Philadelphia Business Journal articles from March 1997

Philadelphia Business Journal archives from March 1997

Nine managers bolt Delaware Funds. (Delaware Group Dividend and Income Fund Inc.)
March 28, 1997... Nine top managers and executives left the Delaware Group of mutual funds last week suddenly and, so far, in silence. Messages left at the homes of several of the executives were not returned this week. But the talent that headed for the door...

Phila.'s tax lien plan may yield quick cash.
March 28, 1997... The city and Philadelphia School District both stand to reap revenue from an effort to collect on outstanding tax liens. Some of the liens are more than 20 years old. In a municipal version of a factoring arrangement, the city and...

Marketing campaign touts a 'new waterfront.'
March 28, 1997... Despite the presence of bulldozers and big piles of dirt, Penn's Landing is set to engage in a marketing campaign touting this waterside site's recent aesthetic enhancements The campaign, with the tagline, "The New Waterfront," emphasizes...

Checkpoint enters new markets. (Checkpoint Systems Inc.)
March 28, 1997... THOROFARE, N.J. - One of Gloucester County's largest private-sector employers just got bigger thanks to a merger that is expected to make it a more dominant player in the electronic article surveillance industry. Checkpoint Systems Inc., the...

Oxford goes after the big guys; looks to 'try harder' to win away health care members. (Oxford Health Plans Inc.)
March 28, 1997... Odin Brutsche is a man who is not easily swayed. As the benefits coordinator for Accord Health Service Inc., a healthcare management company based in Norristown with 1,100 employees, Brutsche has been pitched by the best insurance salesman out...

Montco records firm grows with acquisitions and IPO. (Pierce Leahy Corp.)
March 28, 1997... Pierce Leahy, a 50-year-old records management firm in King of Prussia, has been expanding quickly. Now it's looking to raise $78 million and perhaps become the largest records management firm in the U.S. KING OF PRUSSIA - Pierce Leahy Corp....

Assisted living: its time is coming.
March 28, 1997... Assisted living facilities are poised for take off, and real estate developers are already taking advantage of the movement. The parents of baby boomers - now moving into their late 70s and early 80s - will soon be renting and buying in a...

S. Jersey warehouse falls short on jobs. (Micro Warehouse)
March 28, 1997... GIBBSBORO, N.J. - A telemarketing facility attracted to South Jersey with the help of government financing has fallen short of employment projections. The arrival of a call center for Norwalk, Conn.-based Micro Warehouse, a direct marketer...

'Rejuventation thing' happening at Elkman. (Elkman Advertising & Public Relations)
March 28, 1997... BALA CYNWYD - Elkman Advertising & Public Relations has brought in a new creative director from the Big Apple and promoted another staffer who joined last fall to form, what the agency calls, a new, dynamic creative team. The pairing merges New...

Community banks battle in Bucks. (Bucks County)
March 28, 1997... It's nice to have a locally owned community bank back in the area. Or three. Premier Bank, First Service Bank and First County Bank, three small new faces on the Bucks County banking scene, all credit the welcome they're getting in...

ISP abandons clients to move West, fast. (Internet service provider HPNet Inc.)
March 28, 1997... WILLOW GROVE - Internet service provider HPNet Inc. packed up its computer servers and moved to Kansas last Friday, cutting off its clients' services with four days notice in some cases, and no notice in other cases. The company, which had...

SEPTA's disarray is an opportunity. (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority)(Editorial)
March 28, 1997... There's a certain irony that at almost the same time that Standard & Poor's Corp. was upgrading the city of Philadelphia's bond rating, the board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority was officially receiving a...

How SEPTA works (or doesn't). (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority)(Editorial)
March 28, 1997... Buried on pages 103 and 104 of the 302-page "Business Audit" of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority are a series of telling anecdotes about what goes on, on the job, at SEPTA. The scene for these brief stories is SEPTA's...

Mobile black box gets the goods. (Prima Facie Inc.)(Growth Strategies)
March 28, 1997... Prima Facie Inc. has an innovative product and plenty of financing. But the company believes it's the maturity and experience of its management team that will see it double its sales over the next year. KING OF PRUSIA - Six years ago, Shawn...

Rewarding employees for jobs well done.(Growth Strategies)(Column)
March 28, 1997... I received a letter from a southeastern business owner seeking my advice regarding a printing business he purchased a year before. Sales had leveled off in recent years, and he was able to acquire the company for an attractive price. He was...

Charity alliance sought. (charity care legislation)(South Jersey Business Journal)
March 28, 1997... New Jersey hospital officials are organizing civic leaders throughout the state to push the issue of charity care legislation in front of legislators reluctant to tackle such a thorny issue in an election year. Current charity care...

BBQ wars: the Fat Jack attack. (barbecue restaurants in South Jersey)(South Jersey Business Journal)
March 28, 1997... BERLIN - The Virginia-based Red Hot & Blue Inc. restaurant chain's outpost on Route 70 east in Cherry Hill features music, a down-home atmosphere and all the spicy ribs you can buy. About 11 miles away on Route 73 north in Berlin is the newly...

Roosevelt Paper crosses the river; the site was more affordable.(South Jersey Business Journal)
March 28, 1997... MOUNT LAUREL - For two years, officials from Philadelphia, Bucks County and even the Pennsylvania governor's office courted Roosevelt Paper Co. with lucrative offers to stay in the commonwealth. It took New Jersey less than a year to convince...

Hill readies to go public in 1998; the company is eager to put bank litigation behind it. (Hill International Inc.)(South Jersey Business Journal)
March 28, 1997... WILLINGBORO - Irv Richter doesn't want to ever rely on banks again. Not after finally reaching a settlement with two banks that sued him, and he says, tried to drive him out of business. So Richter is planning to take his Willingboro, N.J....

Frustrated businesses join call for empowerment zone changes. (Camden)(South Jersey Business Journal)
March 28, 1997... The government giveth, and the government can taketh away. That's the message federal authorities are sending to officials in charge of Camden's $21 million share of empowerment zone funding that was granted two years ago. But business...

HSI is out to cure its acquisition. (Health Systems International)
March 21, 1997... When Health Systems International acquired Greater Atlantic Health Service in December 1995, Dr. Malik H. Hasan, HSI's chairman, president and chief executive officer, thought he had gained speedy entry into Philadelphia's managed-care...

PennCare talking to hospitals. (to increase its network of physicians and hospitals)
March 21, 1997... PennCare, the Allentown-based health system, is in talks with several suburban Philadelphia hospitals, including Abington Memorial and Pottstown Memorial hospitals, to join its growing network of physicians and hospitals. Although PennCare...

Advanta seeks way out of bad times. (credit card company)
March 21, 1997... Credit card deliquencies were worse than expected, new customers didn't stay with the company. SPRING HOUSE - Signs of trouble at Advanta Corp. foreshadowed its first-quarter loss and decision to hire an investment banker to look at...

Despite its critics, spammer has no apologies for its diet. (unsolicited e-mails)
March 21, 1997... Have you grown tired of dealing with spam, those unsolicited e-mails that end up in your inbox filled with ads touting get-rich schemes and obscure products? Then get ready for cyberspace to get a lot uglier. Cyber Promotions Inc., the...

CoreStates' offer triggers furor. (CoreStates Capital Markets' offer to pay possible damages from a scam)
March 21, 1997... Some municipal bond issuers were less reassured than others when CoreStates Capital Markets arrived hard on the heels of Securities and Exchange Commission investigators with an offer to pay possible damages from a scam. As part of a...

It's not just the cuisine anymore; ambiance counts for restaurants.
March 21, 1997... As more restaurateurs become aware of how ambiance may affect their bottom line a burgeoning niche industry is escalating, for interior designers and graphic arts specialists clued into the particular needs of restaurants Brasserie Perrier,...

Oil index may be a geyser: the Philadelphia Stock Exchanges month-old oil options index has almost doubled its average daily volume.
March 21, 1997... The nation's third oil-related options index launched by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange already seems to be giving its competitors a run for their money. Philadelphia's month-old Oil Service Sector index (OSX) nearly doubled its average...

Drugstore mergers roil on: another round of consolidation has begun in N.J.'s pharmacy market.
March 21, 1997... J.C. Penney Co. Inc.'s purchase of Eckerd Corp. has prompted another round of consolidation in New Jersey's already roiling pharmacy market. Last fall, J.C. Penney of Plano, Texas, agreed to combine its Thrift drug stores with Eckerd in a...

New bill redefines 'independent contractors.'
March 21, 1997... WASHINGTON - The battle over the definition of independent contractors has resurfaced. And this time, political heavy hitters are involved. The current process used to classify workers, the Internal Revenue Service's 20-factor test, is out...

Spectrum gives unique twist to the CoreStates Complex. (profile on Peter Luukko, president of CoreStates Complex)
March 21, 1997... Two arenas are better than one. The Spectrum serves as a critical component to the CoreStates Complex and this concept helps draw events like the Olympic Trials for U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1998. Someone please get Peter Luukko an...

New chapter for psychiatric hospital: CoreCare Systems has big plans for the 156-year-old facility.(Health Trends)
March 21, 1997... Mental health will remain integral to the newly renamed Kirkbride Center. But the new owners also foresee an assisted living center, a "medical condominium" and an urban shopping center. The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, once the...

Suburbs take different roads in managed mental health care.(Health Trends)
March 21, 1997... Four counties in Pennsylvania are implementing new programs to coordinate care for an estimated 100,000 Medicaid recipients. In four Pennsylvania suburban counties, officials are hurriedly gearing up to handle their roles as providers of...

Internet sales driving his business. (computer equipment reseller Bryn Kaufman)(Growth Strategies)
March 21, 1997... Computer Marketplace found that selling via the Internet gives it the opportunity to 'move into the big leagues.' BROOMALL - To grow his business, computer equipment reseller Bryn Kaufman needed to expand his sales from only the federal...

Phila. hungers for more conventions. (Philadelphia, PA)(Business Meetings & Conventions)
March 21, 1997... With $1 billion in bookings through 2006, the Pennsylvania Convention Center has outstripped conservative projections about its economic impact on Philadelphia. Mike Gamble knows some of his colleagues think he wants more than he deserves....

Officials see $96M in first year. (Atlantic City Convention Center)(Business Meetings & Conventions)
March 21, 1997... ATLANTIC CITY - This gambling haven is preparing to cash in a winning hand after it opens its $268 million convention center in May. Touted as the largest facility of its kind from Atlanta to Boston, the Atlantic City Convention Center boasts...

Hotels enjoy rising rates, occupancy.
March 21, 1997... By all accounts, 1996 was the most prosperous year in recent memory for Philadelphia's hotel industry which enjoyed a robust 75 percent occupancy rate on average. The occupancy rate was up 7 percent over 1995, while the average room rate of...

Meeting planners look at hotel's size, location.
March 21, 1997... Every hotel has some sort of meetings business. Some focus on small, intimate board meetings of 10 people or so. Others chase the larger seminars and sales promotion meetings of up to 100. But how each handles meetings in its own facilities...

Six new hotels could begin sprouting within year.
March 21, 1997... Thirty hotel developers have held discussions with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. In order to land one of the national political conventions, city officials hope about 2,200 rooms can be added by the year 2000. The City Hall...

Pennsylvania touts its growth as tourist destination.
March 21, 1997... Philadelphia led the rest of the state in attracting tourists, business travelers and the money they spend, according to a recent survey. The city of Philadelphia received 23.1 percent of all travel dollars spent in Pennsylvania, or $2.56...

Safeguard: no bad news. (Safeguard Scientifics Inc. bolsters investor confidence)
March 14, 1997... CEO reassures investors WAYNE - After watching its stock price fall precipitously over the last few months, and more than 50 percent over the last year, Safeguard Scientifics Inc went on the offensive last week in an attempt to shore up...

Hopes rise for hotel at Headhouse. (plan to build hotel on site of New Market commercial center in Philadelphia)
March 14, 1997... The cursed New Market may finally be put out of its misery. The failed commercial tract on the block of Front Street between Lombard and Pine streets, abandoned for much of its existence, will soon be given new life when the property's...

N. Phila. hospitals tying knot. (merger between Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and Germantown Hospital and Medical Center)
March 14, 1997... Albert Einstein Healthcare Network plans to acquire Germantown Hospital and Medical Center. At the same time, Einstein is in discussions with Jefferson Health Network about forming partnership. It doesn't take a genius to see the value in two...

Banks roaring on with ad campaigns.
March 14, 1997... Up against the high-rollers of the financial services industry, banks are spending heavily to make sure theirs is the name that comes to mind first when money is the issue. First Union Corp. more than doubled its 1996 advertising budget this...

Shippers not crying for Conrail. (possible breakup of Conrail Inc.)
March 14, 1997... Few tears have been shed in the Philadelphia shipping community at the prospect of Conrail Inc.'s breakup. To be sure, businesses and port officials alike are keenly aware that the carve up of Conrail between Norfolk Southern Corp. and CSX...

Conference of gays travels to Philadelphia.
March 14, 1997... Palm Springs, Amsterdam and Philadelphia. A group of travel professionals narrowed places to hold their annual conference down to these three cities. Guess which location won out? And no, this is not a trick question. They picked...

Bell Atlantic Nynex hits first with digital phone.
March 14, 1997... When the area's three initial PCS licenses were auctioned off in 1995, the companies that bought them - Sprint PCS, AT&T Wireless and Omnipoint Communications Inc. of Cedar Knolls, N.J., - promised that PCS' superior features and voice quality...

Cigna court ruling alarms Michigan. (Michigan opposes Cigna Corp.'s plan to transfer asbestos and environmental liabilities to separate firm)
March 14, 1997... Michigan wants a showdown now with Cigna Corp. over its controversial plan to dump asbestos and environmental liabilities into a separate, inactive company. Or Michigan wants $160 million or so from the Philadelphia-based insurer that lost a...

Occupancy tax measure still ticking in Legislature. (Pennsylvania)
March 14, 1997... With seemingly more lives than a cat, the much-debated tax apparently doesn't have enough support to pass, but it also has too much support to die. A long-disputed tax issue can't seem to pass through the Pennsylvania legislature, but it...

Young gene therapy firm headed in new directions. (Genovo Inc.)
March 14, 1997... If Peter J. Neff was interested in cloning, he might want to clone himself. Or at least find a way to graft the success gene he incubated as president and chief executive officer of Rhone-Poulenc Inc. and to implant it into the young gene...

City files two new actions against Meridian owners. (Philadelphia sues Meridian owner E/R Associates for nonpayment of real estate taxes)
March 14, 1997... Contrary to Mayor Edward G. Rendell's contention that Philadelphia had no legal standing on which to approach the burned out Meridian building earlier than last week, the city has had alternatives over the past six years that it chose not to...

Which center is the largest employer in Philadelphia? (academic health centers)
March 14, 1997... Philadelphia's two largest academic health centers this week engaged in a subtle and ever-so dignified sparring match that would have less-tweedy competitors declaring, "Mine's bigger than yours." In one corner, wearing coal-colored trunks,...

Empty buildings may remain empty: Rendell's tax breaks may not spark an apartment renaissance. (Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell)
March 14, 1997... Mayor Edward G. Rendell's proposal to provide tax breaks to developers who convert empty city buildings into apartments has generated a good deal of hoopla over the past few months. But the reality of Philadelphia bureaucracy and federal...

It's back to school for real estate agents.
March 14, 1997... As the brokerage business gets larger and more complicated, real estate agents are faced with more requirements to stay up-to-date on new laws, industry practices. How different is the real estate brokerage business today compared with the...

Township, developer at standstill over 2 huge projects. (legal battle between real estate developer Stephen Samost and Medford, New Jersey's Township and Planning board)
March 14, 1997... Stephen Samost and a South Jersey community have been embroiled in litigation over the proposed 178-acre Easttown and 103-acre Eayrestown developments which would straddle the heavily traveled Route 70. MEDFORD, N.J. - More than two years...

Guard service protects its future. (CentraL Security Agency)
March 14, 1997... Assisted by Temple University's Small Business Development Center, Central Security Agency's revenues rose to nearly $2.5 million from $1.5 million the year before. The North Philadelphia guard service also increased its work force by 90...

Auto dealers going public. (in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
March 7, 1997... Local automobile dealers are facing industry consolidation that is breathtaking for the speed at which it's moving and unprecedented for its potential impact on the nation's largest retail segment. Several dealerships, some with sales figures...

Oxford plan covers nose jobs, more. (Oxford Health Plans Inc.)
March 7, 1997... After spending more than a decade trimming the fat out of the health-care system, managed-care companies may now start sucking the fat right out of their members. Oxford Health Plans will soon unveil regional networks of cosmetic surgeons that...

One software outfit has been better days: Astea lost almost $20 million. (Astea International Inc.)
March 7, 1997... CHALFONT - It would be an understatement to say Astea International Inc. has had a rough year. After its stock fell 62 percent last summer, when company earnings missed analyst estimates by almost 40 cents a share, Astea gave investors...

Firms win with big buck NASCAR sponsorships.
March 7, 1997... Doug Rose, marketing director at West Chester-based QVC Inc. felt he made a smart decision when he spent a bundle to sponsor a NASCAR race team. After all, race car-related products were hot sellers of the cable channel's "For Race Fans Only"...

Fiserv is buying BHC Financial. (Fiserv Inc.; BHC Financial Inc.)
March 7, 1997... Word of the deal sent BHC share prices soaring to an all-time high of $31.87 on Monday, from $20 on the prior Friday. BHC Financial Inc., a local brokerage back-office company, is being bought by Fiserv Inc., a bank back-office outfit, in a...

Event cooks up interest in city's food. (QVC's The Book and the Cook food event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
March 7, 1997... If you can't get a reservation at your favorite restaurant next week, odds are you can blame it on QVC's The Book and the Cook. QVC, the West Chester-based home shopping network, sponsors the annual affair that hosts 80 events in eating...

New data link-up unrolled. (ADSL data service from Bell Atlantic Corp.)
March 7, 1997... Bell Atlantic Corp. will commercially roll out its high-speed ADSL data service later this year, possibly as early as the third quarter, the company said this week. The company has been testing ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line)...

A year later: Strawbridge is gone, stock's not. (Strawbridge and Clothier)
March 7, 1997... Nostalgic for Strawbridge & Clothier? You shouldn't be, particularly if you hold the company's stock. Nearly a year after the announcement of a deal that was supposedly bringing an end to the venerable Strawbridge & Clothier name, the...

The city's recycling program to start 'wasting' your office. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
March 7, 1997... Philadelphia's Streets Department will be busy working out the kinks in its commercial recycling program in the next month or so and some commercial property owners could feel the pinch. In the next several weeks landlords will be hearing...

Teleport, Bell Atlantic ink deal on interconnection. (Teleport Communications Group Inc.; Bell Atlantic Corp.)
March 7, 1997... Teleport Communications Group Inc. (TCG) of New York has signed a telephone network interconnection agreement with Bell Atlantic Corp. covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The pact, required by the...

Valley Forge center, hotel consolidating management. (Valley Forge Convention Center; Sheraton Valley Forge Hotel)
March 7, 1997... Not planning to 'let anyone go' Gregg Caren, the new associate of sales and marketing at the Valley Forge Convention Center, and Sheraton Valley Forge Hotel in King of Prussia has big ideas to shake up things. Caren assumed his position at...

Muscal quits his positions at First Republic Bank. (president and CEO Zvi H. Muscal)
March 7, 1997... First Republic Bank lost the higher-priced of its two chief executive officers last week, with the departure of Zvi H. Muscal, flamboyant founder of one of the two boutique banks that merged to form First Republic only nine months ago....

Lyrrus hears first twang of success. (music education software maker Lyrrus Inc.)(Company Profile)
March 7, 1997... Nathaniel Weiss married the guitar to the computer. He created an interactive product that enables musicians to learn to play far more quickly. With a deal with renowned guitar maker Fender, his company, Lyrrus, is strumming a sweet tune....

Large firms find intranets efficient.
March 7, 1997... Help workers find info quickly As is the case with practically any new technology these days, intranets are being widely heralded as a revolution in computing that will change the way we live, work and think. Software developers, computer...

Consulting via the 'Net gains wider acceptance. (business consulting through the Internet)
March 7, 1997... Consulting is a lot like the Internet: Both words mean different things to different people. Executives view both as immensely valuable resources. But disgruntled customers counter that both surfing the Internet or paying for consulting...

Heavy traffic on Web site after high-tech court filing.
March 7, 1997... There's no way to tell whether any or all of the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will ever set eyes on the electronic brief a Philadelphia law firm lodged with it last month. The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are not what...

How Sanchez survived the S&L crisis in the late '80s. (Sanchez Computer Associates Inc.)
March 7, 1997... Shifting from domestic sales of financial services software to international markets such as Central Europe and Southeast Asia helped Sanchez Computer Associates reposition itself. EAST WHITELAND - A decade ago, Sanchez Computer Associates...

FLX is Ceridian's latest acquisition. (FLX Corp.; Ceridian Corp.)
March 7, 1997... Fast-growing software developer becomes the latest company in the human resources field to be bought up by the $1.5 billion Minneapolis-based provider of payroll and other employer services. MALVERN - In an effort to remain on the leading...

Datacom answers the call. (Datacom International Inc.)
March 7, 1997... TELFORD - While developing new technologies and products is certainly challenging enough, Scan T. Marzola believes that keeping a company viable requires a fair amount of luck. As president and chief executive officer of Datacom International...

CAI moves HQ to Pa. from N.Y. (CAI Wireless Systems Inc. to relocate to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania)
March 7, 1997... CAI Wireless Systems Inc. will relocate its Albany, N.Y., headquarters to Chadds Ford this month, placing it less than an hour away from Philadelphia, the largest of its six markets with analog-based wireless systems. The wireless cable...

Region is home to three huge computer maintenance firms. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's DecisionOne Holdings Corp., Technology Service Solutions and Unisys Corp)
March 7, 1997... Outsourcing is growing fast because companies can lower overhead costs by retaining third-party service firms to keep their computer customers happy and up and running. As business becomes more and more dependent on its computers, someone...