Business Journal-Portland articles from October 2000

Business Journal-Portland archives from October 2000

Spieker launches office market blitz.
October 6, 2000... Spieker Properties is obviously dead serious about its quest to own valuable West Coast office properties. Spieker has acquired the seven-building Lincoln Center, the Washington Square office building campus anchored by the 12-story...

Janus asks permission to sell WebMD stake.
October 6, 2000... A major backer in WebMD is seeking permission to sell up to 15 million shares it purchased earlier this year as part of a private placement of the foundering internet company's shares, according to Reuters. Investors in the deal have already...

Summer vacation led to a lucrative vocation.
October 6, 2000... Dan Koch and Cheryl Jackson, two Portland teachers, had a subtle appetite for the world. And in 1977, they launched a month-long trip to Afghanistan that would catalyze this hunger insatiable. "We ended up building a personal collection of...

National theater glut guts Cascade multiplex project.
October 6, 2000... It's out with the movies and in with the food at Cascade Station, an airport-area retail center that was to have housed Oregon's largest cinema complex. Developer MBK Northwest wanted to construct an 18-screen cinema at Cascade Station but...

Connection with CNBC a coup for local insurance aggregator.
October 6, 2000... As a defensive end for Oregon State University football teams in the mid-1980s, Phil Alfieri chased his share of quarterbacks. He caught enough of them to earn a reputation as a big-time sack-getter. Now Alfieri wants to be known as a...

Nike: Stepping forward soon on a Shox sole.
October 6, 2000... "Jounce bumpers, that urethane stuff they use in shock absorbers... yeah, that's the ticket, jounce bumpers!" That's not verbatim, but something similar went through Bruce Kilgore's mind two years ago. That's when a vendor advised the...

When light bulbs light up, hustlers see opportunity.
October 6, 2000... Having grown up in a household paid for by the sweat of a small-business man, I have a great admiration for those who value independence more highly than security I also think they're a little bit nuts. But who am I to judge in that arena?...

Mom would be proud of her boys' teamwork.(Jerry and Jack Grundhofer)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * In a display of brotherly love, Firstar Corp. of Milwaukee, Wis., agreed to buy Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, owner of Oregon's largest commercial bank. The $21.2 billion stock transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2001....

Microfield Graphics Inc.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Portland-based Microfield Graphics Inc. (OTCBB:MICG), which develops, manufactures and markets interactive computer communications products, said that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Greensteel Inc. for the sale of...

Army Corps of Engineers.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Stubbornly refusing to acknowledge defeat, the Army Corps of Engineers was forced this weekend to publicly admit that its plan to deepen the Columbia River shipping channel has, itself, run aground. Washington and Oregon, citing environmental...

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: SCHN) of Portland reported net income of $10.4 million or $1.06 per diluted share on revenue of $333.8 million for the year ended August 31,2000. These amounts compare to net earnings of $.6 million,...

Louisiana-Pacific Corp.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX) unveiled a new distinctive identity system, including a three-dimensional corporate logo, to reinforce the Portland-based company's commitment to being an innovative and resourceful supplier in the building...

Umpqua Holdings Corp.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Umpqua Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: UMPQ) of Rosenburg announced net income of $1.4 million for the third quarter of 2000--a 13.5 percent increase over last years third quarter. Diluted earnings per share were 18 cents for the quarter ended Sept....

WebTrends Corp.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * WebTrends Corp. (Nasdaq:WEBT) named Mark Reed as senior vice president of corporate development. Reed assumes responsibility for business development, establishment of strategic alliances, potential acquisition and integration management, and...

Caffe Diva Group Ltd.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... * Caffe Diva Group Ltd. (OTC:CFDA) said in a release that it has terminated its relationship with Ron Davis, former chairman and CEO of the company. The major shareholders of Caffe Diva Group elected to replace Davis as board chairman. Ron...

NW Pipe's earnings dip, but analysts say it's a blip.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Northwest Pipe Co. has a surprise for Wall Street, and it isn't a good one. The company announced it expects third-quarter earnings of 38 cents to 46 cents; analysts' estimates for the quarter were between 52 cents and 60 cents. ...

PDC's Trader to travel, keep active in retirement.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... While Felicia Trader claims she'll spend her retirement traveling and keeping her brain active, one gets the feeling that others won't let her sit idly by. Trader, the 55-year-old executive director for the Portland Development Commission...

Investment ahead of schedule.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Multnomah County said last week that, after five years, its Strategic Investment Program is exceeding expectations. SIP, which partially abates LSI Logic Corp.'s property taxes in exchange for community and economic development benefits,...

Concentrex units sold to another Atlanta company.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Portland employees who work in the internet banking divisions of the former Concentrex Inc. may be getting dizzy Just a couple months after acquiring Concentrex, check printer John H. Harland Co. of Atlanta has agreed to sell the Concentrex...

Y&R names insider to replace CEO.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Young & Roehr Group has announced longtime president and CEO Lois Leonard will be leaving her post at the end of 2000. Leonard, chosen as president in 1990 to lead an employee buyout from company founders, said she wants to pursue other...

Grubb & Ellis to broker Creative Services Center.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Like most Portland commercial realtors, Grubb & Ellis wants a niche within the high-tech and design communities. Not surprisingly, the company is ebullient over its most recent partnership. The Portland Development Commission has named the...

Techies to parade their hobby via Battle of Bands.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... In Portland, it's impossible to walk into an office without encountering a plethora of musicians. From pros who regularly score paying gigs to drum-circle enthusiasts, this town teems with players. Portland also teems with techies. The two...

Eugene sign company to boost regional sales.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Are employee buyouts a good "sign" that a business will thrive? Could be. Just three months after completing its employee-driven purchase, Eugene-based ES&A Sign and Awning Co. has announced plans to expand its presence in Portland while...

Ben Canada.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Ben Canada Organization: Portland Public Schools Title: Superintendent What we do: Portland Public Schools is designed to bring forth the best in every child, in terms of their academic skills, their...

Err in haste, repent in Aisle 7.(Albertson's Inc.)
October 6, 2000... Albertson's blundered, but insists it can fix the mess Dear Albertson's: A year ago I bought stock your company. Now my investment has lost half its value. What gives? Dear Shareholder: We mishandled the conversion of Lucky...

Measure 9 draws ire of Ecumenical Ministries.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Nov. 7 can't get here soon enough. It'll be a glued-to-the-TV-set night, with nonstop action slated to arrive from all corners of the country. The day will bring drama that will match that of the World Series, Super Bowl and Portland police...

MONEY, MONEY AND MORE MONEY.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Where's all this money coming from? First, Gary Ames and Peter Stott played a game of top-this-gift at Portland State University. Now comes word that Pacific University and the University of Portland have scored big, big bucks from big, big...

L&C'S BIG FIND.
October 6, 2000... Lewis and Clark fanatics take note: Lewis & Clark College has procured volumes of hard-to-find Meriwether Lewis and William Clark collectibles. President Michael Mooney announced that the school received manuscripts with "word-for-word,...

Going and his tech expertise return to Perkins Coie.
October 6, 2000... Steven Going has gone back home. The Perkins Coie attorney is rejoining his old firm after several years with crosstown rival After Wynne. Perkins Coie is treating this as a pretty big deal, especially since Going works with the kind...

ZAROV TO HEAD OSB'S LIABILITY FUND.
October 6, 2000... The Oregon State Bar's Professional Liability Fund has chosen a veteran Portland lawyer with an extensive background in public law and management to run the fund. Ira Zarov will replace former liability fund chief executive, Kirk Hall, who...

TRIAL LAWYERS HONOR PAULSON.(Chuck Paulson)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Portland attorney Chuck Paulson recently was named 2000's distinguished trial lawyer by the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. Paulson has been an attorney for 42 years. He has worked as a criminal defense lawyer, a trial lawyer representing...

YUGLER LEADS TRIAL LAWYERS.(Rick Yulger)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... The Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, which has over 900 members, also selected new officers for the coming year. The group named Rick Yugler of Portland president-elect; Mic Alexander of Salem secretary-treasurer; and Kathleen Dailey of...

ADDITIONS TO DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Perkins Coie isn't the only Portland law firm bringing on new--or in Perkins' case, returning--talent to grab a bit of the hot markets. Davis Wright Tremaine is beefing up its telecommunications practice with the addition of three attorneys to...

eVineyard's VC funding climbs to $20 million.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... September's end brought a third round of ventur e capital financing to Lake Oswego's eVineyard, an online retailer of wine. For unknown reasons, the company was murky about disclosing the amount of the round. Spokeswoman Paige Poulos...

INVESTING WITH CLARITY.(Clarity Visual Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... A recent $6.5 million private capital investment in Portland's Clarity Visual Systems Inc. was led by the Portland office of investment bank Needham & Co. Local Needham executive Bruce Alexander hopes the Clarity investment works out as...

PREMIERWEST BUYS K. FALLS COMPANY.(PremierWest Bank buys Motor Investment Co.)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Medford's PremierWest Bank acquired Motor Investment Co., a Kiamath Falls consumer finance business with more than $4 million in outstanding loans. The acquisition of the 80-year-old Motor Investment expands PremierWest's finance division,...

CONWAY MAKES PARTNER.(Morrie Conway promoted by Verber Partners)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Portland investment banking firm Veber Partners promoted Morrie Conway to partner. Conway will advise emerging businesses and be involved in raising capital for clients and in mergers and acquisitions. He joined the firm in 1998.

CANADIANS BUY DAIN RAUSCHER.(Royal Bank of Canada)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Another securities firm with Northwest ties succumbed to sellout fever, with Dai Rauscher Wessels saying it will be acquired by Royal Bank of Canada. Based in Minneapolis, Dam Rauscher keeps a closer eye than many competitors on public...

MERGERS UP, OVERALL ACTIVITY DOWN.
October 6, 2000... Merger activity rose substantially in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, as corporations completed 61 blockbuster acquisitions valued at more than $1 billion each, according to researcher MergerStat. Total value of those...

Condo crowd isn't flocking to downtown Vancouver.
October 6, 2000... Want a home in the Pearl District for a fraction of the cost, without the taxes? Come to Vancouver, says realtor Betty Paeth. Paeth is the new realtor-on-duty at Heritage Place, the 137-unit condominium complex built this summer in downtown...

A tool for surviving the holidays.(stress management techniques)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Strange noises have been emanating from the cubicles. Oohs and ahhs and groans all over the place. It started when I brought in a funny-looking contraption-a self-massage tool consisting of a piece of metal tubing, with a wooden handle...

Holiday ideas from you.(Brief Article)(Column)
October 6, 2000... This year's Holiday Gifts guide comes to you from you, the readers. Back in September, I asked readers to submit ideas for holiday gifts, in hopes of gleaning some fresh ideas. The e-malls have been flowing in, and the response was...

Have yourself a merry (and green) holiday season.(Brief Article)(Column)
October 6, 2000... Increasingly, I hear people asking, "How can I give gifts in a way that is environmentally friendly? How can I avoid plastics? How can I avoid bundles of packaging? How can I give really appropriate gifts without creating demand for more...

Sometimes the gift of time is the best gift of all.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... A few weeks ago, I asked readers to submit ideas for holiday gifts. Here's what you came up with, edited only for punctuation. Thanks for your suggestions. Sharon DeBusk Managing Editor I loved your column from Sept. 8, and I...

Despite expense, organic food now more mainstream.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... For 20 years, Eugene-based Organically Grown Co. has distributed organic goods throughout the Northwest. Organically Grown is a co-op owned by several organic farmers who supply their goods to the company for mass distribution. The wholesale...

Door-to-door organics.(Organic Harvest Home Delivery)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Two and a half years ago two friends came together to create what would be a new face in Portland's fruit and vegetable market. The Portland company delivers organic fruits and vegetables to customers weekly Ryan Sanders and Matt Walstatter,...

Marketing is about aspirations, needs of customers.(Brief Article)(Column)
October 6, 2000... A confluence of recent events leads me to some observations that diverge from the "how-to" instructions that this column normally communicates. Call them philosophical droppings, if you will. I had the good fortune to stay off the road for...

Minority-owned businesses teem, but not investors.(Milken Institute report)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... A new study concludes that America's future economic growth could be stifled unless minority-owned businesses gain access to more capital. The number of minority-owned businesses grew 17 percent a year over the past decade--six times the...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(includes brief articles)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... ACCOUNTING David Mears joined Barrett & Co. CPAs. ADVERTISING Wieden & Kennedy appointed Jim Elms media director. Jeff Dooley joined RalstonGroup as senior art director. Leopold Ketel & Partners named Darcie Meihoff to...

Refugee Center helped solve labor conundrum.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Silver Plume Imports Inc., a local importing business, has a simple motto: "Always something new and different at Silver Plume." But this, by far, is quite an understatement. Aside from the Mediterranean-American-influenced Indian- and...

Entrepreneurs strut their stuff.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Anyone who needed proof that Oregon is coming into its own as a 21st-century economy should have attended the Oct. 3 Venture Oregon Conference. The presentation of business plans by 16 of the state's most promising start-up companies was a tour...

Ballot measures from hell.(Oregon)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Business has learned that the most dangerous man in the state of Oregon is the demagogic Bill Sizemore. So dangerous is Sizemore to Oregon's education system and future prosperity that business has mobilized against him like no other threat the...

Arts community urges 'no' on measures 9, 8, 91 & 93.(Oregon)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... This year, Oregon voters are facing a series of initiatives which have the singular power to debilitate the kind of community we've established in Oregon. These are delicate economic and social times. The magnitude of these proposals has...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
October 6, 2000... 'Left-brain leader leaves celebration of right stuff; stuff OK' To the editor: In the Sept. 22 edition of The Business Journal the headline, "Creative Conference loses leader; future clouded," may have left many people with the wrong...

Winners & Losers.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Rentrak shareholders New Rentrak CEO Paul Rosenbaumand his partners fulfilled the shareholders' dream of assuming a company's control. Now comes the tough part: Rosenbaum and his takeover cronies want to boost Rentrak's stock price...

The Numbers Game.
October 6, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Insider Trading.
October 6, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Top computer dealers.
October 6, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Top office furniture dealers.
October 6, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

SLAPSHOTS.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2000... Area code no longer * No one likes 10-digit dialing. If you computer isn't equippe to handle it, you're faced with spending an hour on hold waiting for help from your ISP's tech representative. It's a case of technology haves-those...

Judge orders Zapp to repay $3.3M.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Ray Zapp, former Atlas Telecom chief executive and founder, has been ordered to pay more than $3.3 million to the estate of his former company because he failed to convince a judge that the money was used for business purposes. "Zapp had a...

Oregon banks jockey to fill mid-sized niche.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... While Oregon banks large and small continue to remake themselves via merger, the state and the Northwest at large noticeably lack any bank that could rightly be called mid-sized. That may change, however. A handful of growing community...

Oregon execs lead way at Natural Step confab.
October 13, 2000... "Thank you for choosing Atlanta," said a conference-goer who took the stage on behalf of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. "On a personal level, I needed to see this happen here. And as a region, we desperately needed this consensus of...

Is 100 Columbia poised to step into Fox Tower role?(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... In 22 months, commercial building aficionados could look at 100 Columbia and call it "Portland's biggest office development since the Fox Tower" Until then, its developers and managers hope the 15-story Class A structure, which will occupy...

TV's chef Yamaguchi joins SakeOne in vintage sake sale.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... SakeOne founder Grif Frost has long wanted to make sake a household beverage m the United States. Now, he may get some help from a new partnership with noted chef Roy Yamaguchi. Frost and Yamaguchi, host of the Public Television's "Hawaii...

Kibu's web site for girls is no more.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Everything was going according to plan, but that didn't stop the managers and investors of Kibu Corp. from pulling the plug on their effort to create an internet gathering place for teen-age girls. Founded in April 1999, Kibu brought on...

Three times on 'Oprah'--she must know something.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Thursday, Oct. 5 was one of those days when the planets aligned and everything made sense. I had two meetings lined up. One was a luncheon with a dozen or so readers to discuss balancing jobs and families. The second was an interview with Julie...

Mulligan dies, leaves big shoes to fill at AT&T.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... AT&T corporate spokesman Kevin Mulligan died of a heart attack at age 50. Mulligan served as the Portland area's regional communications director for AT&T Broadband and also represented the company's community affairs department. He was a...

VRB Bancorp.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * VRB Bancorp (Nasdaq: VRBA) of Rogue River announced that prior to onetime merger-related expenses, it earned over $1.3 million in its third quarter--up 9 percent compared to 1999 during the same period. On a per-share basis, earnings before...

Pan Pacific Retail Properties Inc.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * Pan Pacific Retail Properties Inc. (NYSE: PNP) and Western Properties Trust (AMEX: WIR) made Nov. 9 the date of its special meeting of shareholders to vote on the proposed merger of Pan Pacific and Western Properties. The record date for each...

William Controls Inc.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * William Controls Inc. (Nasdaq: WMCO) of Portland initialized shipment of electronic throttle control pedal assemblies from its Sarasota, Fla., factory to two. Ford facilities producing the Ford Super Duty Truck Series. This shipment is part...

Willamette Industries Inc.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * Willamette Industries Inc. (NYSE: WLL) of Portland reported third-quarter earnings of $83.4 million, or 76 cents per diluted share--up from the 73 cents per diluted share earned in third quarter 1999. The earnings dip last year occured after...

Bank of the Northwest.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * Bank of the Northwest (OTCBB: BKNW) of Portland reported third-quarter net operating income, excluding a nonrecurring expense item relating to the management contract of Steve Polzin, the bank's late chairman, was a record $448,911--a 131...

Community West Bancshares.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... * Community West Bancshares (Nasdaq: CWBC) of Goleta, Calif., and wholly owned subsidiary Goleta National Bank, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against their former auditors and financial consultants, Deloitte & Touche LLP. The...

CORRECTIONS.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
October 13, 2000... * Contrary to an Oct. 6 article, check- printing company John H. Harland Co. is publicly held. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol JH. * The subject in a photograph on page 33 of the Sept. 29 issue, accompanying...

Sluggish growth at PDX doesn't faze port officials.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 13, 2000... Although overall passenger numbers are up this year at Portland International Airport, 2000 is shaping up as yet another year of sluggish growth for PDX. After the first eight months of 2000, passenger count is up a minuscule 0.6 percent....

800.com decks itself with boughs of icons.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Online retailer 800.com is gearing up for a crucial holiday season with a new logo, a redesigned web site and a $20 million advertising campaign. The Portland-based electronics retailer is nearing the high season of its third year. A...

Author Boyd gives wisdom at African-American health forum.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Psychotherapist and author Julia Boyd will offer insight into women and depression at the African American Women's Tea & Health Forum on Oct. 15. Boyd, whose new book is, "Can I Get a Witness: For Sisters, When the Blues is More than A...

Salmon restoration plan hubs Tillamook & Clatsop.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Oregon conservation and economic groups unveiled a cooperative plan to aid threatened salmon species, in light of timber harvests expected to increase roughly two to three times over the next few years in Tillamook and Clatsop state forests....

UCP bids adieu to Value Village, hello to Goodwill.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... United Cerebral Palsy Association of Oregon and Southwest Washington has ended a four-year partnership with Value Village stores. Instead, the nonprofit agency will send its truckloads of donated clothing, toasters and other small household...

New York company moves closer to creating Hayden Island landfill.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... A controversial proposal for an "in-water disposal site" on Hayden Island is going to happen, says New York-based Brookhill Acquisitions LLC. The company, which is trying to create what would effectively be a landfill for contaminated soil,...

Caltrans' patient mystery eluded best of sleuths.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... It was a medical case that would have puzzled even Agatha Christie. For a decade, a California state employee had claimed she was diagnosed with breast cancer and submitted dozens of medical claims for a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery...

E-commerce risks work for Tripwire.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... Insurance giant Lloyd's of London has enlisted a Portland company to help alleviate huge risks associated with e-commerce. Tripwire, which creates "data integrity and assurance software" has won Lloyd's endorsement as a recommended risk...

Oregon seed growers see China as fertile soil.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2000... A move by President Clinton to grant normal trade relations with the People's Republic of China appears to ensure that efforts over the past 15 years by Oregon seed growers is well sowed. Days before Clinton approved House Bill 4444,...