Business Journal-Portland articles from May 1999

Business Journal-Portland archives from May 1999

Nike, Jordan go stylishly forth.(Nike to broaden its line of Michael Jordan casual apparel)
May 28, 1999... Brand Jordan is moving with its man - and the market. Nike Inc. and Michael Jordan are throwing a full-court press against fashion industry titans like Tommy Hilfiger and The Gap. Beginning this week, specialty retailers and department...

Digimarc's goal is to protect Hollywood.(Portland firm offers digital copyright protection for motion picture studios)
May 28, 1999... Digimarc Corp. wants to be the provider of digital copyright protection to the stars. The Portland-based company is wooing both the major studios and the actors who appear in movies, television shows and advertisements. Digimarc and its...

Resource Revival gives old bike parts new spin.(Company Profile)
May 28, 1999... Graham Bergh has set out to reinvent the bike wheel. Or parts of it at least. He has turned inner tubes into fastening straps with buckles. He has created wine racks and photo flames from aluminum bike rims. Free-wheel cogs have become...

San Francisco market draws Hollywood.(Hollywood Video to put up nine new stores on San Francisco Bay Area's I-800 corridor)
May 28, 1999... Hollywood Video is putting its marquee on nine new stores along the East Bay's I-880 corridor this summer and fall as it steps up its Bay Area battle with Blockbuster Entertainment. The East Bay expansion is part of a push to take...

Winchell's to fill holes in its NW donut business.(Winchell's Donut Houses plans comeback in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA)
May 28, 1999... If Homer Simpson lived in the Northwest, he'd be getting depressed. Over a period of years the region's Winchell's doughnut shops have been shutting their doors. But hope remains. Winchell's, which once used famous cartoonist Matt...

Healthcare newsletter, ALC battle over article.(Oregon Health Forum; Assisted Living Concepts)
May 28, 1999... Assisted Living Concepts Inc. may still pursue legal action against the Oregon Health Forum, a Portland-based health care industry publication, despite a retraction of some points made in a pair of articles that took Assisted Living to task...

In Focus continues its market share dominance.(In Focus Systems Inc.)
May 28, 1999... In Focus Systems Inc. is the king of the projection industry when it comes to the wholesale computer distribution channel. According to TFC.NET, an Austin, Texas-based firm that tracks sales of projection devices, In Focus has a...

Specht developing three new office buildings.(Specht Development)
May 28, 1999... Specht Development purchased six acres in the Tigard Triangle two weeks ago and quickly began development of three speculative office buildings called Tigard Corporate Center. Specht is the general partner on the $15 million project,...

Shipping rates make rough sailing for importers.(40 percent hike on cargo rates coming from Asia)
May 28, 1999... Ocean shipping rates have jumped up to 40 percent this month on cargo from Asia, hitting major importers like Gap Inc., Esprit de Corp. and the region's many trading companies. The new rates went into effect May 1 and are costing...

Is hardware history? Software products represent the future for ThrustMaster.(Company Profile)
May 28, 1999... Frank Hausmann started his professional life as an account ant, which shows when the ThrustMaster Inc. chief executive explains company's the change in strategic direction: Just look at the numbers. In early December, the company's stock...

Intel's licensing pact critical to ThrustMaster.
May 28, 1999... ThrustMaster Inc. couldn't have developed its WeCanTalk line of products on its own, and it won't be able to continue offering new products and services without more help. Fortunately, help is on the way, primarily in the form of support from...

They love his 'hog' heads.(Baisley Hi-Performance, maker of cylinder heads for Harley-Davidson motorcycle engines)(Company Profile)
May 28, 1999... Patrons quietly sipping their beer in George's Corner Tavern at the intersection of North Interstate Avenue and Killingsworth Street may be unaware they are next door to the birthplace of powerful motorcycle engines. Behind a storefront that...

Port sees autos in Hayden Island's future.(Port of Portland)
May 21, 1999... Hayden Island may become a hub for auto imports and exports under the Port of Portland's revised strategy for its last large chunk of undeveloped property along the Columbia River shipping channel. Bob Hrdlicka, the port's marine...

MIcrosoft presence fuels WebMD frenzy.(investment plan in the company)
May 21, 1999... WebMD is a hot commodity It's putting the finishing touches on a merger agreement with one company and shareholders considering a tender offer from the world's largest software company Meantime, sitting at the center of the action is the...

Online grocers ignite niche battle with national chains.
May 21, 1999... When HomeGrocer.com began making deliveries to local consumers on May 18, it became the first online service to let Portland shoppers order all their groceries via computer. It won't be the last. The Seattle start-up is just one of many...

Kaiser, union reach agreement on contract for 2,200 workers.(Kaiser Permanente)
May 21, 1999... Kaiser Permanente employees represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 49 will vote this week on a tentative contract agreement reached with Kaiser last week. A source close to negotiations said the new contract will give...

US West-Global merger could pose threat to smaller players.(Global Crossings Ltd.)
May 21, 1999... US West Inc.'s $37 billion planned merger with Global Crossings Ltd. is aimed squarely at the business market, said a top executive with US West's data operations. "The merger is very much business-centric," said Rick Fresia, US West...

Hotel market flattens, but appears temporary.(Portland, OR)(Industry Overview)
May 21, 1999... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] A glut of hotel rooms hit the Portland-area suburbs last year, along with an Asian crisis and a high-tech slump, slowing occupancy and room.rate growth in the first quarter of 1999. This year a glut of hotel...

Tillamook Cheese bound for Morrow or Klamath.
May 21, 1999... Tillamook Cheese will keep its Oregon identity after narrowing its site selection for a second cheese plant to either Morrow or Klamath counties, company officials said. The cheesemaker, whose Tillamook factory is a must-see for 975,000...

Merger falls apart for Salem sheet metal firm.(merger between Neilsen Manufacturing Inc. and Chatham Technologies)
May 21, 1999... A case of Asian flu has thwarted the efforts of a Salem sheet metal shop's desire to join a fast-growing Texas company that makes enclosures for the electronics and telecommunications industries. Last December, Neilsen Manufacturing Inc....

Metro One's planned move likely to be short-term one.(Metro One Telecommunications Inc.)
May 21, 1999... Metro One Telecommunications Inc. expects to move its headquarters in June, but there's a good chance the new home won't meet its needs for very long. When the company began planning its move about a year ago, Tim Timmins, Metro One's...

Pamcorp hangars draw some interest, state says.(Pacific Aircraft Maintenance Corp.; Oregon)
May 21, 1999... The Pamcorp hangars, the legacy of a failed aircraft maintenance business at the Portland International Airport that was backed with $50 million in state-issued revenue bonds, has finally caught the eye of potential buyers. State...

Jack Luikart.(Executive Profile)(Sutro & Co. Chairman and CEO)
May 21, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Jack Luikart Title: Chairman and CEO Company: Sutro & Co., the San Francisco-based investment banking firm. Sutro & Co. is a part of Freedom Securities, along with Tucker Anthony and Cleary Gull. ...

Portland developer bullish on Astoria.(Venerable Properties purchases a number of real properties in Astoria, Oregon)
May 14, 1999... Venerable Properties is making its mark in Astoria. In the last 12 months, the Portland development company has purchased 16 acres of the city's best riverfront property, two commercial buildings, a downtown parking lot and an old school...

3 Netscapers to aid MedicaLogic launch.(MedicaLogic gears for internet-based medical services)
May 14, 1999... MedicaLogic Inc. this week unveiled plans to take internet-delivered medical services into the clinical-care environment for the first time. The Hillsboro-based firm announced plans to release its flagship product in an internet version...

Senate transportation bill: free market or free-for-all?(Sen. Gary George proposes a new bill covering public transport companies)
May 14, 1999... Sen. Gary George, R-Newberg, says it's time for the government to back off and let the free market reign in Oregon's transportation-for-hire industry. George's Senate Bill 858 is an economic engine which would encourage transportation...

Marketing One executives to leave company.
May 14, 1999... Executives are reportedly departing annuity distributor Marketing One, even as parent company PennCorp Financial Group keeps looking to sell its withering Portland subsidiary. PennCorp was trying to sell Marketing One in a package with...

Nautilus sales bolster growth of Direct Focus.
May 14, 1999... The addition of the Nautilus line of fitness equipment helped propel Vancouver's Direct Focus Inc. to a spectacular 135 percent increase in sales for the quarter ended March 31, compared to the first quarter of 1998. The sales boost...

Sequent pins future on new, emerging market.(Sequent Computer Systems Inc. taps application service provider market)
May 14, 1999... Sequent Computer systems Inc. is betting that an emerging market will provide it with an opportunity to kick-start the company after a difficult 1998. The market is providing computers for application service providers (ASPs), and the...

Judge orders Mentor, Quickturn to negotiate.(Portland, Oregon, district judge proposes an amicable legal settlement between Mentor Graphics Corp. and Quickturn Design Systems Inc.)
May 14, 1999... Mentor Graphics Corp.'s ongoing patent litigation with Quickturn Design Systems Inc. will cost Mentor shareholders at least a nickel per share as long as the issue goes unresolved, but there's a chance a resolution will occur sometime this...

Saucony's slowly climbing back up shoe ladder.(Saucony Inc announces record-breaking earnings for 1999)
May 14, 1999... Saucony Inc. knows a little something about second wind. As a matter of fact, the Peabody, Mass.-based company is being powered by one right now. Once considered by many in the industry as the premiere maker of shoes worn by serious...

Acquisition pushes IMS on new direction.(Integrated Measurement Systems Inc benefits from Perform IC acquisition)
May 14, 1999... Integrated Measurement Systems Inc. is confident better days lie ahead, thanks in large part to a September 1998 acquisition that dramatically increases the Beaverton company's market reach. Keith Barnes, IMS' chief executive and...

Building a solid future.(PPI Exhibit Design and Fabrication builds success on marketing designs and builds display)
May 14, 1999... Customers' display of loyalty adds to PPI's momentum PPI Exhibit Design & Fabrication has built a Texas-size basketball for Houston's Big Ball Sports created an ostentatious trade show display for Nintendo that fills 24 moving vans and...

Babcock & Jenkins: an ad agency on the move.(Portland, Oregon-based advertising firm enjoys massive revenue growth)
May 14, 1999... Babcock & Jenkins Direct, a direct marketing agency with a distinctly web-based focus, has been growing so fast that it has had to move to new offices four times in the last five years. Bill Babcock and Diane Jenkins had handled direct...

Physicians resigning at HealthFirst.
May 7, 1999... HealthFirst Medical Group, one of Portland's largest physician groups, is hemorrhaging physicians at an alarming rate. Company insiders and other observers say that survival of the group, which employs some 600 people in addition to the...

Wilsonville's sad tale of development woes.(sluggish industrial development at Wilsonville, Oregon due to stringent water rights and building policies)
May 7, 1999... Don't expect to develop in Wilsonville any time soon. The suburban Portland city is so mired in policy and politics - over water rights and prison sites - that its 17 month building ban will most likely be extended through December. ...

Uniform merger: perfect fit for Portland employer.(Superior Uniform Group Inc acquires The Empire Co)
May 7, 1999... A Florida company has paid $9 million to acquire The Empire Co. of Portland, a long-time manufacturer of uniforms that employs 150. Michael Menashe, the previous owner of Empire, said he remains as chief executive of the operation, which...

County still wrangling with APP over probation office location.(Association for Portland Progress)
May 7, 1999... Business boosters with the Association For Portland Progress have won a reprieve from Multnomah County's plans to open a new probation office at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Washington Street. The county has agreed to give APP one last...

Oregon wheat gets one of its kind at USDA.(US Department of Agriculture)
May 7, 1999... A champion of Oregon's wheat industry will soon manage the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food-export programs, including grain sold to foreign customers through U.S.-backed credit guarantees or donated for humanitarian relief. Richard...

Burback leaves Colliers; will remain in Portland.(David Burback relinquishes job as chief-operating-officer at Colliers International)
May 7, 1999... Dave Burback stepped down from his position as general manager of Colliers International's Portland operation last week "to pursue other opportunities." Burback, who came to Portland and Colliers four years ago, wouldn't be specific, but...

EDA companies' failures come back to sting them.(electronic design automation firms in Portland, Oregon fail to complete merger talks)
May 7, 1999... The Portland area's publicly traded electronic design automation companies are still feeling a little hung over following failed merger and acquisition bids. Mentor Graphics Corp., OrCAD and Summit Design Inc, all took big hits from...

Lightware gets new CEO - in Focus founder Hix.
May 7, 1999... Steve Hix is back doing what he's best known for - making projectors. The founder of In Focus Systems Inc. and the local display and projection industry pioneer announced last week that he's decided to get back into the thick of 'the...

Glenn Scott.(Majestic Eagle Agency Inc. president/manager)
May 7, 1999... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Glenn D. Scott Organization: Majestic Eagle Agency Inc. Title: President/manager What we do: Independent Insurance Agency - all lines Education: B.A., business administration, Northwest...

Putting the past to rest: L-P's Mark Suwyn can focus on the future at last.(Louisiana-Pacific Corp chief-executive-officer)
May 7, 1999... Mark Suwyn says it's all about building products. "That's what we wake up in the morning thinking about," explained Suwyn, the chairman and chief executive officer of Louisiana-Pacific Corp. It's the first time during Suwyn's...

How alternative are we?(Focus on Health Care)(boom of alternative health care in Portland, Oregon)
May 7, 1999... Few would argue that Americans are embracing the alternative health care industry more than ever. Many of us routinely see a chiropractor or massage therapist when our backs hurt. We use acupuncture. We buy herbal supplements to boost our...