Washington Business Journal articles from January 2001

Washington Business Journal archives from January 2001

VC group raises $300M.
January 26, 2001... Lazard's fund expected to close nearly $50M oversubscribed Even with many area venture capitalists scratching and clawing to bring in investment dollars lately, Lazard Technology Partners is about to close a $300 million fund that...

Gilmore plans national tech council.
January 26, 2001... As governor of Virginia, Jim Gilmore has built a reputation as one of the technology industry's best political pals. Now as the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gilmore wants to spread his tech-friendly gospel throughout...

Street talk: FBR for sale.
January 26, 2001... FRIEDMAN BILLINGS RAMSEY looks to be on the block. According to a well-placed source, top officials at the Arlington-based investment bank are mulling multiple offers but have yet to make a decision. It's not known whether the offers...

WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER.
January 26, 2001... A new $4,000 piece of medical equipment at the WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER proved invaluable during inaugural weekend. That's because the defibrillator helped restart the heart of PATRICIA VOINOVICH (sister-in-law of Ohio Republican Sen....

BALTIMORE RAVENS.
January 26, 2001... BALTIMORE RAVENS fever has spread to the local Olympic bid group. THE WASHINGTON/BALTIMORE REGIONAL 2012 COALITION and the NYC 2012 bid group have a friendly wager on this weekend's Ravens-New York Giants Super Bowl. Bid chief DAN...

VERIO.
January 26, 2001... The police swooped into a VERIO data center in Springfield Jan. 17 after the facility received a bomb threat. Verio managers were taking no chances -- not after a high-profile office rampage in Massachusetts last month that left seven...

BUSH-CHENEY.
January 26, 2001... One of Maryland's most prominent Republicans -- yes, there are a couple -- says he's interested in a job with the BUSH-CHENEY team, while another says she'd only take a part-time gig from the new president. FRED GRANDY, the former Iowa...

RAY LEWIS, ART MODELL and TRENT DILFER.
January 26, 2001... RAY LEWIS, ART MODELL and TRENT DILFER won't be the only ones snagging a little newsprint in Tampa, Fla., this weekend. The MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT hopes the BALTIMORE RAVENS' appearance in the Super Bowl...

CORRECTION.
January 26, 2001... Holland & Knight attorney Mark Ball participated in Shakespeare Steps Out with students from Cleveland Elementary at the Folger. His last name was misspelled in the Jan. 1925 Good Works section.

UPS & DOWNS.
January 26, 2001... Winners and losers this week in Greater Washington business. George W.: Job No. 1 was to remove "Taxation without Representation" plates from presidential limos. Probably needs room for the "Don't Mess with Texas" sticker. AOL: About...

AOL Time Warner lays off 360.
January 26, 2001... The continuing shakeout of the $112 billion marriage between AOL and Time Warner struck close to home Jan.23, when the media giant laid off more than 360 people in the Washington area. AOL Time Warner cut 300 jobs at its offices...

CLC suspends, class trading.
January 26, 2001... Little more than a month after the Education Department ordered Manassas-based Computer Learning Centers to return $187 million for illegally paying commissions to admissions officers, the company suspended all of its classes Jan. 22 and...

Net2000 slashes 90 jobs, stalls expansion.
January 26, 2001... Net2000 announced it will cut 10 percent of its work force -- about 90 employees -- and delay the third phase of its market expansion for at least a year in an effort to save about $80 million in cash and extend its existing funding through...

General Dynamics deal approved.
January 26, 2001... Primex Technologies shareholders voted nearly unanimously Jan. 24 to approve a proposed acquisition by Falls Church-based General Dynamics, in a deal worth about $333.8 million. Nearly 98 percent of shareholders of the St. Petersburg,...

Images buys Md. competitor.
January 26, 2001... Images, a Dulles-based office automation provider, announced Jan. 24 it has acquired Patuxent Business Machines, a smaller Southern Maryland automation dealer. Financial details were not disclosed. The companies will have combined sales...

Deadline set for Gallery Place project.
January 26, 2001... Developers Herb Miller and Chip Akridge are, at risk of losing the right to build Gallery Place, a massive entertainment, retail and office complex planned next to MCI Center, officials say. Metro, which owns the site above the Gallery...

Office project replaces hotel expansion plan.
January 26, 2001... The John Akridge. Cos. will build a 320,000-square-foot office building on a lot once slated for the Renaissance Washington Hotel, D.C. expansion near the future convention center. Akridge signed a contract in December to buy out...

As layoffs spread, recruiters flourish.
January 26, 2001... As Trent Lutz watches news of layoffs in the region's tech industry, he doesn't see signs of a downturn. He sees opportunity. As a human resources manager at Germantown telecom equipment maker Acterna (formerly TTC), Lutz is...

It's a goal! Freedom nets Nike as sponsor.
January 26, 2001... Where Mia goes, major sponsors. will follow. The Washington Freedom of the hew Women's United Soccer Association has snagged Nike as a sponsor. The athletic apparel leader has signed a two-year deal to be the team's apparel supplier,...

Business Journal forms partnership with Microsoft.
January 26, 2001... Washington Business Journal will be part of a new strategic Web partnership between its parent company, American City Business Journals, and Microsoft. Company officials say the alliance was put together to enable American City and...

Goodwill sets sights on headquarters in Rockville.
January 26, 2001... Rockville has jumped to the top of Goodwill Industries' list of new headquarters sites, though officials at the nonprofit say they still could move to Virginia or D.C. The Bethesda-based nonprofit has outgrown its home office and is...

$25M keeps Seneca focused on faster fiber networking.
January 26, 2001... Despite the volatility of fiber-optic stocks, such as Ciena and Corvis, investors still are pumping money into optical networking companies that keep popping up in Greater Washington. Rockville-based Seneca Networks, which builds...

Suburban, Prince George's hospitals seek EMS funds.
January 26, 2001... Two Maryland hospitals are seeking additional funding for their trauma centers through a state-funded initiative that supports the state's emergency medical services. Only one trauma center in Maryland -- the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma...

Md. nurses may get tax break.
January 26, 2001... Long-term care nurses in Maryland will get an income tax break of about $100 a month if a new proposal -- designed to help alleviate the state's extreme nursing shortage -- gets through the General Assembly. Senate Bill 24, which was...

Thayer unit shops New York's Rihga Royal Hotel.
January 26, 2001... Lodging industry sources, say Annapolis-based Thayer Lodging Group is under contract to buy the 500-suite Rihga Royal Hotel in Manhattan. Thayer, which owns the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, is estimated to be paying more...

Chicago chain to open 10 local eateries.
January 26, 2001... Chicago's Potbelly Sandwich Works is the latest sandwich shop scouring Greater Washington for sites. The company does not have any signed leases but is looking in Dupont Circle, around the White House, Rockville, Fairfax and Tysons...

Atlantic Video says name your price.
January 26, 2001... Benjamin Eliasoph was at home one weekend late last year when his thoughts drifted back to work. The director of sales for District-based production house Atlantic Video suddenly saw similarities between Atlantic and the hotels and...

Region on track for rail network.
January 26, 2001... Presidential pardonees Susan McDougal and Marc Rich weren't the only ones to a get boost from the last hours of the Clinton administration. On Jan. 18, outgoing Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater tapped the Washington-Baltimore...

Leonsis: Creating a hockey town 'one step at a time'.
January 26, 2001... He has been called the anti-Dan Snyder. Washington Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis is approachable -- to the fans, the media and the players. He's answered more than 15,000 e-mails from fans on his AOL account. His ownership of the...

Ending Senate gridlock, education top Hager's list.
January 26, 2001... Virginia Lt. Gov. JOHN HAGER, who hopes to lose the lieutenant part of his title in November, has released his agenda for the 2001 legislative session. Many of Hager's priorities mirror the themes sounded by GEORGE W. BUSH's presidential...

MARK WARNER.
January 26, 2001... While Hager lays out his policy objectives, one of his opponents is building his campaign squad. MARK WARNER has hired three key players for his gubernatorial campaign staff. The Democratic venture capitalist has tapped AMANDA CRUMLEY and...

VIRGINIA CAPITAL ACCESS PROGRAM.
January 26, 2001... A pilot program aimed at helping tech companies in Virginia is now a permanent fixture in Richmond. The VIRGINIA CAPITAL ACCESS PROGRAM, which offers new economy firms matching loans, is administered by the state Department of Business...

ROBIN FICKER.
January 26, 2001... Maryland political gadfly ROBIN FICKER is at it again. The ardent tax cut and term limits advocate is taking aim at the state's sales tax. Ficker, a Republican, wants a 2 percent decrease in Maryland's 5 percent sales levy. Ficker, a...

VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
January 26, 2001... Want to squawk about taxes or roads or anything else the VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY is grappling with this year? The clerks of the state SENATE and HOUSE OF DELEGATES are providing a constituent viewpoint line allowing citizens to voice...

Fresh off its 2000 conference, MAVA prepares for another.
January 26, 2001... The MID-ATLANTIC VENTURE ASSOCIATION is gearing up for its next event -- Capital Connection 2001. PATRICK KERIN, a MAVA board member and GROTECII CAPITAL managing director, hosted a sponsor event at his house recently. "We got a...

AOL TIME WARNER.
January 26, 2001... AOL TIME WARNER has existed only a few weeks, but the firm already has got me confused. The new company issued a statement recently in which it announced two things: First, it will buy back up to $5 billion in AOL stock over the next two...

PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS.
January 26, 2001... PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS is putting its money where its mouth is. The McLean-based firm, which at one point actually sent a letter to employees telling them not to worry about the company's sagging stock price, is buying back a big...

CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL.
January 26, 2001... CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL, a Falls Church based consumer lender, is raising capital for the first time since 1994. The firm sold 6.5 million shares of newly issued stock to J.P. Morgan, which is expected to resell the stock to investors, for...

VENTUREQUEST.
January 26, 2001... Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is throwing his support behind VENTUREQUEST 2001, a venture capital conference being organized by the FAIRFAX COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (www.fceda.org). The conference, which is slated for July 11-13, is...

Chamber says issue ad limits would violate rights.
January 26, 2001... Business lobbyists expect campaign finance reform legislation to pass this year, but they say the 2001 version of the MCCAIN-FEINGOLD bill includes unconstitutional restrictions on issue advertising. In addition to banning unlimited soft...

BUSINESS TRAVEL COALITION.
January 26, 2001... The BUSINESS TRAVEL COALITION wants Congress to pass legislation that would block mergers among the nation's six largest airlines for a year. During that time, Congress should hold hearings on the impact, of airline consolidation and the...

AEA.
January 26, 2001... The nation's largest high-tech trade association called for Congress to pass online privacy legislation that. would pre-empt state laws. AEA (www.aeanet.org) says the legislation should require Web sites that collect personally...

CHRISTOPHER "KIT" BOND.
January 26, 2001... Sen. CHRISTOPHER "KIT" BOND, R-Mo., introduced legislation to allow the self-employed to deduct 100 per cent of their health insurance costs this year. Under current law, self-employed individuals can deduct 60 percent of their health...

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES.
January 26, 2001... Businesses with up to $5 million in annual credit sales are now eligible for small business credit' insurance programs offered by the EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES. The previous eligibility threshold was $3 million. The...

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.
January 26, 2001... The SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION is bringing its ONLINE WOMEN's BUSINESS CENTER (www.onlinewbc.gov) in-house after three years of management by the NORTH TEXAS WOMEN'S BUS I NESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER. The site includes information from...

That's one less dot-com needing revitalization in D.C.
January 26, 2001... Talk about ironic. Is the District's new revitalization agency really setting up its headquarters in office space vacated by "a failed dot-com," as ELINOR BACON, president of the NATIONAL CAPITAL REVITALIZATION CORP., puts it? It...

D.C. COUNCIL.
January 26, 2001... While D.C. COUNCIL members fight in court for permission to return to their offices in the JOHN WILSON DISTRICT BUILDING, relocation discussions are proceeding much more amicably with the BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS (ATF). ...

HAROLD BRAZIL.
January 26, 2001... It's looking like HAROLD BRAZIL guessed right. The new chairman of the D.C. Council's economic development committee was the sole teetotaler in the council's recent 121 toast to nude dancing in the District. Most council members and...

Hipaa standards may be in for Bush-style alterations.
January 26, 2001... Observers keeping tabs on the standards set by the HEALTH INFORMATION PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (Hipaa) say the final rules, passed near the end of December by the Clinton administration, are stricter and more expansive than the...

COAGULATION DIAGNOSTICS.
January 26, 2001... COAGULATION DIAGNOSTICS in Bethesda is gearing up for its first round of investor financing in the spring, company officials say. The bioscience company, which develops products to monitor rapid blood clotting, has raised about $8 million...

STEVEN LARSEN.
January 26, 2001... Two health plans operating in Rockville are in some pretty hot water. Maryland insurance commissioner STEVEN LARSEN has ordered the third-party registrations of SAI MED HEALTH PLAN and its sister company SAI PLUS revoked. The...

BET Holdings closes $3B merger deal with Viacom.
January 26, 2001... VIACOM completed its $3 billion acquisition of BET HOLDINGS Jan. 23. The purchase -- worth $2.5 billion in stock and $500 million in assumed debt -- gives New York-based Viacom (NYSE: VIA) a stronger foothold in the fast-growing...

QFACTOR.
January 26, 2001... QFACTOR, an online media-planning firm in Bethesda, has laid off 22 employees in a "restructuring" tied to the sputtering economy's grip on the ad industry. The layoffs, which leave the company with about 52 employees, were across all...

E-CENTIVES.
January 26, 2001... E-CENTIVES, an online direct-marketer based in Bethesda, has agreed to buy the commerce division of Foster City, Calif.-based software maker INKIOMI. The sale is part of a technology and distribution relationship between the two...

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO and PBS.
January 26, 2001... NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO and PBS have formed a partnership geared toward expanding their online and on-air programming. The deal calls for D.C.-based NPR (www.npr.org) and Alexandria-based PBS to co-Produce live Web events, cross-promote...

AP BROADCAST.
January 26, 2001... District-based AP BROADCAST -- the radio, TV and Internet division of the Associated Press -- has signed agreements to augment the content of XM SATELLITE RADIO and the new NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL. D.C.-based XM will use AP's ALL NEWS...

RAY BLOM.
January 26, 2001... In other AP news, the organization has named RAY BLOM as its new manager of Hispanic broadcast markets, reflecting the growing focus on media and services geared toward the burgeoning Spanish-speaking population. Blom most recently...

RICK BRITTON.
January 26, 2001... RICK BRITTON is retiring as president of ARNOLD WORLDWIDE's McLean office. He'll be succeeded by KEN UMANSKY, who has been directing the technology group at the agency's Boston headquarters. Britton led Arnold's 1999 consolidation of its...

Crowell & Moring boosts space on Pennsylvania Ave.
January 26, 2001... Talk about loyalty. D.C.-based CROWELL & MORING has snatched up every portion of every floor it could get at 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW since the firm opened there in 1987. The law firm now occupies all or portions of seven floors in...

STEPTOE & JOHNSON.
January 26, 2001... The 260,000-square-foot Glass A office building at 1330 Connecticut. Ave. NW was purchased by affiliates of D.C. law firm STEPTOE & JOHNSON. Steptoe & Johnson was part of the original development team in 1984 and has since been the...

THOMAS PROPERTIES GROUP.
January 26, 2001... THOMAS PROPERTIES GROUP acquired on behalf of a pension fund client REFLECTIONS I, a 124,000-square-feet, five-story office building at 2051 Mercado Drive in Reston. The seller was SUNRISE REFLECTIONS; the purchase price was not...

FLOORS INC.
January 26, 2001... The owners of FLOORS INC., a D.C.-based flooring company, purchased 1739 Brightseat Road in Landover, a 121,000-square-foot-warehouse owned by AMB PROPERTY. AMB (www.amb.com) sold the building for $5.1 million. "They are planning to...

WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE.
January 26, 2001... The negotiated project labor agreement for the WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE is "unacceptable," according to MARYLAND HIGHWAY CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION President SHARON DOBSON. She sent a statement recently to Maryland Transportation Secretary...

ATLANTIC REALTY.
January 26, 2001... ATLANTIC REALTY of Vienna ended 2000 with more than $550 million in commercial real estate transactions, including construction, leases, acquisitions and sales. The year-end transaction report shows an increase of almost 60 percent over...

Nothing lazy here: La-Z-Boy moves, opens new stores.
January 26, 2001... LA-Z-BOY GALLERIES is relocating stores in Springfield and Fairfax and opening new ones in Sterling and Waldorf, Md. The company also is increasing the size of its prototypical stores, looking for more visible locations and adding more...

JERSEY MIKE'S SUBS.
January 26, 2001... Watch for JERSEY MIKE'S SUBS to start adding franchised locations throughout the D.C. region. The company has two sites in Fredericksburg and just inked a deal for a site in Chesapeake. The privately held chain also has recently opened...

HOMEPLACE OF AMERICA.
January 26, 2001... Weak holiday, sales and a softening economy are taking their toll on yet another retailer, HOMEPLACE OF AMERICA. The Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and says it will have to close...

BELTWAY PLAZA.
January 26, 2001... BELTWAY PLAZA in Prince George's County has added four new retailers -- ASHLEY STEWART, a women's store that specializes in large and plus-size apparel; leather products store LEATHER MAN; ATHLETE'S FOOT; and TEAMING UP, a specialty hat...

DANIEL BUTLER.
January 26, 2001... DANIEL BUTLER has joined the NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION as vice president for retail operations. Butler came to the D.C.-based group from MACY'S department store in Miami, where he was vice president and store manager for more than two...

TARGET.
January 26, 2001... Minneapolis-based TARGET is looking to acquire between 50 and 100 MONTGOMERY WARD locations in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region, according to a recent report in WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY. That could send the company right to vacancies in...

Sandbox.com, XFL partner for fantasy football league.
January 26, 2001... SANDBOX.COM, a Reston-based interactive sports and entertainment company, signed an agreement with the XFL to provide two free fantasy football games for the league's inaugural season, which opens Feb. 3. Terms of the exclusive one-year...

WASHINGTON FREEDOM.
January 26, 2001... The WASHINGTON FREEDOM already has sold 1,500 season tickets -- all before the Women's United Soccer Association even put out the team's schedule. The Freedom (www.washingtonfreedom.com) will make their unofficial debut March 17 in an...

BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION.
January 26, 2001... BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION will broadcast 13 regular season CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION games, running through April 28. BET will also televise the league's All-Star Game and 2001 CBA Finals. All games will air on a tape-delay...

NFL.
January 26, 2001... The NFL is greasing the skids for realignment in 2002 with a new revenue-sharing plan designed to take the financial sting out of a team's moving to a new division. Under the plan, all shares of a team's preseason and regular-season visiting...

Telecom execs react to new surroundings at luncheon.
January 26, 2001... BARRY TOSER could have just pitched softballs at this gathering of telecom executives. After all, they were among friends, at a luncheon called THE TELECOM HUB. There were no angry customers, no disgruntled shareholders. But Toser,...

VERIZON.
January 26, 2001... VERIZON's customer trouble services have led to a lawsuit. D.C.-based COHEN, MILSTEIN HAUSFELD AND TOLL, a law firm known for filing class-action lawsuits, has filed a suit on behalf of DSL customers. Filed in the District of Columbia, the...

COMNET.
January 26, 2001... COMNET, the massive tech trade show that comes to the Washington Convention Center Jan. 25-Feb. 1, has landed TOM BROKAW as its keynote speaker. Brokaw, the anchor for NBC's nightly news, will speak at the show (www.comnetexpo.com) at 10 a.m....

ANTEON.
January 26, 2001... The government tech contracting industry, still seems to be thriving despite the downturn elsewhere. ANTEON, a Fairfax-based government IT contractor, just landed a $500 million, 15-year contract from the AIR FORCE. Under the contract,...

ONLINE RESOURCES.
January 26, 2001... The layoff docket for the past week isn't quite as bad as previous weeks, but the pace doesn't seem to be slowing down. ONLINE RESOURCES, a McLean-based application service provider for the financial industry, cut 9 percent of its work...

$60M papal cultural center plans March installation.
January 26, 2001... A $60 million, 100,000-square-foot Catholic multimedia educational facility and museum is opening near CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY March 22. The privately funded POPE JOHN PAUL II CULTURAL CENTER will contain three levels of gallery and exhibits...

CVENT.
January 26, 2001... Arlington-based CVENT (www.cvent.com), a provider of Internet-based event planning and marketing for professional organizations, recently partnered with eight regional chapters of MEETING PROFESSIONALS INTERNATIONAL. The chapters -- which...

GUEST INFORMANT.
January 26, 2001... Visitor guide publisher GUEST INFORMANT is making some big changes in D.C. This year, the hard-bound visitors' guide in more than 26,000 hotel rooms in the Washington area will undergo a redesign, increasing the book size by 10 percent....

VIRGINIA TOURISM CORP.
January 26, 2001... The VIRGINIA TOURISM CORP. (www.vatc.org) recently unveiled its state-of-the-art information kiosk equipped with high-speed Internet access and touch screens. The VIRTUAL VISITOR CENTER will provide travelers current weather, traffic and...

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES.
January 26, 2001... D.C.-based AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES is hiring SUSAN SCHUPPERT ROBERTSON as vice president of marketing and communications, effective Feb. 4. Robertson came to ASAE from U.S. OFFICE PRODUCTS, where she served as vice...