The Business Journal-Milwaukee articles from March 2000

The Business Journal-Milwaukee archives from March 2000

Brewing industry looks to ethanol for new markets.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Over the years, brewers have tried to develop new sources of revenue by branching out beyonc beer. Now, a few brewers hope to tap into a vastly different market: ethanol. City Brewing Co., which bought the G. Heileman brewery in La Crosse...

iPassage to India.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Entrepreneur starts Internet cinema The film "Mirch Masala" is no "American Beauty" on the blockbuster scale, but Anil Gupte thinks the Indian film will be box office boffo for his Milwaukee Internet movie site. "Mirch Masala," Which...

State tries to recover $525,000 in fees from golf course sales.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The state Department of Revenue and several county offices are trying to collect about $525,000 in fees from a Florida golf course management company that bought four Wisconsin properties last year. Another $100,000 in fees likely are...

Baseball fever? Milwaukee fans barely rate a head cold.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Milwaukee Brewers are counting on red-hot ticket sales in the coming seasons, but as baseball markets go, Brewers fans are lukewarm, at best, according to a new study. In a year-long study by Scarborough Sports Marketing Report, 11.8...

Tommy's loan to Bush.
March 31, 2000... Wisconsin Gov.TommyThompson, who has spent money from his own campaign coffers to stump for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, is now offering human capital for the cause, too. Darren Schmitz, the governor's press...

Preserving Albany estate.
March 31, 2000... Steve Stewart, principal of the Mequon real estate investment firm Realcap L.L.C., also has strong real estate ties to Cambridge, N.Y., where he recently became part owner of a 550-acre estate replete with two colonial homes, a conference...

Air Rayovac keeps going.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Michael Jordan maybe getting out of the product endorsement game, but Rayovac Corp. will continue to use his image to sell its batteries. The Madison battery maker, which signed an endorsement deal with the basketball great in 1995, plans...

Married with ratings.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Fox network program "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" may have flamed out after one scandal-plagued episode, but it was a ratings success in Milwaukee. In fact, "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire," which appeared on...

YWCA of Waukesha.
March 31, 2000... The YWCA of Waukesha was misidentified in the "Wellness" section of the March 24 Employers Health Care Guide. Also, the YWCA's correct phone number is (262) 547-1872.

Scott AirCharter.
March 31, 2000... Scott AirCharter is located at 5480 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, 53207. Its telephone number is (800) 457-2688. Tom Scott is chief management officer. Incorrect information was included in the list of airlines serving General Mitchell...

Mulherin's mulligan.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... New Ziegler executive plans national growth John Mulherin is moving into the executive office in West Bend and bought a house in nearby Erin, but the new president and chief executive officer of The Ziegler Cos. still plans to change the...

Glendale averted sale of Solly's site to Shah brothers.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The city of Glendale narrowly avoided a transaction that would have left one of its most valuable pieces of property in the hands of a court. Rajiv and Sanjiv Shah, the owners of Midwest Mortgage Financial L.L.C., were pressuring the...

Brewpub planned for Humboldt Avenue.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... A couple from Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood hope to open a tavern called The Underground Beerline Go. May 1 at 2207 N. Humboldt Ave., with plans to build their own microbrewery a year or two later. Michael and Julie Scott, who live...

Pulling their chain.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... West Allis franchisee sues Dunkin' Donuts for denying loan guarantee Franchising is recognized as one of the most successful business concepts of the 20th century. But as the Babwari family has learned, the system is far from perfect....

Furniture restoration business buys building in Menomonee Valley.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Antiques-Decoration Arts & Design Inc., an antique furniture restoration company, has purchased an 83,000-square-foot building on Milwaukee's south side. Jim Dieter, who owns the company, bought the building at 1236 W. Pierce St. March...

Myro to close; 61 jobs lost.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Sixty-one people will lose their jobs later this spring when Myro Inc.'s factory on Milwaukee's northwest side is closed. The plant is being shut down as a result of the sale of the business, according to a March 10 letter to the state...

OSHA targets sites for inspections.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently informed 13,000 employers that OSHA inspectors maybe headed their way. For every 100 full-time workers, the employers on OSHA's target list had eight or more injuries or illnesses...

Consumer groups rip Blue Cross plan.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Wisconsin insurance commissioner's decision to allow Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin to convert to a for-profit stockholder corporation sets a bad precedent for nonprofit conversions across the country, a national consumer...

Another nursing home company is in financial jeopardy.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Another national nursing home company with operations in Wisconsin has hit financial hard times. Genesis Health Ventures Inc. of Kennett Square, Pa., which owns seven nursing homes in Wisconsin, announced earlier this month that it...

Rogers to use bonds to finance acquisition of Charter.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Now that it has closed on its purchase of a Milwaukee-area psychiatric hospital, Rogers Memorial Hospital will borrow $11 million through the sale of tax-exempt bonds approved by the Wisconsin Health & Educational Facilities Authority...

Strike-torn Ladish begins talks with another union.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... As Ladish Co. Inc. tries to resolve a contract dispute with its largest labor union, the company is beginning contract talks with its second-largest union. The Cudahy forging firm plans to meet on April 4 and 7 with negotiators for the...

Regis is MVP atWISN as ratings surge.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Regis Philbin may not sit at the news anchor desk for WISN-TV (Channel 12), but the show he hosts may be the most important player in the surging WISN's local news ratings. WISN's ratings for the early morning news, early evening news...

Red Circle Inn's Eckstaedts open new restaurant.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Norm and Martha Eckstaedt, who own the Red Circle Inn, Nashotah, have opened a new restaurant called The Pines next to the Bristlecone Pines Golf Course in Hart-land. Norm Eckstaedt describes The Pines menu as "contemporary American and...

NML to build Washington, D.C., office tower.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. is considering building an 11-story office tower in a Washington, D.C., suburb to add to its investment portfolio. NML filed permit requests for approval to build the 300,000-square-foot office, but...

Decade to bring easy capital, fewer startups, study says.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Anthony Girellini needed a loan to buy office equipment and computers for his expanding Staten Island, N.Y., stockbrokerage firm, but he was too busy to go to a bank. Then one day as he checked stocks on the Internet, he noticed a banner...

Tower's plans for Virginia plant worry Milwaukee steelworkers.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Union officials at Tower Automotive Inc. are nervous about the company's plan to build a factory in western Virginia that they say could siphon work -- and jobs -- away from Tower's Milwaukee plant. Minneapolis-based Tower plans to build...

Takedown.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Pinning his fortunes on technology, fund manager Press outpoints the Dow Tom Press is an accomplished grappler, but his current opponent isn't disabled by a full nelson, and even the best wrestler can't pin its shoulders to the mat. ...

Shareholders content with Cumulus' cozy board.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Publicly held Cumulus Media Inc. is run by a board of directors that's constituted like a privately held company, with insiders as the majority. That concerns experts on corporate governance, but so far, shareholders haven't complained,...

Former Emjay building hits market for $2.6 million.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Emjay Corp. is selling its former corporate headquarters building in Glendale, about six months after it moved into a larger facility at 5001 N. Lydell Ave., also in Glendale. Emjay, a retirement planning company, is asking $2.6 million...

Program offers refugees help starting their own businesses.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... People who come here from other countries may view America as the "land of opportunity." But they may be unaware of how to pursue that opportunity. A new effort underway in Milwaukee is intended to help. The Social Development Commission...

Business groups to fight ergonomics in court.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger didn't need a lobbyist to convince him that OSHA's proposed ergonomics regulation would hurt small businesses. "As a small manufacturer myself, I can understand the problems and costs small manufacturers will...

LARGEST MILWAUKEE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP. LOANS -- 1999.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... LARGEST MILWAUKEE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP. LOANS -- 1999 Business name Address MEDC financing Total financing 1 United Health $1,000,000 $17,539,418 103-111 W....

Are you at risk for burnout or depression in your job?(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... What can happen when mental or emotional stress is not properly managed? An overload of stress usually shows up in symptoms such as chronic fatigue, withdrawal from co-workers, family and friends, a decline in work performance and an...

Midwest 100 Regional Stock Analysis.
March 31, 2000... Midwest 100 Regional Stock Analysis Results for week ended March 28 TOP 10 PRICE GAINERS Company Close % change Banc One $ 34.06 25.6...

FAT ALBERTSON'S.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Boise, Idaho, grocer Albertson's Inc. paid $12.5 billion in June to scarf up its Salt Lake City competitor, American Stores Co., owner of Jewel and Osco food and drug stores. The purchase made Albertson's the No.2 supermarket chain, after...

House subcommittee passes consensus ant-spam bill.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... A House Commerce subcommittee unanimously passed legislation that would restrict unsolicited commercial e-mail, popularly known as spam. The legislation, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) includes provisions that had been...

Employers see 9.7 percent hike in health care costs.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Health care costs are up 9.7 percent this year, compared with increases of 7.5 percent in 1998 and 1999, according to more than 500 employers surveyed by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and two nonprofit health care organizations. But health care...

Art for Burke's sake.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Burke Properties office showcases owner's philosophy The first thought visitors to Burke Properties' downtown offices must have is that they've stepped into an art gallery. Paintings line the walls of the Burke gallery -- er, offices...

Dining in with more class.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... From kiosks to cafeterias, office buildings offer better lunch spots The customers of Cafe 735 are so important to owner James O'Shaugnessey that he hesitates to advertise his coffee shop and deli in the 735 N. Water St. building. ...

'E' is wave of future for office supplies, furniture.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Office.com competes with local retailers' new Web sites Office furniture and supply firms are selling more of their wares over the Internet, but the World Wide Web isn't churning out worldwide customers. The biggest users of the...

DSL upstarts claim Ameritech's `Pronto' stalled.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Pronto is Spanish for "quickly," but some competitors of Ameritech don't think its "Project Pronto" high-speed Internet service is coming to market as pronto as theirs is. Ameritech will find that telecommunications rivals already provide...

Cubicle backlash.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Herman Miller; others look to zigzag work stations Canvas, poles and porch lights are items most people associate with camp sites and backyards. With its new office furniture system named Resolve, Herman Miller Inc. is bringing these...

LARGEST MILWAUKEE-AREA OFFICE FURNITURE.
March 31, 2000... LARGEST MILWAUKEE-AREA OFFICE FURNITURE Name Address Web site 1 Forrer Business Interiors Inc. www.forrerbusiness.com 555 W. Estabrook Blvd. ...

Making the List.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Gary Zimmerman, 42 Title: President, Creative Business Interiors Inc. Years with the company: 8 1/2 Education: Attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Management philosophy: Don't be trendy, enjoy what you do and...

Marquette University.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Daniel Cotter has been named the 2000 Alumnus of the Year at Marquette University, Milwaukee. Cotter is a 1957 graduate of the College of Business Administration and retired chairman of TruServ Corp. The award is presented annually to an...

Industries for the Blind.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Industries for the Blind, Milwaukee, will honor Janet Rinzel as its employee of the year. Rinzel has worked for the company for 22 years in a variety of departments.

Parents Place.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Parents Place has named Judy Larsen and Deborah Jacobs the 2000 Child Advocates of the Year. Larson is the service coordinator of the Birth to Three Program at Lutheran Social Services and Jacobs is the school social worker for Butler and...

Waukesha Training Center.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The board of directors of the Waukesha Training Center will award the 10th annual Daniel J. Beck Memorial Award to Michael Pjevach, president and general manager of Coach Lines Group, Coach USA Cos,. and Michael Hansen and Thomas Czarnecki,...

Waukesha County Technical College.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Judy Jorgensen, Waukesha County Technical College's dean of academic support, received the William Pierce Partner in Education Award from the School District of Menomonee Falls. The award recognizes businesses, organizations or individuals...

Applied Industrial Technologies.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Applied Industrial Technologies and American Industrial will receive the Miller Brewing Co. "Partners in Excellence" Award. Applied Industrial Technologies produces bearings, linear technologies for Miller. American Industrial provides...

Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Ronald Kraus, Milwaukee, has been honored as the "Driver of the Month" by the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association. Kraus has been a driver for Klemm Tank Lines in Green Bay since 1997. During his career, he has logged more than 1.1 million...

The Lutheran Home.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Twenty-one volunteers with a combined 240 years of volunteer work will be honored for their commitment to residents of The Lutheran Home. Honorees include Verna Meier, who will be recognized for 35 years of volunteer service. Honored for 20...

Prudential Preferred Properties.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Prudential Preferred Properties announced its award winners for 1999. Prudential's 1999 Rookie of the Year is Stephanie Brunkhorst of the Brookfield office, whose first year's sales also placed her in the company's highest sales group. 1999...

Re/Max Realty 100.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Jean Whitstone of Re/Max Realty 100 in Brookfield, and Dennis Vlach of Re/Max Realty 100 in Hales Corners, were named to the Re/Max International Hall of Fame. Dale Marciniak, sales associate with Re/Max Realty 100 in Milwaukee, was honored...

National Science Foundation Career Awards.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 31, 2000... Three faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have been awarded National Science Foundation Career Awards. Assistant professors Carol Hirschmugl, Paul Lyman and Vlad Yakovlev teach in the UWM physics department. The total of...

McCloud Construction.
March 31, 2000... Jon Wilson has been selected as McCloud Construction's 1999 Employee of the Year. Wilson is project manager for two large hotels in the Detroit area as well as several smaller projects.

Women's Fund of the Milwaukee Foundation.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Women's Fund of the Milwaukee Foundation has received the 2000 Award for Excellence in Fund Raising from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. The Women's Fund was honored fork's Little Women's Fund program.

Epilson Sigma Alpha.
March 31, 2000... Easter Seals will give the members of Epilson Sigma Alpha its Volunteer of the Year Award at its April 2 awards dinner.

Johnson Controls Inc.
March 31, 2000... Marx McClellan Thrun, Milwaukee, is a Gold winner in the 2000 Summit Creative Awards competition for outstanding creative work for Johnson Controls Inc., Glendale. Marx McCellan Thrun provides creative services for both consumer and...

Sprecher Bertalot & Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 31, 2000... Sprecher Bertalot & Co. won 12 of the Milwaukee Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards -- four gold awards, three silver awards and five citations of excellence. Awards won include two gold ADDYS in the public service division -- newspaper for...

Treetops Landscape Design Inc.
March 31, 2000... Treetops Landscape Design Inc., has been recognized by the state of Wisconsin for excellence in landscape design and construction. The Wisconsin Landscape Federation has given an award of excellence to landscape architects, Kerry Mattingly...

Milwaukee Dsitrict of the U.S. Postal Service.
March 31, 2000... Nineteen women in the Milwaukee community were honored as "Women Putting Their Stamp on Milwaukee" by the Milwaukee Dsitrict of the U.S. Postal Service. The honorees are: Sister Lucinda Hubing, director, Alfons Gallery; Evelyn Terry, artist;...

Women of Distinction Awards.
March 31, 2000... Waukesha organizations, businesses, clubs and community leaders have until May 12 to nominate women for Special Recognition Honors for the 16th Annual Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon to be held June 1 at the Country Inn in Waukesha. In...

The Marcus Corp.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The Marcus Corp. is installing a high-speed Internet network for guests at the Milwaukee company's Baymont Inns & Suites, Woodfield Suites and full-service hotels and resorts. The company's Hilton Milwaukee City Center began offering the...

Ladish Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 31, 2000... Members of Die Sinkers Local 140 have ratified a new labor contract with Ladish Co. Inc. as another union at the Cudahy forging firm remains on strike. Local 140, which is affiliated with the Machinists union, represents 71 Ladish employees...

Bank One Wisconsin.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Bank One Wisconsin received an "outstanding" rating as part of its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination. This examination for Bank One Wisconsin was the first since the federal standards were increased to include actual lending in...

Sysco Food Services.
March 31, 2000... Sysco Food Services of Eastern Wisconsin, has purchased the naming rights to Food Court Road at the Washington County Fair Park.' Food Court Road is the roadway on Which many of the food vendors are housed for the week of the fair and other...

Waukesha County Technical College.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Waukesha County Technical College received continued accreditation by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The recommendation includes approval of the addition of...

Rockwell Automation.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Rockwell Automation; Milwaukee, announced its donation of an Automatic Dynamometer (Autodyne) to the Milwaukee School of Engineering. This piece of equipment will be used by engineering students at MSOE for testing Ac drives and motors....

Milwaukee Public Television production.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Patricia Gomez, has been appointed producer and host for the new Milwaukee Public Television production, Adelante! Gomez has more than 15 years of experience in Mexican public television. Adelante!, a weekly locally produced series, which...

Paragon Development Systems Inc.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Paragon Development Systems Inc., Oconomowoc, has acquired certain assets of P.C. Solutions Inc., operating as Entre in Milwaukee and Madison. This will increase PDS to 240 employees, $75 million + in sales with $15 million + sales in...

University of Wisconsin System.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Accounting students at University of Wisconsin System institutions continue to rank in the top of the nation for passing the uniform CPA Examination, according to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy's (NASBA) 1999 edition...

Life Insurance Data Processing.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... life Insurance Data Processing a provider of life and annuity policy administration systems, and COSS Development Corp., a provider of sales illustration systems have integrated with each others products on the Web. As a result, an insurer...

Moraine Packaging Inc.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Moraine Packaging Inc. and Liqua-Tek Inc., Oconomowoc, announced their successful registration to the ISO 9002 standard for quality control. In the late 1980s the International Standards Organization (ISO) published the first ISO 9000 series...

Catalyst International Inc.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Catalyst International Inc. Milwaukee, a supplier of warehouse management software, announced that Rayovac has purchased the Catalyst Warehouse Management System (WMS) Release 8 to manage their distribution operations. Rayovac distributes...

Family Health Systems.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Family Health Systems selected Creative Business Interiors to do space planning and design for its new 60,000-square-foot facility in Brookfield. The project included the re-use of existing Herman Miller workstations installed on new Knoll...

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee, has had its "AA+" financial strength and issuer credit ratings reaffirmed by Standard & Poor's. Additionally, S&P affirmed its 'AAA' financial strength rating on MGIG Mortgage Insurance Corp.,...

AE Business Solutions.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... AE Business Solutions announced an expansion into the La Crosse market. With this addition, AE Business Solutions will have four offices in Wisconsin: two in Madison, one in Milwaukee and one in La Crosse. AB Business Solutions is a privately...

Bilingual Communications & Consulting.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Bilingual Communications & Consulting Milwaukee, has been awarded a one-year contract to provide translation services for the state Department of Workforce Development BCC is one of five vendors who received contracts to provide translation...

Delphi Automotive Systems.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... Delphi Automotive Systems' Milwaukee operations has received ISO 14001 certification, which is the international standard for environmental management systems. The plant received third-party certification from Det Norske Veritas Certification...

Wisconsin Department of Tourism.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... "Stay Just a Little Bit Longer" is the theme of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's new 2000 summer promotional campaign. The $3 million campaign was unveiled at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Milwaukee. It features new television...

United Way in Waukesha County.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... The United Way in Waukesha County is now accepting applications for funding of special project requests through the Venture Grant Fund. Venture Grants are short-term grants targeted toward high priority, innovative projects that address gaps...

ReGENco.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... ReGENco, West Allis, completed the first two major equipment repairs in its new West Allis repair facility. The two major repairs, which were shipped this week, were for Madison Gas & Electric and Alin Machinery of Chicago. Combined, the...

Cumulus Media Inc.(securities class-action lawsuit has been filed by shareholders)(Brief Article)
March 31, 2000... A securities class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of purchasers of Cumulus Media Inc. common stock between May 11, 1999, and March 16, 2000, inclusive. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Wisconsin by Bernstein...