Business Journal-Portland articles from September 1999

Business Journal-Portland archives from September 1999

Homebuilder Dessen belly up.(Dessen Homes)
September 3, 1999... Dessen Homes Inc., a company once touted by founder and president Kent Sorensen as a small business on the verge of making it big, has been evicted from its headquarters in Vancouver, Wash.'s, Columbia Business Center. Earlier this week,...

Nike struts down runway to capture fashionable market.
September 3, 1999... They're fearlessly saying the F-word around Nike Inc. nowadays. They've even been flaunting the speak and bolstering such newfound beliefs with first-ever fashion shows at Niketowns across the country. Last month, Niketowns in Portland,...

MedicaLogic moves closer to team dream.
September 3, 1999... MedicaLogic Inc. signed two partnership agreements this week with e-commerce health care companies that will complement its internet-delivered medical services. The two companies, whose names won't be released until the deals are finalized...

Thanks to Brandi, Nike's sports bras fly off shelves.(Women's World Cup participant Brandi Chastain)
September 3, 1999... Brandi Chastain got the bra rolling, so to speak. Rolling right off the shelves. After scoring the winning goal at the Women's World Cup in July, Chastain whipped off her shirt and showcased for the masses her Nike Inner Actives sports...

Regus Business Centres to set up shop in World Trade Center.
September 3, 1999... Regus Business Centres, one of the world's largest operators of immediately available, fully furnished office spaces for corporations and entrepreneurs, has landed in Portland. Regus is moving into 14,000 square feet previously occupied by...

Oregon's hop industry continues to take a hit.(Industry Overview)
September 3, 1999... For the third year in a row, the number of acres of hops harvested in Oregon's Willamette Valley is down, but it appears the regionwide slump may be leveling off. As with most crops in the Willamette Valley, hops are about a week to 10...

Congress slices $87M from SBA's budget plan.(Small Business Administration)
September 3, 1999... The Small Business Administration faces its most serious threat since some Republicans in Congress tried to elimimate the agency in 1995, said SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez. Both the House and the Senate slashed funds for salaries and...

Executive profile: Dave Sharkey.(president and CEO of Electric Lightwave Inc.)
September 3, 1999... Dave Sharkey PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: Dave Sharkey Organization: Electric Lightwave Inc. Title: President and chief operating officer What we do: Electric Lightwave provides one-stop integrated communications services...

All Columbia - head to toe: outdoor clothier's new licensing program begins with socks.(Columbia Sportswear)
September 3, 1999... Outdoor clothier's new licensing program begins with socks Socks. Now there's something Tim Boyle thought would be a perfect match for the outdoor-related clothes and shoes sold by his company, Columbia Sportswear. Only he didn't want to...

Under the alpine sun.(Timberline Lodge, the only US ski resort that offers summer skiing)
September 3, 1999... Summer season is no vacation from business for Timberline as skiers and snow-boarders flock to the only U.S. resort that offers summer skiing It's the middle of August, and there is a five-minute wait under the high alpine sun for skiers...

Forging success from distress.(Target Group Marketing Inc.)(Company Profile)
September 3, 1999... Target Group Marketing has found its own niche in helping home builders re-niche themselves in a competitve industry. You know the saying: "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." That's what Leslie Savitch, president of Target...

Is sale next for burger boys?(Gardenburger Inc. may be on the selling block following change of control agreement filed with the SEC)
September 10, 1999... If someone buys Gardenburger Inc. tomorrow, the company's executives will already have their golden parachutes packed. Gardenburger is making sure that president Lyle Hubbard and other senior execs will be generously compensated if another...

Wilshire's new boss must deal with Andy.(Wilshire Financial Services Group Inc. founder Andrew Wiederhorn is replaced by Steve Glennon)
September 10, 1999... Andrew Wiederhorn has been booted out of the corner office at Wilshire Financial Services Group. Inc., but he'll likely continue to exert influence over the company he founded. Wiederhorn has been replaced as chief executive by Steve...

Three stripes and yer out, judge tells adidas lawyers.(Adidas America Inc.'s case against the National Collegiate Athletics Association regarding the limit in size of commercial logos thrown out)
September 10, 1999... Adidas America Inc. is still smarting from a federal judge's decision last week to throw out its lawsuit against the NCAA. The suit, filed more than a year ago, attempted to block the NCAA from limiting the size of commercial logos on...

A scrappy David takes aim at metal-masher Goliath Schnitzer.(Cliff Koppe Metals Inc., Mount Hood Metals Inc. and Metro Metals Northwest Inc. merge to challenge Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. in the ferrous-scrap industry)
September 10, 1999... The last stop for junk cars in these parts is usually a metal shredder operated by Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. But a competing company may soon begin pulverizing car bodies in Schnitzer's back yard. Three local scrap-metal processors -...

ThrustMaster's about face wasn't that abrupt.(joystick manufacturer to change name after selling its hardware business to Guillemot Corp.)
September 10, 1999... ThrustMaster Inc. will formally disappear in two weeks, but the company was already history at the start of 1999 because of a series of dismal quarters in 1998. The company will hold a special meeting on Sept. 24 to vote on the sale of its...

DeMarini courts investors; sale is a possibility.(DeMarini Sports Inc.)
September 10, 1999... In a move aimed at facilitating expansion and improving management, bat maker DeMarini Sports Inc. is seeking investment capital - action that could ultimately lead to the sale of the company. As part of DeMarini Sports' interest in...

Oxis buys time with sale of French research lab.(Oxis International Inc.)
September 10, 1999... The shutdown of Oxis International Inc.'s research laboratory in Cedex, France, is expected to buy the struggling Portland company more time operation. It's uncertain how long it can continue, however, without a biotech or pharmaceutical...

HealthFirst blowup: fallout hits city hard.(HealthFirst Medical Group)
September 17, 1999... Four years ago, doctors at The Portland Clinic turned down a chance to join the potentially lucrative HealthFirst Medical Group. In the past two weeks, the clinic's doctors haven't had time to ponder HealthFirst's collapse. They're too busy...

Telecom trends dictate that GST will be bought.(GST Telecommunications Inc.)
September 17, 1999... GST Telecommunications Inc. will be acquired. It won't happen this year; it may not happen next year. But it will happen, said a pair of telecommunications analysts who follow the Vancouver, Wash., telecom company. "With any of the CLECs...

Speaking about Spieker ....(Ned Spieker, CEO of Spieker Properties Inc.)
September 17, 1999... The risk-taking California developer discusses his strategy Warren "Ned" Spieker, chairman and CEO of Spieker Properties Inc., may give the impression of a laid-back California business executive. But the boss of the Menlo Park,...

Nature's execs flee in merger aftermath.(merger of Wild Oats Market Inc. and Nature's Northwest)
September 24, 1999... In late May, when Colorado's Wild Oats Market Inc. bought the seven-store Nature's Northwest grocery chain for $57 million from General Nutrition Cos., the deal was hailed as a natural fit. At the same time, however, Nature's executive vice...

Seafirst brand dies as B of A finally emerges.(Seafirst Bank to change its name to Bank of America)
September 24, 1999... Effective Sept. 27, Washington's largest commercial bank will change its name. New Bank of America signs and logos will appear at what were previously Seafirst Bank branches. New signs will also appear that day at the Oregon Bank of...

ESI's rally is good news for electronics industry.(Electro Scientific Industries Inc.)(Company Profile)
September 24, 1999... Electro Scientific Industries Inc. made an impressive return to form in the first quarter of fiscal 2000, which is good news for more than just the local company. Because ESI makes equipment that other electronics companies use to make...

Small business can't win shelf placement battle.
September 24, 1999... The chairman ordered the television crew members to turn their cameras away as the two witnesses, both wearing black hoods over their heads, were escorted into the Senate committee room. Two guards seated the witnesses, one man and one...

Beyond the birthing biz.(services provided to women by Portland, OR, area hospitals)
September 24, 1999... In Portland-area hospitals, women are getting more than respect; they're getting medical care that spans their entire lifetime. It used to be that new morns got all the attention. Maternity departments were remodeled in mauve and pink to...