The Business Journal-Milwaukee articles from September 1998

The Business Journal-Milwaukee archives from September 1998

Retiree benefits divide business, labor. (retiree health benefits trigger labor-management conflict at several Wisconsin firms)
September 25, 1998... In a twist of timing, workers at Harnischfeger Industries Inc. were voting on Sept. 9 to go on strike at the stone time as attorneys for Pabst Brewing Co. and some 800 retired Pabst workers were arguing before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals...

Quick studies: new utilities commissioners Farrow and Bie face an early test. (Wisconsin Public Service commissioners Ave Bie and John Farrow)
September 25, 1998... The state Public Service Commission has two new members who are anxious to tackle an ever-growing list of questions that need quick answers. But the biggest questions surround the recent appointees themselves: Will Ave Bie feel imprisoned...

Watch list includes 10 state insurance companies. (consumer advocacy group compiles list of 10 Wisconsin life/health insurance firms to be watched out for by consumers)
September 25, 1998... Ten Wisconsin life and health insurance companies are on a watch list of 554 companies that have at least one characteristic that could point to low financial strength. Compiled by The Insurance Forum, an Indiana-based consumer advocacy...

Marquette Medical won't sate acquisition-hungry GE. (Marquette Medical Systems Inc.; GE Medical Systems)
September 25, 1998... Don't expect the purchase of Marquette Medical Systems Inc. to satisfy GE Medical Systems' hearty appetite for acquisitions. In the rapidly consolidating medical equipment industry, the Waukesha-based imaging equipment maker is likely to buy...

Crisis in world markets take toll on state exports. (Wisconsin)
September 25, 1998... The spreading global economic crisis took its toll on Wisconsin exporters in the first half of the year. Exports by Wisconsin companies fell 4.9 percent in the first half of 1998, according to figures provided by the state Department of...

Close call: after a brush with extinction, AmeriVoice is market leader. (AmeriVoice Telecommunications Inc.)(Company Profile)
September 25, 1998... A simple pricing option turned into a huge marketing advantage that saved Louis Miller's 7-year-old voice mail company. AmeriVoice Telecommunications Inc., Milwaukee, is now a debt-free company with 70,000 customers and more coming on line...

Dempsey doesn't hesitate when booting bad stock. (interview with Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC head Tom Dempsey)(Company Profile)(Interview)
September 25, 1998... Tom Dempsey's investment philosophy is not all that difficult to understand, but can be hard to execute. His idea is that if a stock doesn't perform well in the first couple of weeks after it is added to a portfolio, then the investment team...

'Amnesty' policy helps manufacturer recruit. (Production Stamping Corp.)(Company Profile)
September 25, 1998... Production Stamping tries new solution to labor shortage Facing a shortage of qualified labor, one Milwaukee manufacturer has turned to recruiting some applicants with criminal records and adopted an amnesty policy in dealing with employees...

Marine Bank plots expansion in Wisconsin.
September 18, 1998... Marine Bank will become the seventh-largest bank holding company in Wisconsin when its parent holding company moves to Pewaukee from Illinois this fall. Central Illinois Bancorp., now based in Sidney, Ill., will change its name to Marine...

Going downtown. (return of business enterprises to Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
September 18, 1998... As companies return to city, has a revival begun? After years of flight from downtown Milwaukee to the suburbs, a few businesses are reversing direction and moving back to the city. The Revere Group will move its offices Sept. 28 from 15850...

Competitors cut into Ameritech's large-business service.
September 18, 1998... Competition for local telephone service in the metropolitan area is gaining momentum, if the number of large-business access lines lost by Ameritech-Wisconsin since the beginning of 1998 is any indicator. Ameritech-Wisconsin has seen a 5.5...

Production Stamping fills Riverworks Industrial Center. (Milwaukee, WI)
September 18, 1998... The development of a 5.4- acre site for a metal stamping firm's new plant in the Riverworks Industrial Center marks an important milestone for the Milwaukee business park. The parcel is the last major developable site in the 33-acre...

Case Corp. bets farm on satellite technology.
September 18, 1998... Case Corp.'s research "lab" is bigger than most: 6,300 acres of farmland in Illinois. Farmers work the fields, while computer wizards, agronomists and other scientists experiment with computer software and satellite technology designed to...

Troubled Golden Books taps into more credit. (Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc)
September 18, 1998... Short on cash, Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc. has deferred a key interest payment and tapped into a $25 million line of credit from its largest investor group. The troubled children's book publisher, which just last month said it was...

Rinse, spit and start an Internet company. (Internet Connect Inc)(Company Profile)
September 18, 1998... Dentist trades in drills to become Internet service provider His business card states, "Dr. Alec Ellsworth, president/CEO, Internet Connect Inc." However, the "doctor" is not a reference to an advanced degree in computer science. Ellsworth...

Business centers offer 'virtual' offices. (Your Office USA)
September 18, 1998... Ex-H H West execs are latest to develop single offices in Milwaukee An investment group with its roots in the Milwaukee area's oldest office supply company has set itself up to become a primary developer of a new kind of office - one that...

Bevco chairs sneak from factory floor into front office. (Bevco Ergonomic Seating)
September 18, 1998... A chair can be more than just a place to perch the posterior, if it's designed with human ergonomics in mind. Nowhere is this more apparent than in laboratory or industrial settings, where workers involved in assembly, machining and fitting...

Hospital charges keep rising. (Wisconsin)
September 11, 1998... SHARE THE PAIN The average charge for a hospital stay in wisconsin varied widely, depending on type of treatment, but length of stay was down uniformly in 1996, the latest year for which information is available. HOSPITAL ...

Feds likely to approve power plan. (Midwest Independent System Operator plan)
September 11, 1998... A plan backed by Wisconsin Electric Power Co. to set up an independent electricity transmission system in Wisconsin and 12 other Midwest states is expected to receive a regulatory agency thumbs up next week. Wisconsin Electric executives and...

Accountant shortage grips Milwaukee.
September 11, 1998... The money is there. So are the generous benefits, flexible hours and prestige. But where are the people? A shortage of accountants in southeastern Wisconsin has dozens of public accounting firms competing against each other to find...

The 'Mother of Brady Street' makes her mark; Mimma's was catalyst for east side neighborhood.
September 11, 1998... Eleven years ago, the idea of traveling to Brady Street for dinner would not have topped many Milwaukeeans' lists for culinary options. The street on the city's east side was reserved for those who perhaps needed a haircut by the local...

Cardboard kingdom: Canadian capital helps Innovative Packaging grow.
September 11, 1998... John Lingle, Terry Paulson and David Stucker had modest plans when they decided to launch a cardboard packaging business in 1996. The trio figured they'd buy some used equipment, lease some industrial space, hire a couple dozen people and...

The big one: Michael Moore featured Johnson Controls in his movie on layoffs. Two years later, workers have fared pretty well.(Focus on Manufacturing)
September 11, 1998... Technically speaking, former Johnson Controls Inc. employee Bobby Williams was never out of a job, even though the company closed the plant where he worked. "I left Johnson Controls on a Friday and started working at Snap-on on Monday," he...

Asian financial ills only slightly contagious here. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)(Focus on Manufacturing)
September 11, 1998... The Asian contagion started creeping into Waukesha Bearings Corp.'s orders in the first quarter of this year, and now it's breaking out to the point where some customers are reporting 25 to 30 percent sales drops. Of course, when Waukesha...

OmniQuip spending to meet demand: CEO predicts long-term success in off-highway field. (Enoch Stiff)(Focus on Manufacturing)
September 11, 1998... Enoch Stiff believes demographics are on his company's side. Stiff, the 51-year-old president and chief executive officer of OmniQuip International Inc., is convinced that his fellow baby boomers will continue to spend money on big new homes,...

The big dipper: Firstar acquisition price tumbles with market.
September 4, 1998... The falling stock market is threatening to take a $900 million bite out of the sale price of Firstar Corp. to Star Banc Corp. When the acquisition of Milwaukee-based Firstar by Cincinnati-based Star Banc was announced July 1, it carried a...

Slowdown. (layoffs made by Zuelzke Tool and Engineering Co. Inc.)
September 4, 1998... Manufacturers' declining orders portend sliding economy For only the third time in its 57-year history, Zuelzke Tool & Engineering Co. Inc. laid off part of its work force last month. Business has been slow for most of the year at the...

Losses prompt restructuring at Family Health Plan. (Family Health Plan Cooperative)
September 4, 1998... Family Health Plan Cooperative lost $7.4 million in the first half of 1998, prompting the West Allis HMO to begin a "comprehensive restructuring" of its entire operations. Family Health Plan has lost money over the last two years. But its...

Tickets for growth. (contract received by Professional Account Management Inc. from the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin)(Small Business Strategies)
September 4, 1998... Local collection agency lands big city contract Robert Szymczak is one of the few people in Milwaukee who is excited about parking tickets. Szymczak is president of Professional Account Management Inc., a receivables management company...