The Business Journal-Milwaukee articles from February 1999

The Business Journal-Milwaukee archives from February 1999

Harley-Davidson museum headed for Schlitz Park.
February 26, 1999... Harley-Davidson Inc. has chosen Schlitz Park as its preferred sire for the company's future motorcycle museum in Milwaukee, according to a source in direct contact with Harley executives involved in the selection process. A local real...

Retail rift as wide as a valley.(CMC Heartland Partners LLC on collision course with Milwaukee city council on firm's development plans)
February 26, 1999... CMC presses ahead with development plans As the colorful frame of Miller Park takes the shape of a stadium, two opposing forces are gearing up to fight over the appropriate use for the land just east of the future home of the Milwaukee...

Firstar executives cash in options.
February 26, 1999... Selling began at quick pace after Star Banc acquisition Firstar Corp. vice chairman John Becker netted about $8 million last month selling stock options he was awarded by the Milwaukee bank holding company. Becker paid $8.80 to...

Gamble pays off for Norstar Aluminum owners.
February 26, 1999... It didn't take Sandy Scaccia and Tom Wachs a lot of time to decide to buy Kelch Corp.'s aluminum molds business. In early February 1998, Kelch's board voted to sell off the unit, which Scaccia had managed for nearly nine years. That news...

Governor's proposal angers HMOs.(Governor Tommy Thompson, health maintenance organizations)
February 26, 1999... A state budget proposal to require HMOs to offer point-of-service plans to patients who want medical care from doctors outside their health plans has angered HMO and business groups. Gov. Tommy Thompson's budget includes a provision to...

Buried treasure.(Kitzinger Lautmann Capital Management Inc.)(Interview)
February 26, 1999... Deep value investment style requires intense digging Most money managers with $125 million would have a hard time getting corporate managers on the telephone to talk about the prospects for the company's stock. Jim Kitzinger and Peter...

Mutual fund companies wrangle drifting fund managers.
February 26, 1999... Mutual fund companies are taking steps to make sure their fund managers remain true to their advertised philosophies of investment. Fund managers committed to buying into smaller companies have watched with envy for about two years as...

Grassroots coalition charges into utility deregulation.
February 26, 1999... The 15 Wisconsin organizations that banded together five years ago to voice concerns about rapidly restructuring the state's electricity industry are revving up their grassroots machinery for another round of debates. In coming months,...

Business picks up at Port of Milwaukee.
February 26, 1999... International shipping on all Great Lakes ports up 30 percent The construction of a steel distribution warehouse and an increase in ship traffic diverted from Chicago to the Port of Milwaukee have employees at Federal Marine Terminal Inc....

Retailers take the plunge on city sites.(Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
February 26, 1999... Retailers who traditionally go to the suburbs for new store locations are beginning to test the waters in the city of Milwaukee and may be on the verge of making quite a splash. The old Southgate Mall Shopping Center, 3333 S. 27th St.,...

Innovative Packaging wins state manufacturing award.
February 26, 1999... Innovative Packaging Corp., which opened its doors just 14 months ago, was one of 12 companies honored at the annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards Feb. 25 at The Pfister hotel in Milwaukee. Innovative Packaging, which makes...

Machinists threaten to sue GE Medical.(Machinists union; GE Medical Systems)
February 19, 1999... The Machinists union said it may sue GE Medical Systems over the right to represent workers at nonunion Marquette Medical Systems Inc., which was acquired by GE Medical last November. The union, which represents more than 900 workers at...

Race is on to add new hospital beds.(Aurora Health Care Inc. opened Aurora Medical Center)
February 19, 1999... Construction spreads unchecked, even as patient days fall At 7 a.m. on Feb. 16, Aurora Medical Center - Wisconsin's newest hospital - opened its doors. Five minutes later, the 43-bed hospital in Kenosha admitted its first patient. ...

Beer industry shake-up worries wholesalers.(Stroh Brewery Co.'s brand sell-out to Miller Brewing Co. and Pabst Brewing Co.)
February 19, 1999... Beer wholesalers are wondering how they'll be affected by Stroh Brewery Co's decision to sell its brands to Miller Brewing Co. and Pabst Brewing Co. The sale is expected to cause some shifting of brands among the three companies'...

Out of the blue.(Patrick Strickler's The Blue Water Group)(Company Profile)
February 19, 1999... Former Firstar executive turns surprise job loss into new career For Patrick Strickler, eight months as a first vice president and director of public affairs for Firstar Corp. ended with a 30-second telephone call from Cincinnati last...

PrimeCare to pay for cancer clinical trials.(PrimeCare Health Plan Inc.)
February 19, 1999... PrimeCare Health Plan Inc., one of the area's largest HMOs, soon will begin paying for cancer clinical trials for eligible HMO members through a new pilot project started by PrimeCare's parent company, United HealthCare Corp. United's...

McGregor puts Irgens Development behind bars.(Irgens Development Partners L.L.C. Vice-Pres. John McGregor)
February 19, 1999... When John McGregor was brought on board at Irgens Development Partners L.L.C. in August 1997, he immediately went to work getting his new company into prison. Erecting prisons, that is. "The correctional business is really more...

FieldTech manager aims to boost sales off the meter.(appointed Michael Jordan as vice president and Greg Gozdowiak as vice president and technology officer)
February 19, 1999... FieldTech, a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Wicor Inc., has a new management team and a beefed-up mission to expand revenue by 40 percent this year. In a move that gives FieldTech more targeted leadership, president and chief executive...

Strong shuns stuffy style in new tech center.(headquarters of Strong Capital Management Inc.)
February 19, 1999... New space weds funky amenities with latest technology A sense of stability and credibility flows from the headquarters building of Strong Capital Management Inc. in Menomonee Falls. The Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired complex rises out of...

Culver dishes up consistency for MGIC.(MGIC Investment Corp. Pres. Curt Culver)
February 19, 1999... Lacy's 'right hand man' takes over in difficult era Just about everything Curt Culver knows about mortgage insurance he learned in his family's fast-food restaurant chain. "It's about quality, consistency and value. Maybe not the...

Credit unions partner with mortgage banker.(Central States Mortgages Co.)
February 19, 1999... Link with Central States Mortgages allows them to offer wider array of products Before 1998, with only an adjustable rate mortgage product to offer, First Service Credit Union found few takers. But First Service, Milwaukee, saw its...

Baird shopping for new offices in the suburbs.(Robert W. Baird and Company Inc.)
February 12, 1999... Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., with almost 900 local employees, has hired a Chicago firm to study the possibility of moving the Milwaukee brokerage firm out of the Firstar Center downtown and building a campus in the suburbs. A move to the...

Siemens workers hope contract will keep West Allis plant open.(Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp.; West Allis, Wisconsin)
February 12, 1999... Worried that Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. might shut down its plant in West Allis, about 300 union members at the plant have ratified a one-year labor contract extension in hopes of protecting their jobs. The contract extension, which...

Marine drops anchor downtown.(Marine Bank and Savings; downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
February 12, 1999... Marine Bank & Savings, a Pewaukee thrift with $110 million in assets, plans to open a branch in downtown Milwaukee early this spring, according to documents filed with the state Department of Financial Institutions. The application lists...

All is too quiet at Golden Books plant in Sturtevant.(Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc.)
February 12, 1999... Nearly half of the 342 hourly employees at Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc. have yet to be called back to their jobs from their holiday layoffs. Although January and February are typically slow months at the company's Sturtevant...

Connect the dots; printing consultant Janis succeeds by bringing people, resources together.(Small Business Strategies)(LZJ Graphic Services; Linda Janis)
February 12, 1999... Linda Janis faced a turning point about nine years ago, when she was fired from her job at a small quick printer, even though she believed she was doing a good job. "If I can do such a good job for him and do what I did, then I can do it...

Career change reaps rewards for owner of Data Direct Distributors.(Small Business Strategies)(Carol Vollmer Pope)
February 12, 1999... Knowledgeable employees spur Data Direct's growth Carol Vollmer Pope was teaching business courses at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee when she was approached by a friend who needed help. Two years later, Vollmer Pope and her husband,...

How to choose a 401(k) plan.(Section Two: How To Book)
February 12, 1999... When picking out funds to include in your company's 401(k) offerings, diversity should be the first priority. Federal law requires companies to offer at least three distinctly different funds in their 401(k) plans, but not all companies...

How to select a business bank.(Section Two: How To Book)
February 12, 1999... Finding a business bank is like looking for a job. Seekers have to do their research, and they have to get out and talk to prospects. And one Milwaukee-area business owner says it doesn't always go well on the first try. "The first bank...

Miller Brewing regroups amid declining sales.
February 5, 1999... It's "I told you so" time for critics of Dick, the fictitious and now unemployed advertising genius who thought up weird ideas to promote sales of Miller Lite. For Miller Brewing Co., it's simply time to move on. Two years after...

Firstar cuts audit staff, hires CPA firm; the move allows the bank to trim some costs and continue to scale back some departments.(includes related article)
February 5, 1999... Firstar Corp. has hired the Milwaukee office of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers L.L.P. to handle its auditing functions, cutting back a department of about two dozen to a skeleton crew. The $38 billion bank holding company decided to hire an...

Aqua-Chem lands large military contract.
February 5, 1999... Aqua-Chem Inc. and a business partner are developing a water-purification unit for the U.S. Army and Marines that is expected to lead to a production contract valued at about $83 million. The Milwaukee-based company's Water Technologies...

Midwest Express grounds Internet-fueled takeover talk.(Midwest-Express Holdings Inc.)
February 5, 1999... With talk of consolidation in the airline industry crisscrossing the nation at the speed of sound, a Midwest Express Holdings Inc. stockholder pooh-poohed any thought that the Oak Creek-based airline might be a takeover target. Yet, the...

Potawatomi expansion plan goes down to the wire.(Potawatomi Bingo & Casino)
February 5, 1999... The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors has generally been supportive of expanding the Potawatomi Bingo & Casino, but as a vote on the issue nears, some supervisors are nervous about agreeing to a financial package while a handful of city...

Emjay Corp.'s work force will expand with Wells Fargo acquisition.
February 5, 1999... The merger of Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, with Norwest Corp., Minneapolis, will create about 100 new jobs for Emjay Corp., Glendale. Emjay, a retirement plan administrator, was purchased by Norwest in 1998, and has been chosen as...

Appleton leads state in share of manufacturing jobs.(Industry Overview)
February 5, 1999... Paper industry pushes Fox Cities to forefront Milwaukee may be known as an industrial town, but it's not as industrial as 28 other U.S. metropolitan areas. Nearly 21 percent of the jobs in the Milwaukee and Waukesha area are in...

People people: staffing service relies on relationships with workers, community to build business.(Small Business Strategies)(JNA Temporary Services Inc.)(Company Profile)
February 5, 1999... During his years tolling away for staffing agencies, Salvador Sanchez dreamed of opening his own agency in the heart o[his neighborhood, the south side of Milwaukee. One minor detail stood in his way - money. "I liked helping people...

Integrated Systems presses the right buttons.(Small Business Strategies)
February 5, 1999... After two years of working for an international corporation, Michael Weber decided he wanted to start his own computer consulting company that would target large customers, but have a more enjoyable workplace. It wasn't easy. Most small...