Business Journal-Portland articles from March 1995

Business Journal-Portland archives from March 1995

Connecticut developer eyes Lloyd parcels. (Ashforth Real Estate Group.; PacifiCorp's Lloyd District properties)
March 3, 1995... A Connecticut real estate baron may buy a cluster of Lloyd District office buildings plus several nearby blocks zoned for high-rise developments. The family of Henry Ashforth Jr. has tied up more than $40 million worth of PacifiCorp's...

Bioject takes shot at turning first profits. (Bioject Medical Systems Ltd.)
March 3, 1995... New Bioject Inc. President Art Przybyl is shifting the 10-year-old Portland company into high gear in hopes of revving up revenues and confidence in the company's needle-free injection systems. The drive comes after a couple of rocky months for...

Will Avia glide higher with Clyde? (Avia Group International Inc.; Houston basketball player Clyde Drexler)
March 3, 1995... Score one for the Glide. And Avia can come along for the ride. The trade of eight-time NBA All-Star and Olympic Dream Team member Clyde Drexler to the Houston Rockets was a bittersweet experience for Blazer fans, but it has been good news for...

Air cargo traffic takes flight at PDX. (Portland International Airport)
March 3, 1995... Live crab, dead bodies, electronics and azaleas are just a few of the commodities that have fueled extraordinary growth in Portland's air freight cargo business. The Port of Portland posted record increases in each of the past 43 months with...

Clarno modifies plans to ax eco-devo. (Oregon House Speaker Bev, Clarno; Department of Economic Development)
March 3, 1995... House speaker now seeks to shrink, not eliminate, business aid programs Oregon House Speaker Bev Clarno will try to ax some state business loan programs, though she's dropped the idea of dumping the entire Economic Development Department....

Local USAID contractors nervously await budget knife. (Oregon; Agency for International Development)
March 3, 1995... A number of Oregon companies say they will suffer if Republicans in Congress make good on threats to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, which finances projects in emerging nations. From modest undertakings such as a $300,000...

Skies America adds two trade magazines to its stable.
March 3, 1995... Beaverton publisher Skies America is taking off on two new publishing ventures to serve bicycle retailers and the refrigeration industry. The firm that began in 1979 to publish in-flight magazines for commuter airlines has diversified into...

Realtors predict steady growth in Vancouver. (Washington)
March 3, 1995... Clark County's growth may be cooling off a bit, but a projected 4 percent bump in population should keep things pretty warm. That was the word at the annual Norris, Beggs & Simpson commercial real estate brokerage projection breakfast in...

Fire Bureau feels heat from ambulance companies, labor. (Portland Fire Bureau; American Medical Response Inc.; Portland paramedica labor group)
March 3, 1995... Sparky, watch out! The area's largest ambulance provider and a local labor group have more bones to pick with the Portland Fire Bureau's plan to bid for the Multnomah County 9-1-1 medical transport business. And if detractors have their way,...

White House Conference lets small business speak its mind. (White House Conference on Small Business)
March 3, 1995... If the way Uncle Sam deals with small business has you gritting your teeth, now is the time to speak up. The Clinton administration will host an opportunity here in Portland for you to express your views March 23 at The White House Conference...

Boeing suppliers say they anticipated production cuts. (Portland, Oregon suppliers; Boeing Co.)
March 3, 1995... Seattle - Almost universally, local Boeing suppliers say the new Boeing production and employment cuts will be easier on them than they will be on Boeing itself. They say a combination of their own diversification and the accelerating...

Starbucks' captain. (Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz) (Company Profile)
March 3, 1995... The Brooklyn native leads specialty coffee retailers' 8,000 employees in search of perfect cup of java Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Co., starts the day with a shot of espresso he brews on a commercial espresso machine at...

Local stock-pickers make national splash. (Portland, Oregon stock analysts at Red Chip Review investment advisory newletter) (Focus on Finance)
March 3, 1995... Focus on small, Western-based companies catapults Red Chip Review to stardom Entering the nerve center of The Red Chip Review is like walking into a college frat house. A lineup of eager young men, bright-eyed and wearing sweatshirts and...

Starbucks Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
March 3, 1995... NASDAQ-SBUX P.O. Box 34067, 2203 Airport Way South, Seattle, Wash. 98124-1067 Starbucks Corp. purchases, roasts and retails whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh brewed coffee and Italian-style espresso beverages primarily...

Legacy offers bonus plan as union recruits. (Legacy Health System)
March 10, 1995... Legacy Health System is dispensing gift certificates and gearing up a "goal-sharing" program that could bring workers more cash at the same time nurses at one of its hospitals are trying to form a labor bargaining unit. The discrepancy...

A separate peace for Oregon land use? (rural land use restrictions)
March 10, 1995... Bill sets different rules for metro, rural areas A Roseburg lawmaker has crafted a compromise to settle Oregon's bruising battle over rural land use: Allow more homes in the country but only outside the tri-county area. "It's not healthy for...

Portlanders wake up and smell the coffee - everywhere. (Industry Overview)
March 10, 1995... The city's cup runneth over, but savvy perkmeisters insist that market is far from saturated, if you know your beans Jim Roberts, founder of Coffee People, swears that the very first customer to go through Coffee People's drive-through window...

PacifiCorp ups PTI ante, close to Lloyd deal. (Pacific Telecom Inc.)
March 10, 1995... PacifiCorp continues to tune up its balance sheet by shedding its undervalued Lloyd District properties and moving a step closer to taking its $704 million publicly traded subsidiary Pacific Telecom Inc. in house. Frederick Buckman, PacifiCorp...

Kitzhaber seeks workers' comp compromise. (Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber)
March 10, 1995... Governor would like to avoid showdown on SB 369 Gov. John Kitzhaber is carving out a plan to resolve disputes over workers' compensation legislation before a bill he doesn't like ends up on his desk. The governor also is trying to revive the...

Bill would move Lottery computers to Burns. (Oregon Lottery; Burns, OR)
March 10, 1995... If you build it, they will come. Or will they? A statewide conference in January called attention to the telecommunications needs of rural Oregonians. Now Sens. Jeannette Hamby (R-Hillsboro) and Bill Kennemer (R-Milwaukie) have gone beyond mere...

ORTDF revival may help boost seed capital supply. (Oregon Resource and Technology Development Fund)
March 10, 1995... A sudden turnaround in the fortunes of the Oregon Resource and Technology Development Fund may benefit those searching for capital in Oregon. Two weeks ago the development fund - a lottery-subsidized seed funding organization - came under...

PacifiCorp to build Bay area plant, open Las Vegas office.
March 10, 1995... PacifiCorp is on the prowl for new revenues from an ironic partnering on a Bay area generation plant and from a new sales office in Las Vegas. "There are just a host of new approaches and new projects throughout the (electric) industry as it...

Despite Canadian lobbying, Port lands Canpotex deal. (Port of Portland)
March 10, 1995... Saskatchewan-based potash exporter to build $40 million cargo facility After a protracted delay because of tense negotiations abroad, Canpotex Limited of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is ready to plunge into a $40 million deal with the Port of...

Teknifilm Labs names turnaround expert Lancaster CEO. (Bob Lancaster)
March 10, 1995... Bob Lancaster has joined Teknifilm Labs Inc. as chief executive officer. Lancaster was most recently a principal partner with Walquist Lancaster Inc., an independent crisis and turnaround management team. He has been CEO or president of more...

Siemens Solar moving all its crystal growing to Vancouver. (Siemens Solar Industries Inc.)
March 10, 1995... Siemens Solar Industries, the world's highest volume producer of solar cells, plans to shift all of its crystal-growing operations to its Vancouver plant and more than double its production. Making crystal ingot, the raw material for solar...

Cam Warren snags land for airport-area industrial park. (president of Five Oaks Development Co.)
March 10, 1995... Veteran local developer Cam Warren plans to build a 600,000-square-foot business park in the industrial corridor east of Portland International Airport. Warren recently closed a $500,000 deal for the 65-acre-Spada/Phillippi farm southeast of...

Virtual Vision investors lose out.
March 10, 1995... Billionaire Paul Allen, Microsoft alum Scott Oki and other prominent investors would see their $13 million stake in Virtual Vision Inc. virtually obliterated under a bankruptcy plan proposed last week. Small creditors, too, are likely to get "5...

Measure 5 savings diversion bill killed.
March 10, 1995... A bill proposed in the Oregon State Legislature that would have taken the money utilities save on property taxes from Measure 5 and diverted it to K-12 education is dead on arrival. Senate Bill 419 would have diverted money that currently goes...

PriceCostco Inc. (Proxy Report Excertps) (Company Profile)
March 10, 1995... NASDAQ: PCCW 10809 120th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, Wash. 98033 PriceCostco Inc. operates a chain of more than 200 cash-and-carry membership warehouses that sell national brand merchandise at discount prices. In 1993, Costco merged with Price Club...

GOP aims to rein in unions. (Republican Party)
March 17, 1995... Union clout angers Republicans in wake of campaign reforms Saying last fall's campaign finance reforms gave labor the upper hand, GOP leaders are now defending their controversial collective bargaining bill as a way to curtail labor's political...

FTC probes settlement between rival pilot firms. (Federal Trade Commission)
March 17, 1995... The Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the longstanding fraternity of Columbia River maritime pilots, according to lawyers close to the case who say this elite order of pilots is under scrutiny for possible antitrust...

BPA considering unplugging plants. (Bonneville Power Administration)
March 17, 1995... Bonneville Power Administration officials say they are in an electricity price war that will force them to revise or cut generation projects deemed too expensive by current market standards. Projects on the table include the controversial WNP-2...

First Technology deal fizzles. (First Technology Federal Credit Union and Patelco Credit Union deal)
March 17, 1995... The largest credit union merger in history died in early March, when Beaverton-based First Technology Federal Credit Union and San Francisco's Patelco Credit Union deferred to industry opposition and regulatory resistance. The deal would have...

Audit hits services for blind with mismanagement charges.
March 17, 1995... In a scathing report detailing widespread mismanagement, the state audits division charges two agencies responsible for helping blind people with abuse of public funds and violations of federal law. The audit, which has not yet been released,...

Multimedia developer to offer Internet access. (Vulcan's Forge Telecom)
March 17, 1995... A Southwest Portland multimedia software developer hopes to fill a niche in the local Internet service provider market when it opens for business March 31. Vulcan's Forge Telecom, an offshoot of Vulcan's Forge Multimedia, believes it will find...

Showdown on Pill Hill: new union wants to oust ONA. (Oregon Nurses Association)
March 17, 1995... The Oregon Nurses Association's labor representation of 1,200 Pill Hill nurses is under fire from a rival union organizing group. The newly formed University Federation of Nurses (UFN) claims that ONA labor representatives have done a poor job...

AMR 'consults' on details of Fire Bureau's ambulance bid. (American Medical Response-Northwest)
March 17, 1995... American Medical Response-Northwest wants to force the Portland Fire Bureau to include the cost of its current "first responder" program in its bid for ambulance services in Multnomah County. First responder activities refer to services the...

NCube's Beaverton plant expands with video server market. (NCube Corp.)
March 17, 1995... Movie-hungry travelers and home-shopping addicts are fueling the growth of a California supercomputer maker and its Beaverton manufacturing plant. The burgeoning video server market helped double sales and push up employment 60 percent last...

New quota system designed to halt fishing free-for-alls.
March 17, 1995... Transferable quotas may become model for other Northwest fisheries Seattle - Last year the halibut fishing season off Alaska's coast consisted of two frenzied and dangerous 24-hour free-for-alls, with nearly 4,000 boats competing for a share of...

Factory trawlers, on-shore processors watch quota test.
March 17, 1995... Although the $1 billion industry that catches pollock and other groundfish is fiercely divided on many issues, all parties are watching with great interest the first season of individual transferable quotas in the smaller halibut and sablefish...

Paul Allen sinks more money into foundering Asymetrix. (Asymetrix Corp.)
March 17, 1995... Layoffs, reorganization sharpen company focus on multimedia tools Seattle - Paul Allen is recapitalizing software maker Asymetrix Corp., a move that confirms what industry insiders have suspected for a long time: The multimedia tool maker is...

Plum Creek, wildlife agencies agree on timber harvest. (Plum Creek Timber Co.)
March 17, 1995... Seattle - Plum Creek Timber Co. and two federal wildlife agencies reached an agreement allowing the company to log Montana forests inhabited by the grizzly bear, which is listed as a threatened species. The agreement, called a habitat...

Off the Wall inventor finds niche, sticks to it. (Off the Wall Signs; David Goff)
March 24, 1995... David Goff's business is a sign of the times. His year-old company, Off the Wall Signs in Beaverton, has patented a new type of advertising sign that attaches to windows with a powerful suction cup. Goff has convinced about 60 local merchants...

Pension compromise goes awry.
March 24, 1995... Business and labor were on the verge of compromise last week on the prickly issue of public pension reform, until State Rep. Bob Tiernan halted talks after claiming they'd reached an impasse. Lobbyists from Associated Oregon Industries (AOI)...

Bills place boards' authority on table. (Oregon State Board of Nursing) ('95 Legislature)
March 24, 1995... A statewide nurses group is fighting legislation that strips some authority from the Oregon State Board of Nursing. "It's a fall-on-the-sword issue," said Brian DeLashmutt, a lobbyist for the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), which thinks the...

OSHU sets up Pinnacle network to stave off referral losses. (Oregon Health Sciences University)
March 24, 1995... Oregon Health Sciences University is packaging a network of providers throughout Oregon to sell to insurers. The name of the network is Pinnacle - no pun on Pill Hill intended. The network is intended to help OHSU recoup lost ground in the...

Eastside group muscles PGE on light rail. (Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Development Association; Portland General Electric Co.)
March 24, 1995... A small coalition of central eastside residents is trying to strong-arm its high-powered neighbors into a quid pro quo deal. The Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Development Association told Portland General Electric it will withdraw official...

Nurses union drops Good Sam organizing effort; facing uphill battle vs. Legacy; ONA fails to collect enough signatures. (Oregon Nurses Association; Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Health Center)
March 24, 1995... The Oregon Nurses Association has dropped its labor organizing drive at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Health Center. The decision followed a campaign to collect "signature" cards from nurses to authorize a hospitalwide vote on...

Fired Oregonian reporter sues daily, Willamette Week. (Joe Rhodes)
March 24, 1995... Joe Rhodes says his fleeting career at the Oregonian was torpedoed by a bad joke. So, in an odd twist on media bashing, the reporter has sued the Portland daily, and a local alternative weekly, in an attempt to "resurrect" his shattered...

Republicans seek legislative review of state regulations; constitutional amendment targets agencies' power. ('95 Legislature)
March 24, 1995... Every new state regulation would have to pass muster with lawmakers under a measure headed for a Senate vote. The Senate Rules and Elections Committee has endorsed a constitutional amendment requiring lawmakers to OK every regulation decreed...

Cleveland exec buys Cascade General, chases Port contract. (Gloabl Maritime Inc.'s Frank Foti; Cascade General Inc.; Port of Portland)
March 24, 1995... A two-week-old Oregon company has purchased Cascade General, Inc., catapulting a Cleveland construction executive into the position of top contender to take over operations at Portland's Swan Island Shipyard. Frank Foti, 38, president of the...

Revised Outer Southeast plan calls for huge nature preserve. (Outer Southeast Community Plan)
March 24, 1995... Portland Planning Bureau is proposing a Forest Park-style nature preserve southeast of Foster Road and 122nd Avenue to bolster the east side's tottery neighborhoods. City planners also are calling for deeper commercial lots on 82nd Avenue and...

Red Lion public offering may help states recoup investments. (Red Lion Hotels Inc.)
March 24, 1995... Red Lion Hotels Inc.'s plans for a public offering may help Oregon and Washington state pension funds recoup their $147 million investments in the hotel chain. Vancouver-based Red Lion wants to sell 9.75 million shares of common stock for up...

Sluggish market, merger woes hamper Vectra Technologies. (Vectra Technologies Inc.)
March 24, 1995... Seattle - For year-old Vectra Technologies Inc., 1994 proved to be a year of unexpectedly painful belt-tightening. A stagnant market for its engineering services, and the internal difficulties of forming a new company out of several merged...

Medio adds on-line service to its multimedia offerings. (Medio Multimedia Inc.)
March 24, 1995... Seattle - When Medio Multimedia Inc. threw an open house several weeks ago, President Steve Podradchik and executives expected maybe 50 people. Then the Redmond multimedia software company received RSVPs from some 250. And then, "Surprise,...

Chairmen of Nintendo, Sega wield joysticks aggressively. (Nintendo of America Inc. Chairman Howard Lincoln; Sega of America Inc. Chairman Tom Kalinske)
March 24, 1995... Seattle - With the stroke of a pen, Howard Lincoln put a new face on Nintendo of America Inc. last year. "Dear Tom," he wrote in a public taunt to Tom Kalinske, president of archrival videogame maker Sega of America, "Roses are Red, Violets...

Salem choking on politics of clean air. (Oregon)
March 31, 1995... Fuming rural legislators and real estate interests are clouding DEQ's scheme to keep Portland in compliance with the federal Clean Air Act. State Rep. Leslie Lewis (R-Newberg) conducted a hearing this week on her bid to peel back the...

Cancer detectives at Cascade seek early clues. (Cascade Oncogenics)
March 31, 1995... Start-up in backroom at Bogle & Gates Early detection of breast cancer has been heralded as the best way to deal with the deadly malady that research says will hit one in every eight women. If the woman notices the lump in her breast, or it...

Satisfaction elusive in Trojan rate case. (Portland General Electric Co.'s failed Trojan nuclear plant)
March 31, 1995... Nobody is very happy with the decision Wednesday to allow Portland General Electric Co. to continue passing on some - but not all - of its Trojan closure costs to ratepayers. At least one party has already vowed to appeal the ruling, and others...

Ridgley to move up at Northwest. (Northwest Natural Gas Co. President and CEO Robert Ridgley to assume post of chairman)
March 31, 1995... Northwest Natural Gas Co. will select a new chief executive by late next year. Robert Ridgley, president and chief executive officer of the company for the past decade, will retire from daily operations in February 1997 to take over the post...

Blues work out all details of regional alliance except moniker. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oregon, King County Medical Blue Shield, Medical Service Bureau, Pierce County Medical Bureau Inc.)
March 31, 1995... Insurers unite to expand purchasing clout, expertise Four Blues insurers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho have worked to develop a regional alliance for nearly a year. The structure is in place, officers appointed and regulatory approval on its...

United Shuttle to unveil 'wacky' ad campaign. (Shuttle by United)
March 31, 1995... Goal is to beat out Southwest in short-haul market Against the backdrop of a $16 million advertising blitz, Shuttle by United will launch a low-fare flight from Portland to San Francisco and Los Angeles starting April 2. That's not news....

Workers' comp issues head toward showdown in Salem. (Oregon)
March 31, 1995... Like a poker game with final bets in progress, the debate over workers' compensation legislation in Oregon is nearing a tense end. But it's too soon to say whether it will end in a handshake or a shoot-out. Gov. John Kitzhaber has said he...

ISDN line charges irk local phone companies, users. (FCC ruling on integrated services digital networks)
March 31, 1995... GTE, U S West filing petitions for waiver with FCC A recent Federal Communications Commission order that threatens to raise prices on the advanced telecommunications service known as ISDN has drawn fire from GTE, U S West and some of their more...

U.S. historic district for PriceCostco shrinks.
March 31, 1995... But proposed store's backers call boundary irrelevant On the heels of what promises to be a contentious City Council hearing on a proposed PriceCostco store in Northwest Portland, the U.S. Park Service has shrunk the historic boundary of the...

Former Big Blue exec has big plans for Tek. (Lucie Fjeldstad, president of Tektronix Inc.'s Video Systems Div.)
March 31, 1995... Though she's only been on the job a few weeks as the new president of Tektronix Inc.'s Video Systems Division, Lucie Fjeldstad is already out pitching her field of dreams. Fjeldstad is pushing an idea that at first might seem a little like...

TRM Copy Centers Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
March 31, 1995... NASDAQ: TRMM 5515 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., Portland, Ore. 97202 TRM Copy Centers Corp. owns and maintains more than 26,000 self-service, 5-cent photocopiers in retail stores such as pharmacies, stationery stores, hardware stores and gift shops...