Philadelphia Business Journal articles from June 1999

Philadelphia Business Journal archives from June 1999

NovaCare is narrowing its focus.
June 25, 1999... Medicare changes force shift in strategy KING OF PRUSSIA - Hammered by changes in Medicare reimbursement rates, NovaCare is being forced to reinvent itself. In April, the company reluctantly decided to sell its long-nurtured...

Partners' legal fight hits trust company.(The Main Line Trust Co.)
June 25, 1999... A messy partnership bust-up threatens to shove The Main Line Trust Co. into receivership, a casualty of a legal battle over assets. Ferdinand LaMotte IV and James M. Davidson have been going at it in a Delaware County court since last...

Last days for the gas commission?(Philadelphia Gas Commission)
June 25, 1999... A vote by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to shift regulatory control of Philadelphia Gas Works to the state has placed in doubt the fate of one of the city's most venerable institutions. Is the Philadelphia Gas Commission down for the...

Hotel rethinks Rittenhouse Square deal.(Inter-Continental Hotel)
June 25, 1999... Plans for a $104 million Inter-Continental hotel and retail development in the works for Rittenhouse square have fallen through. But don't count the luxury hotel out yet. "We still have an extremely strong interest in this project...

Brew who?(Red Bell Brewing Co.)
June 25, 1999... Headhouse rub space could be available A $2.7 million brew pub sitting ready to open in the new Reading Terminal Headhouse building, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, waits on the resolution of a legal battle between its...

Bad blood is boiling over plastic containers.(PennPac International files antitrust suit against Rotonics Manufacturing Inc.)
June 25, 1999... A Montgomery County company has accused a rival firm of attempting to illegally dominate the national market for a specialized variety of plastic containers. PennPac International of Wyndmoor fried a federal antitrust suit against...

UGI's major stockholder wants it out of utilities.(UGI Corp.)
June 25, 1999... VALLEY FORGE - UGI Corp.'s biggest stockholder has endorsed the sale of its utilities division, though the company put that plan on the back burner after the collapse of its deal to buy Unisource Worldwide. An ultimate decision about...

Maverick Momentum planning initial offering.(computer software firm)
June 25, 1999... MOORESTOWN, N.J. - Nearly a year after it was created in a merger, a company that develops software for securely transferring big computer files and makes check-encoding equipment is planning an initial public offering. "The merger...

Marlton tech firms grows with Web: Universal offers Web design and hosting, systems security and database management.
June 25, 1999... Universal feels like a typical fast-growing information technology consulting company: its offices are filled with workers in the 20s and early 30s in relaxed khakis and open-collared shirts. The laid-back atmosphere shouldn't fool you,...

Cherrry Hill firm meets short-term HR needs.(Cherry Hill, New Jersey; The Rosen Group Inc.; human resource)
June 25, 1999... In this era of rapid corporate change, a company's commitment to its employees, and vice versa, has become ever more tenuous. The Rosen Group Inc. of Cherry Hill, a temporary placement agency for human resource professionals, is taking...

Air Technology helps workers breathe easily.
June 25, 1999... Prison bars are no good when it comes to keeping out dust, grime and diesel fumes. The Philadelphia Common Pleas Court learned this the hard way when fumes from street traffic kept the judges in the courtroom coughing. Carbon monoxide,...

Bond firm: SEC driven by bias.(Pryor, McClendon, Counts and Company Inc.)
June 18, 1999... A Philadelphia bond firm accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of making illegal payoffs to obtain public finance work has returned fire, alleging SEC investigators singled it out on the basis of race. In documents filed with...

No more yucky liquid?(InKine Pharmaceuticals' Diacol, a better alternative to polyethylene glycol)
June 18, 1999... BLUE BELL - InKine Pharmaceuticals Inc. estimates that 7 million people will undergo colonoscopies this year in hopes of catching early signs of colon cancer. Even more should, but often stay away because undergoing the diagnostic...

Microsoft moving into new offices.(software firm opens new office in Malvern, PA)
June 18, 1999... Software company seeks an expanded local role MALVERN - Microsoft Corp., hoping to capitalize on the explosive growth of technology companies in the Route 202 corridor, is moving into a new office here in an expansion that will see its...

1st Republic being sued by ex-execs.(First Republic Bancorp Inc.)
June 18, 1999... Two former First Republic Bank executives have sued their former employer, charging the Walnut Street bank illegally attempted to block their new endeavor. One of the executives, Rolf A. Stensrud, former CEO of First Republic, is now...

PECO wins its petition; PUC clarifies its order.(PECO Energy Co.; Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission)
June 18, 1999... Ah, the vagaries of regulatory prose. Peco Energy Co. knows them well: The utility has just won clarification of a Public Utility Commission order that some interpreted to take the severe step of preventing the company's regulated...

Natural gas company puts spark into electricity.(South Jersey Industries forms partnership with Energy East Corp.)
June 18, 1999... FOLSOM, N.J. - South Jersey Industries, which built its business around natural gas, is venturing into the world of retail electricity. The company has entered a partnership with Energy East Corp. of Albany, N.Y., to sell electricity...

Phytomedics near patent for plant proteins.
June 18, 1999... WILLINGBORO, N.J. - Phytomedics Inc. is just one step away from obtaining a patent covering its technology for extracting proteins from plants that can be used for drugs. The biotechnology company, formerly operated as Photosynthetic...

Jon S. Saltzman.(president and CEO of Penn-America Group Inc.)(Interview)
June 18, 1999... Personal information Name: Jon S. Saltzman Title: President and CEO Company: Penn-America Group Inc. Type of company: Hatboro-based parent company of Penn-America Insurance Co. and Penn-Star Insurance Co. Education: BA,...

Labor's influence wanes in Phila.(Special Report: Hire Power)
June 18, 1999... Unions weakened by shift to service economy, rise of part-time employee The year was 1967, and incumbent Philadelphia mayor James H.J. Tate was seeking a second term. He was without the support of the Democratic Party, but back then it...

Regional job picture: the good - and bad.(Special Report: Hire Power)(Philadelphia, PA)
June 18, 1999... Never mind the Allegheny layoffs. Forget about those lost First Union jobs. The Philadelphia job market nowadays reflects the dilemma facing many employers and those seeking work nationwide: Thanks to the longest economic expansion in...

Executive recruiting the (Abigail) Mayes way.(Special Report: Hire Power)
June 18, 1999... Once was not enough. Abigail Mayes founded her first executive search firm, Abigail Mayes Associates, in 1983. Fourteen years later, she was at it again, setting up another firm to puts a business she knew best - head hunting managed...

RNC limbo causes cancellations.(Republican National Convention)
June 11, 1999... City pushes First Union as GOP site; no decision from RNC expected until late June The Republican Party's indecision about where exactly to hold its convention next year - either the Pennsylvania Convention Center or the First Union...

PHC4 to resurrect health report cards.(Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council)
June 11, 1999... After a five-year hiatus, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is resurrecting its controversial hospital effectiveness reports - to the dismay of some of the state's medical centers. "Our biggest concern is they are...

On the same road: rival traffic reporting firms merging.(Metro Traffic and Express Traffic)
June 11, 1999... The Philadelphia region's archrival traffic-reporting services are on the road to a partnership, thanks to a planned merger of their parent companies. Metro Traffic and Express Traffic, competitors for much of the past decade in...

Database firm to lay off 850 in N.J.(Alliance Data Systems Inc.'s layoff plans at Camden County, New Jersey, office)
June 11, 1999... VOORHEES, N.J. - Alliance Data Systems Inc., a Texas-based provider of account management and database services to retailers, is about to issue 850 pink slips at its 1,200-employee Camden County location. The layoffs are a result of the...

Schneider's way comes into style.(Schneider Capital Management founder Arnold C. Schneider III)
June 11, 1999... His chosen investing style has been out of fashion until just recently, and some choice would-be clients are, at least for a while, off limits to Arnold C. Schneider III. Other than that, sailing is smoother than it has been since the...

Bases loaded in minor leagues? Plans for another stadium are floated.(Pennsylvania)
June 11, 1999... The rapid expansion of minor league baseball in the region - four new teams in six years - may not be over. Peter Karoly, a Lehigh Valley lawyer and the owner of the 2-year-old Allentown Ambassadors of the Northeast Independent...

Girard to shed Front St. sites: derelict warehouses will be bought by Daniel Katz, if sale OK'd.
June 11, 1999... Shifting direction, the Girard Estate has now decided to sell its string of abandoned and deteriorating warehouses in Old City. The move comes after years of neglect and speculation on the fate of the buildings, and just a few months...

Goldenberg, PREIT close $90M Metroplex.(Goldenberg Group; Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust)
June 11, 1999... PLYMOUTH MEETING - After years of heated debate and delays forced by antidevelopment forces, a series of leases have been finalized and ground has broken on the $90 million Metroplex retail center. The 110-acre project, a joint venture...

Alleged country club fraud case to go to trial.(Blue Bell Country Club)
June 11, 1999... A federal judge has allowed a group of disgruntled former partners in the construction of the Blue Bell Country Club to proceed with a claim of fraud against the project developer. The plaintiffs, investors in the Franklin Realty...

Phone competition begins to take hold; a growing number of telecoms are dialing into the Philadelphia region.
June 11, 1999... Barely two years after the passage of the federal law meant to spur competition in the telecommunications industry, about a dozen companies have joined New York-based Bell Atlantic Corp. to offer some form of local phone service in the...

Solar's system hinged on travelers' needs.(Solar Communications Group Inc.)
June 11, 1999... A new amenity: PCs and 'Net access in your room MILLVILLE, N.J. - If you think laptops are a necessary burden during travel, you may want to think again. Solar Communications Group Inc. of Cumberland County has developed a set-up,...

Fund spends $93M on former Levitz properties.(Lubert-Adler Real Estate Opportunity Fund II)
June 4, 1999... Center City-based financiers Ira Lubert and Dean Adler have invested $93.5 million purchasing 35 properties in nine states from the bankrupt Levitz Furniture chain. The pair operating as the Lubert-Adler Real Estate Opportunity Fund II,...

Unisource: a gambit for its acquirer.(Unisource Worldwide acquired by Georgia-Pacific Corp.)
June 4, 1999... When top executives at Georgia-Pacific Corp. first floated the notion to buy Unisource Worldwide, the struggling Berwyn paper distributor, their most dubious critic was neither regulator nor analyst. It was their boss. "I was a very...

Reverse-merger agreement is ditched by CitX.
June 4, 1999... QUAKERTOWN - A developer of Internet electronic-payment systems has shelved plans to go public by means of a reverse merger with a Texas company, and is concentrating on expanding its foothold in the health-care arena and, eventually, beyond....

Ambulance company pulling out of the city.(American Medical Response Inc. closes down its Philadelphia operations)
June 4, 1999... Five years after entering the ambulance business in Philadelphia, American Medical Response Inc. is leaving the city and eliminating 220 jobs in the process. Karen Kroon, AMR's director of operations in Philadelphia, said the decision...

Medical publisher selling 6th St. site.(Lippincott Williams & Wilkins selling its Philadelphia office building)
June 4, 1999... Lippincott will consolidate work force The J.B. Lippincott Co. Building, a five-story, 60,000-square-foot neoclassical Italianate brick structure on the east side of Washington square, is up for sale. "The reason we're selling the...

Cephalon partnership could bring in $40 M.(forms joint venture with Dutch pharmaceutical firm H. Lundbeck)
June 4, 1999... WEST CHESTER - Cephalon Inc. stands to boost revenues by $40 million under a new partnership with H. Lundbeck, a Dutch pharmaceutical firm. Under their deal, Cephalon will work to discover and develop products to treat neurodegenerative...

US Interactive plans '99 public stock offering.
June 4, 1999... The Internet-service provider hopes to raise up to $65 million through the sale of stock. It is another in the line of Safeguard Scientifics companies. KING OF PRUSSIA - U.S. Interactive Inc. has become the second company in the...

CEO portrait.(Maria Maccecchini, CEO of Beardsen Bio Inc.)(Interview)
June 4, 1999... Maria Maccecchini Personal information Name: Maria Maccecchini Title: President and CEO Organization: Beardsen Bio Inc. Type of company: Aston-based chemicals company specializing in "mimetics." Mimetics are modified...

Queen of diamonds.(Trish England, president of Design Exchange Architects Inc.)
June 4, 1999... NEWARK, Del. - Borrowing a line, baseball has been very, very good to Trish England. Over the past seven years England has emerged as nothing short of the godmother of minor-league baseball park design. She caught the sport's huge wave...