Washington Business Journal articles from March 1999

Washington Business Journal archives from March 1999

Williams boosts tax cut package.(Washington DC Mayor Anthony Williams proposes sweeping business tax cuts)
March 26, 1999... Small businesses would gain most from $81M proposal Nearly 90 percent of businesses in the District would qualify for sweeping tax cuts proposed by Mayor Anthony Williams. The cuts are targeted mostly toward smaller businesses: Those...

East End game.(John Akridge Co. to develop new office building in Washington, DC)
March 26, 1999... Akridge plans $50M office building near MCI Center, firm's third project in East End If the East End were a Monopoly board, Chip Akridge just added another Boardwalk to his portfolio. Akridge, president of The John Akridge Cos. in...

Providence, Inova Alexandria hospitals face fines.(improper medical waste disposal)
March 26, 1999... D.C. regulatory bodies have fined Providence Hospital and Inova Alexandria Hospital $25,000 each for the improper disposal of medical waste. The charges - brought by the D.C. Police Department's Environmental Crimes Unit and the D.C....

System Planning leases Virginia Square building.(office building in Washington, DC)
March 26, 1999... Five months ago, John Shooshah took a gamble on the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor with one of the first speculative projects in the area since the real estate downturn. Shooshan's reward? System Planning Corp. leased 54,586 square feet at...

Horizon Bank finds a buyer: Southern Financial.
March 26, 1999... Concern over possible Year 2000 computer problems is not stopping Southern Financial Bancorp from buying closely held Horizon Bank. The institutions announced an agreement March 18 to create a bank with 17 offices throughout Northern...

Network Access plans $100M public offering.(Network Access Solutions)
March 26, 1999... Three months after completing a regional network on the East Coast, Network Access Solutions is ready to tell its story to prospective investors. Sterling-based NAS, which provides data networking and high-speed transmission services,...

Maryland orders refunds, fines travel company.(Interlink Travel Network)
March 26, 1999... Barbara and Chris Garoutte thought the $5,000 they gave to a Waldorf travel agency bought them 10 vacations in any location in the world at any time. But all the Fort Washington couple got from Interlink Travel Network was a trip or two...

Retail brokerage finds financial partner in Minn.(The Retail Group forms joint venture with Madison Marquette Realty Services)
March 26, 1999... The real estate brokers formerly known as The Retail Group have a new financial partner, name and home. Richard Lake and nine other local brokers - who represent numerous blue-chip tenants, including McCormick & Schmick and Trader Joe's...

Conservative Md. bank giving off buying signals.(Carrollton Bancorp.)
March 26, 1999... Carrollton Bancorp is on the prowl for its first acquisition in its 95-year history. Although the banking industry has been engrossed in a merger-and-acquisition frenzy for five years, Carrollton is likely taking a baby step toward a...

Giant Care First has pulled ahead of competition.(Special Report: Health Care)(CareFirst Blue Cross BlueShield)
March 26, 1999... Five years ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maryland was stagnant, even floundering. Today, it dominates the Maryland health care industry like a Goliath. "It is fair to say that both the Maryland [Blues] plan and the D.C. plan were...

Blues mergers makes CareFirst stronger, says VP.(Special Report: Health Care)(interview with Gregory A. Devou, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield VP for marketing)(Interview)
March 26, 1999... The constantly changing health care environment presents both challenges and opportunities for established entities such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of Maryland's largest employers and health insurance companies. One of the most...

All-star lineup.(investor group's plan to buy baseball team for Washington, DC)
March 19, 1999... Former NBA owner takes lead role in D.C. baseball effort, hopes to attract high-profile minority investors Former Denver Nuggets owner Bertram Lee has taken the helm of developer Doug Jemal's effort to bring Major League Baseball to the...

Vacation D.C.'s West End.(Equivest Finance's plan to build time share resort hotel)
March 19, 1999... Time share owners soon may be able to add Pennsylvania Avenue to their list of part-time getaways. Equivest Finance plans to build a 60- to 65-unit time share resort hotel at 2501 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, between Georgetown and Washington...

Radio One plans $115M public stock offering.
March 19, 1999... It's a long way from H Street in Northeast Washington, but Cathy Hughes' Radio One is about to get a new address - Wall Street. The radio company Hughes formed in 1980 with a low-powered AM station in a tattered storefront plans to raise...

Doyle hotel picketed by union.(Doyle Washington Hotel)
March 19, 1999... A day after Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern helped open the Doyle Washington Hotel, the hotel drew an angry protest from the hotel and restaurant union. Union members picketed the renovated Dupont Circle hotel March 17, asking the...

Pepco increases lobbying for electric deregulation.(Potomac Electric Power Co.)
March 19, 1999... Pepco is turning up the heat in Annapolis. District-based Potomac Electric Power Co. is contacting its 15,000 Maryland shareholders by mail and telephone, asking them to urge lawmakers to pass utility deregulation legislation. The...

Provident shareholder campaigns for bank sale.(Provident Bancshares; Jerry Shearer)
March 19, 1999... A well-known activist investor is asking Provident Bankshares stockholders to vote for a resolution calling for the bank's management to sell the company. The move is the latest in Jerry Shearer's campaign to force the sale of Provident...

Sale caps difficult year for bakery distributor.(Frank A. Serio & Sons)
March 19, 1999... Frank A. Serio & Sons, the largest commercial baking goods distributor in the Baltimore-Washington region, will retain its management after CSM acquires it, according to officials of the Dutch company. CSM, which has embarked on a buying...

Orbital goes fishing; Magellan subsidiary acquires sonar maker Lowrance Electronics.(Orbital Sciences)
March 19, 1999... Dulles-based Orbital Sciences (NYSE: ORB) stopped a month-long slide in its stock price by buying another revenue stream. The space technology company announced March 12 that it agreed to merge its Magellan subsidiary with Tulsa,...

DynCorp targets market for Virginia space center.(Virginia Space Flight Center)
March 19, 1999... The Virginia Space Flight Center (VSFC) on the state's Eastern Shore is ready to launch commercial payloads into orbit. It just needs some customers. To get them, DynSpace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reston-based DynCorp, has...

Telecom giant MCI WorldCom grows in D.C.(Special Report: Technology)
March 19, 1999... "We're in front of a parade that's got tremendous momentum and accelerating power. It's literally unstoppable," said Tim Price, MCI WorldCom's chief executive officer for U.S. operations. MCI WorldCom reported revenue of $30.4 billion...

High-tech customers turn to Derwent patent index.(Special Report: Technology)(Derwent Information)
March 19, 1999... Suppose you have a burning desire to create a new type of soybean. You want to know what kinds of patented soybeans are out there already, how they were developed, who your competitors are, what they're doing and the best markets for the kind...

BET's chief eyes Hornets.(BET Holdings Chairman Robert Johnson; Charlotte Hornets)
March 12, 1999... If NBA team goes on block, 'We are interested' BET Holdings Chairman Robert Johnson wants a crack at the Charlotte Hornets. Johnson, founder and majority owner of the $1.2 billion District-based entertainment giant, has long...

Hospitals stand accused in medical waste approach.
March 12, 1999... Several local hospital executives sat down to watch the evening news recently only to learn they were facing steep fines and even jail time for a crime they didn't even know they had committed. What made things worse was the sensitive...

Make room on the shelf for another grocery chain.(Metro Food Market)
March 12, 1999... Do Washingtonians really buy that many groceries? Yet another supermarket chain is trying to squeeze into the area. Metro Food Markets in Baltimore is slated to open its first area location next year at Baileys Crossroads Shopping Center...

Satellite company looks for space after acquisition.(Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.)
March 12, 1999... Fresh off its December acquisition of McLean-based GE Spacenet, an Israeli satellite company wants to buy a 200,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters building in Tysons Corner. The Spacenet acquisition doubled employee and revenue figures for...

Asian bank opens in Md.(Chinatrust Bank USA)
March 12, 1999... Several new banks in the region plan to target the Asian-American community, but a recent entry in the market has the name to back up that pledge. Chinatrust Bank (USA) opened a Rockville office its 15th in the United States - March 1....

D.C. Baltimore pediatric hospitals create network.(Hospital for Sick Children; Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital)
March 12, 1999... The Hospital for Sick Children in the District is partnering with Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital in Baltimore to create a network of nonprofit providers that focuses on children with special needs. The hospitals expect to offer more...

Prince William system to decide future in March 31.(Prince William Health System)
March 12, 1999... The Prince William Health System plans to decide this month whether to remain independent or sell to a for-profit chain. Earlier this year, the PWHS board sought to postpone the closing date for the proposed merger with Universal Health...

A leaner, meaner Choice optimistic about future.(Choice International Hotels International Ltd.)
March 12, 1999... When 1998 began, Choice Hotels International found itself in an unfamiliar position. The hotel franchiser, which once owned and operated properties around the world, was in the process of spinning off its hotel properties. Without the cash...

IPO is Career move.(CareerBuilder)
March 12, 1999... Mcgovern faces Monster in online recruitment battle Reston-based CareerBuilder aims to be "the leading provider of online recruitment offerings," according to the registration statement for its $52 million initial public offering. ...

Gal Borenstein: boundless energy propels high-tech marketer to success.
March 12, 1999... "My little Albert Einstein" is what Gal Borenstein's grandmother called him when he was growing up in Israel. But the gray-haired Einstein trademark of Fairfax-based The Borenstein Group stands in marked contrast to its youthful 30-year-old...

Cigna may buy troubled Mamsi.(Cigna HealthCare; Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc.)
March 5, 1999... Cigna HealthCare is negotiating to buy Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. of Rockville, one of the area's largest - and most troubled - managed care companies, according to two industry insiders. Officials with Cigna HealthCare, a...

In the fast lane: Net2000 has no trouble filling jobs: star employees get BMWs.(Company Profile)
March 5, 1999... Net2000 employees like to brag about the great company they work for You might too, if your boss gave you a new BMW. With incentives like that, the Herndon-based telecommunications company expects to double its work force to about 350 by...

Defense agency picks Smith's Skyline as new home.(Defense Information Systems Agency; Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty)
March 5, 1999... Charles E. Smith Cos plans to construct a 400,000-square-foot building in Falls Church for a security-sensitive U.S. agency. Defense Information Systems Agency would consolidate its operations in the build-to-suit at 5250 Leesburg Pike in...

Businesses seek $150M in tax cuts: corporate, property taxes on the block.(Washington, DC)
March 5, 1999... With the District's budget surplus ballooning to an estimated $800 million over the next two years, business leaders are calling for relief from the city's high tax rates. Business leaders are pressing District officials to overhaul the...

Business groups enjoy success in Va. assembly.(business interests; Virginia's General Assembly)
March 5, 1999... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Northern Virginia business groups left Richmond with more money for roads and less threat from slow-growth groups. Those were among the victories for business interests in the General Assembly's legislative...

Hanger Orthopedic takes inside track to expand.
March 5, 1999... Hanger Orthopedic Group, which has been on a major acquisition binge in the last year, gobbled up two more companies late last month. Although Hanger is not the biggest player in the orthotics and prosthetics industry - it controls 15...

Northwestern Mutual plans $19M spec project.(speculative office and warehouse space)
March 5, 1999... A life insurance company with a penchant for real estate in the Baltimore area plans to build the largest industrial development in Howard County in two years. Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee is investing about $19 million to develop...

ProServ carves lucrative niche with naming rights.(sports facility naming-rights)
March 5, 1999... As facility naming-rights deals grow exponentially in value and complexity, three sports marketing companies have staked claims to the lucrative business. But some facility operators remain unconvinced that the companies' assistance is worth...

Md. treasurer fires three pension fund managers.(Maryland State Treasurer Richard Dixon; Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust, Putnam Investments, Alliance Capital)
March 5, 1999... State Treasurer Richard Dixon has fired three of Maryland's pension fund managers for what he said is poor performance. Dixon, who became chairman of the Maryland State Retirement & Pension Systems in July, said the state is taking a...

From TRW to start-up: Patterson leaves 1,200-person unit to lead FutureNext Consulting.(David Patterson)(Company Profile)
March 5, 1999... Michael Caggiano's recruiting background came in handy when he and partner Loren Burnett decided they needed somebody with supply chain management expertise to run their new venture, FutureNext Consulting. Caggiano identified his...

Supermarket revamps, expands to stay fresh.(Super Fresh Food Markets)(Statistical Data Included)
March 5, 1999... Super Fresh seeks bigger share The top five supermarket chains in the area based on market share as of June.(*) Company Market share Stones Giant 44.3% 114...