish: hooked on designer T-shirts.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(hunting and fishing apparel manufacturer)
June 11, 1999... Bart Bonime remembers buying a 39-cent hot dog for breakfast and walking three miles to a Las Vegas trade show rather than take a taxi. "I finally got there, sweating, and thought, 'Maybe I should have taken a taxi,'" Bonime said. That...

Copernicus Software.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(software retailer)
June 11, 1999... They think a little differently there After a false start, Copernicus Software found salvation and profitability in the screen saver business. The 5-year-old Wilsonville software company was founded by two refugees from Central Point...

American Show Management.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(trade show management firm)
June 11, 1999... Making its mark in regional trade shows It's a simple concept, really. "What we do is bring buyers and sellers together in a common location to do business," said Brad Jersey, executive vice president and chief operating officer of...

Majestic Mortgage.(Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies)(residential mortgage lender)
June 11, 1999... They've got more than expertise to lend David Karkanen and John Mayer met at Portland's Fairway Financial Mortgage Bankers, where both became loan officers in 1993. They decided they'd prosper more on their own, and left Fairway in April...

Faster pace for Fox Tower space race.
June 4, 1999... Cushman & Wakefield has added two more office tenants to the Fox Tower since landing PaineWebber in February - Hoffman Construction and Northwest Strategies, a political consulting firm. Hoffman Construction, general contractor for the...

Blitz-Weinhard Brewery price tag set at $19.75M.
June 4, 1999... A $19.75 million price tag isn't scaring away prospective purchasers of the five-block Blitz-Weinhard Brewing complex on West Burnside. Flyers on the property began circulating last month and the first ads ran this week in local news...

A year after loss of customer, Microfield continues to hurt.(Microfield Graphics Inc.)
June 4, 1999... Microfield Graphics Inc. investors might be wondering these days if three red flags means they've struck out. The Portland-based maker of digital whiteboards for business meetings has a clash-flow crisis, faces removal from the Nasdaq...

Shipping reforms sets sail with many critics aboard.(Ocean Shipping Reform Act)
June 4, 1999... For those whose livelihoods depend on cargo passing through Northwest ports, the arrival of ocean-shipping reform is rocking the boat. The federal Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which Congress passed last year and took effect in May, has set...

Blitz-Weinhard workers may get NAFTA benefits.(North American Free Trade Agreement)
June 4, 1999... Union officials and federal authorities say foreign competition is one reason why the landmark Blitz-Weinhard Brewery may soon roll out its Last barrel of beer. The U.S. Department of Labor has certified that 210 Blitz workers are...

Mariners need Safeco Field to be a grand salami.(Seattle Mariners expect a $100 million revenue for 1999)
June 4, 1999... With their move into the new Safeco Field, the Seattle Mariners hope to post record-breaking revenues of $100 million this year. The team's executives expect at least a $10.5 million boost to revenues as a result of their move into the...

The sultan of splitsville.(law firm Gevurtz Menashe Larson and Howe specializes in family and marital law)
June 4, 1999... Attorney Albert Menashe aims to put the family first in divorce Al Menashe says he can't break the habit of asking his clients how they're doing. "It's so dumb. I don't know why I do it. I walk out of my office to greet them and say,...