Business Journal-Portland articles from March 1998

Business Journal-Portland archives from March 1998

Permit demand swamps city. (building permits in Portland, OR, in 1997)
March 6, 1998... Housing boom reveals a flawed processing system The city of Portland issued nearly 8,500 building permits for $1.02 billion of construction in 1997, nearly doubling the previous high of $606 million issued in 1996. The new high in building...

Going for the long green. (consolidation in the lawn mowing industry)
March 6, 1998... National lawncare giant buys local competitor The consolidation trend is cutting into the lawn mowing industry. The drive in many industries to roll up regional companies under a single national brand hit the world of commercial lawn care and...

Nordstrom cuts into costs with new buying strategy. (Nordstrom Inc.)
March 6, 1998... Nordstrom Inc. has switched its corporate buying strategy as it strives to become more efficient, profitable and worthy in the eyes of Wall Street investors. Long known for its emphasis on regional tastes and trends, the Seattle-based retailer...

Building a lasting impression overseas. (architectural firm Yost Grube Hall)
March 6, 1998... Yost Grube Hall architecture firm has painstakenly made a name for itself in Europe The large construction site is in a town where residents are more familiar with prefab housing, Soviet style, than modern architecture, American style. So why...

Local Intersolv division buys software firm. (Intersolv Inc.)
March 6, 1998... Intersolv Inc.'s Beaverton-based automated software quality division earlier this week finalized the acquisition of a British software company. The deal will increase the local division's revenue by 10 percent in the first year, from the...

Bank ranking battle turns into complex numbers games.
March 6, 1998... Recent bank deposit figures indicate a battle royal is on for the claim to second-largest bank in Oregon. But Wells Fargo Bank, which has held bragging rights to the No. 2 spot for years, says closer analysis shows it still has a firm grip on the...

Discrepancies abound in insurance ratings. (Oregon insurers)
March 6, 1998... The same week that Newsweek magazine ranked Harvard Pilgrim Health Care as one of its top 10 health maintenance organizations, the HMO was stung by a weak financial rating from a Florida-based ratings agency. The agency, Weiss Ratings Inc.,...

Assisted Living Concepts Inc. (proxy report excerpts)
March 6, 1998... AMEX: ALF 9955 S.E. Washington St., Suite 201, Portland, Ore. 97216 Assisted Living Concepts Inc. develops and operates assisted living residences. At the end of February 1997, the company operated 78 residences (2,806 units) in Oregon,...

Major Portland printer on heady growth curve. (Graphic Arts Center Inc.)
March 13, 1998... Continuing its efforts to consolidate printing plants nationwide, Portland's Graphic Arts Center Inc. has swallowed local competitor Rono Graphic Communications Co. The move led to layoffs for 30 to 35 Rono employees. But it will allow GAC to...

Net provider, cash in hand, plots consolidation course.
March 13, 1998... A national internet service provider has consolidated Oregon and Washington operations under a regional organization, creating what it claims is the Pacific Northwest's largest internet service provider (ISP). The announcement by Verio Inc. of...

Pulp friction: Pope bets on risky business. (Pope and Talbot Inc)
March 13, 1998... Pope & Talbot gambles future on the pulp market taking off during the next two years Lately, the pulp market has been unkind to Pope & Talbot Inc., the venerable Portland wood products company. In the last six years, Pope & Talbot has...

BankAmerica to specialize services, boost checking fees.
March 13, 1998... BankAmerica is stepping up efforts to target unprofitable customers, testing higher fees for checking accounts and rolling out new technology that lets front-line employees instantly evaluate how valuable a customer is to the bank. The new...

Portland becomes gateway for Chinese cargo carriers.
March 13, 1998... Hanjin Shipping Co. will soon use Portland as its gateway to move container cargoes from the United States to ports in Northern China. The marine carrier's new direct service between Portland and Northern China is a first for the Port of...

Video product attracts Shaw. (venture capitalist Ralph Shaw to start a video compression and transmission company)
March 13, 1998... Portland venture capitalist Ralph Shaw has teamed with a former Tektronix Inc. executive to start a video compression and transmission company based in California. Shaw has invested roughly $2 million in the new company, Telestream, which is...

Sonus purchases five hearing clinics in Portland area. (Sonus Corp)
March 13, 1998... Sonus Corp. bought its first hearing clinics in Portland. It's about time. The Portland-based company had bought up more than three dozen clinics nationally, including some in Canada. But it didn't have any in Oregon until now. In...

Introspective Mentor shuts subsidiary. (Mentor Graphics Corp. closed Precedence Inc.)
March 20, 1998... Software maker evaluates its holdings as 'keep/sell' candidates Mentor Graphics Corp. has closed down a company it acquired in 1995 and may soon jettison other acquisitions and business lines. The Willsonville-based electronic design...

Sale of financial giant may prove Benova's salvation. (Fleet Financial Group Inc. acquires Benova Inc.)
March 20, 1998... A subsidiary of the $85 billion Fleet Financial Group has acquired Benova Inc., a Portland-based enrollment broker currently in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Fleet's ASFA Data Corp. of Long Beach, Calif., purchased the privately...

Ex-utility star aims to revive Protocol. (Dave Bolender takes over as Chmn. and CEO of Protocol Systems Inc.)
March 20, 1998... Dave Bolender takes over the reins at a critical stage in monitor firm development With 1998 shaping up as a pivotal year, Protocol Systems Inc. decided to make a change at the top. In late February, co-founder James Moon moved aside so that...

Steelworkers, Precision rift still unsettled. (United Steelworkers of America and Precision Castparts Corp. unfair labor practices case)
March 20, 1998... Officials from Precision Castparts Corp. and the United Steelworkers of America remain at odds in an unfair labor practices case slated to be heard by an administrative judge in May. The two groups met March 10 and 11 to try to shape a...

In Focus to be tested as Japanese rivals reduce prices. (In Focus Systems Inc.)
March 20, 1998... In Focus Systems Inc. is facing stiff price competition from some of its Japanese rivals, and that's reviving old questions about how successfully small but growing In Focus can continue to hold back much larger Japanese competitors. Wall...

Oxis changes direction after CEO quits. (Oxis International Inc., Anna Barker)
March 20, 1998... Oxis International Inc. is restructuring itself in the wake of the resignation of its president and chief executive officer Anna Barker, effective March 18. Ray Rogers, chairman of the Oxis board of directors, will take over as chief executive...

Safeway is latest grocer to stock organic food products. (Safeway Inc. store in Portland, Oregon)
March 20, 1998... Starting this week, Portland Safeway customers saw something new in the produce department - organic salads and broccoli. Store officials said the organic option comes in response to consumer demand and market trends. Like mainstream...

H-P commits $12M to sell to business clients. (Hewlett-Packard Co.'s advertising campaign)
March 20, 1998... Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto began an advertising campaign late last month that goes after a market it's already known for selling into - businesses. The company launched a new multimillion-dollar campaign that touts how the computer giant...

Software kit details quirks of venture capital firms. (DataMerge Inc.'s VentureTrack database software)
March 20, 1998... Entrepreneurs wondering how to get their foot in the doors of venture-capital firms now have a potentially powerful ally. Denver-based DataMerge Inc. has released a database called VentureTrack 2000, which profiles the equivalent of 10,000...

Nike reinvents brand with outlet strategy.
March 27, 1998... The mighty Nike, with its sluggish sales, stock drop and employee layoffs, has slipped from hot to not. But the company is determined to alter public perception as it moves from a position of cool and in-your-face to more laid back and in your...

Bond issue a fraud, Pamcorp suit claims.
March 27, 1998... The messy legal battle over a failed aviation business at the Portland International Airport has escalated as one of the parties has challenged the validity of the bonds issued to back the boondoggle. Simat, Helliesen & Eichner, the consulting...

Bankers see new opportunities in overseas monetary upheaval.
March 27, 1998... Exporters and their banks are reviving some old tricks of the finance trade. The financing needs of Northwest businesses are changing in response to shaky foreign currencies and lessened demand for U.S. exports, said local bankers active in...

Disposable drill startup expects a heady return from new device. (Ora Innovations Inc.)
March 27, 1998... A dental device startup has drawn $600,000 in seed capital to finish work on a less costly and more patient-friendly drill it plans to take to dentists by October. Ora Innovations Inc. has a well-known blend of dental and business names behind...

Downtown janitors rally to keep union shops.
March 27, 1998... A throng of unionized janitors and supporters rallied at the Commonwealth Building March 24 to protest a decision to use a nonunion shop to clean the 200,000-square-foot tower. The Commonwealth Building switched janitorial service in February...

Big plans still fill head of Indian beer magnate. (Indian beer magnate Vijay Mallya)
March 27, 1998... Though thwarted in several acquisition attempts of small brewers, Indian beer magnate Vijay Mallya still has major plans brewing for 1998. Mallya's Sausalito, Calif.-based United Breweries of America still controls Mendocino Brewing Co. of...

Business comes calling. (Business Owners University)(Small Business)
March 27, 1998... Entrepreneur Dawn AnJolais aids business owners by offering classes to fit each need, and the student doesn't need to leave home. Education is a life-long process, or so we're told. But who has time for educational enrichment when there's a...

Rowe puts her mark on Oregonian newsroom. (The Oregonian editor Sandy Rowe)(Women in Business)
March 27, 1998... Sandy Rowe is a chip off the old block. But the daughter of a newspaperman in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia has her own claim to fame these days. Rowe is editor of The Oregonian, the 25th largest newspaper in the country, with a daily...

Portland a haven for women-owned start-ups. (Oregon)(Women in Business)
March 27, 1998... 40 percent of local companies owned by women Wendy Lane's reason for starting her own business is pretty straightforward. She wanted to be her own boss. "It was the only way I could make money and not be beholden to a boss while raising...