Philadelphia Business Journal articles from March 2001

Philadelphia Business Journal archives from March 2001

Drug company sidesteps controversy.(Product Development)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... DOYLESTOWN -- Discovery Laboratories Inc. is close to obtaining Food and Drug Administration clearance to test its lead drug candidate in clinical studies that, in one scenario, would have included giving placebos to infants in developing...

Mayor's delay irks Council.(Government Activity)
March 30, 2001... Blight initiative that would require a $250M bond-issue is awaited. This time, City Council says it won't tolerate a Street rush job. Putting together an ambitious $250 million plan to battle blight in Philadelphia has left Mayor John F....

Office project is about to start.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... MALVERN -- Liberty Property Trust plans to break ground next month on its $50 million Quarry Ridge project that includes an office building, hotel and two restaurants. At the prime intersection of routes 202 and 29 in Chester County,...

Dining boom hits stale period.
March 30, 2001... Sources peg the slide in sales anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent. A tough summer predicted. Times are lean for restaurateurs in Philadelphia, with purveyors and owners reporting considerable drop-offs in business from last year. ...

Publishing magazine cover not easy on Street.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... It's no secret Mayor John F. Street generally isn't fond of the media. The mayor, in fact, frequently laments the lame ink he gets and even recently had PR buddy A. Bruce Crawley produce a little rave-reviews documentary about Street --...

Bumb's rush.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Former Deputy City Commerce Director Duane Bumb is back. He's just been named...deputy city commerce director. Again. He actually fills the same slot he left vacant -- and which' remained vacant -- in January 2000, when he departed city...

A corker of a deal.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Bill Avery spent his career -- 41 years in all -- with Crown Cork & Seal Co. Inc., the Northeast Philadelphia-based packaging maker. He worked his way up to become its chief executive and chairman of the board. Avery retired earlier this...

Record crowd came hungry.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The First Union Center set a record earlier this month when 20,270 people attended the NCAA East Regional playoffs, the largest crowd ever to attend a college basketball game in Pennsylvania The attendance mark broke the previous record...

Local band is a Goody.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Meaningless Tag of Huntingdon Valley won Bandemonium 2001, music-retailer Sam Goody's contest for the best unsigned band of the year. The band, which describes itself as "a combination of no-holds-barred aggression, melody, and...

Bankers stage changes.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... With all the changes in banking, the New Jersey Bankers Association could adopt the Bob Dylan song, "The times, they are a-changin"' as its new mantra. At its recent annual convention, the NJBA unanimously agreed to amend its bylaws so...

Infonautics merges.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... KING OF PRUSSIA -- One of the Philadelphia area's pioneer Internet companies has agreed to a deal that will make it part of a New York-based distributor of software and domain-name registrations to Internet service providers. Infonautics...

Product approved.(Cortoss Synthetic Cortical Bone Void Filler)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... MALVERN -- Orthovita Inc. received regulatory clearance to sell its Cortoss Synthetic Cortical Bone Void Filler in Australia. The action marks the bio-materials company's first regulatory hurdle for Cortoss, which is designed to augment...

CORRECTION.(Internet service providers)(Emerald Asset Management of Lancaster)(Correction Notice)
March 30, 2001... Last year's ranking of Internet service providers was based on the number of local dial-up accounts. This year's ranking, which appeared in the March 23-29 issue, was based on each company's local employee figures. As a result, the list...

Hotels hang on, plot strategies.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Season's greetings from Philadelphia's over-built hotel room supply to you. Visions of sugarplums and other holiday fantasies, such as hotels full of tourists in December, already are dancing around in hotel managers' heads, as they try...

Crowded skies mean business.(Flight information computers)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... A maker of flight-information computers is profiting from changes in air regulations. MALVERN -- Innovative Solutions & Support Inc. is squeezing money out of the crowded skies while waiting for its new aircraft control panel to get...

Local finance exec is a hot stock picker.(Martha Ortiz, Aronson and Partners)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... While Martha Ortiz describes herself as very competitive, she doesn't think much of the Wall Street Journal's "Investment Dartboard." "It's kind of a silly game," Ortiz said. Even so, Ortiz, a partner with investment managers Aronson...

Lockheed gets huge carrier contract.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The defense contractor with outfit a new aircraft carrier with its AEGIS combat system. The deal's worth $446 million. MOORESTOWN, N.J. -- For the past 30 years, Lockheed Martin Corp. and its predecessors have built versions of the AEGIS...

Greater Phila. First expanding its reach.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Greater Philadelphia First has bolstered its ranks, adding nearly a dozen local heavyweights to its board of directors. The additions expand its reach into South Jersey while diversifying its membership in terms of companies represented....

Phila.: Mission to Mexico.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... City Solicitor Ken Trujillo has major connections south of the border. They'll be tapped as Trujillo and a host of city officials and business leaders make their way to Mexico City April 16 on a trade mission to promote greater access...

UCD director hands over surprise resignation.(University City District)(Paul Steinke)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Paul Steinke has resigned after three years as executive director from the University City District, reportedly surprising the board that oversees that special services organization that has been credited with helping to revitalize the West...

Ravisent sloughing businesses.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... MALVERN -- Since incorporating in April 1994, Ravisent Technologies Inc. has changed its name three times and its business model at least once. Now, the developer of digital video/audio and Internet appliance software is ridding itself...

Supermarket banks: Some are shopped out.
March 30, 2001... For all the positioning and posturing banks do to distinguish themselves from the competition, there's a lot of common ground. Have you ever heard a banker complain about customers using ATMs?. Is there any bank that isn't looking to...

NetworkDirect links up with its biggest client.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... WILLOW GROVE -- NetworkDirect Inc., a 4-year-old direct marketing agency, has landed its biggest client to date, a San Francisco-based provider of personal computers, Internet access and related products and services. NetworkDirect is...

Work is under way for a $1 billion conference.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Anticipation for August's annual meeting of the American Society of Association Executives, to be held in Philadelphia, may not be on par with the intensity of last year's expensive preparations for the Republican National Convention. ...

Free smiles.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... In addition to the changing of the guard from info-booth providers Rosenbluth International to the Parkway Garage Inc. (big contributors to Mayor John F. Street), some 43 million passengers coming through Philadelphia International Airport...

Diverse advice.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Mike Gamble, president and CEO of Exton-hased hospitality-oriented executive recruitment firm SearchWide, this month penned an article about diversity for Meetings Professional International Magazine. In it, Gamble points out that...

TECH STOCKS IN THE NEWS.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Comcast (CMCSK, CMCSA) signed a long-term agreement to use Gemstar-TV Guide International's interactive program guide services. 3/16 $42.81 3/23 $38.69 3/16 $42.06 3/23 $38.06 ICT Group (Nasdaq: ICTG) signed a...

From the minuscule may come big things.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... It costs around $20,000 per pound to build a satellite and $50,000 per pound to launch one into space. That's why NASA is very happy to cough up big money for materials that can make satellites lighter but equally as strong. Which...

Jobnet.com Inc.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 30, 2001... Jobnet.com Inc. isn't a typical dot-com. It's 9 years old, it's been profitable for at least five years and has never received venture funding. But when Jobnet CEO Ward Christman talks about the company's new product, Jobnet Works!,...

Samsung, Ulticom sign deal.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Samsung Electronics Co. will use Mount Laurel, N.J.-based Ulticom Inc.'s software to develop its 3G wireless technology. Ulticom will work with Dallas-based Samsung Telecommunications America and Samsung Electronics in Korea to create 3G...

Sedona upgrade bought.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Terre Haute First National Bank has purchased an upgrade of King of Prussia-based Sedona Corp.'s Intarsia customer relationship management software.

Four choose Synygy.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... GE Lighting, Aventis Pasteur and Siemens Building Technologies have chosen Conshohocken-based Synygy Inc.'s IC Expert software to manage their variable pay plans. Earlier, Coors Brewing Co. agreed to use Synygy's software and services to...

EschoolMall goes British.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... ESchoolMall, a Horsham-based provider of online procurement for elementary through high schools, has agreed to let London-based Schoolsforschools.com use its software to power online transactions on Schoolsforschools' portal. The companies...

AssetTrade deal.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... AssetTrade of King of Prussia has signed a three-year, exclusive deal to use its Internal Redeployment software, online and off-line auctions and its Internet-based Global Marketplace to help Bethlehem Steel dispose of and acquire surplus...

Juniper opens office.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Juniper Internet Communications Inc. has opened an office in Bucks County so it can offer cable and DSL broadband service in the Philadelphia area. The company is a subsidiary of Great Neck, N.Y.-based Juniper Group Inc.

New bar is being born at Dave's old place.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... One of the oldest continuous liquor licenses in Philadelphia is about to be reincarnated. Dave's Bar at 637 N. 3rd St. (at Fair-mount Avenue) was bought and will reopen as a restaurant and bar this summer. A popular hang-out for cops...

Marathon expansion.(Commerce Square)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The Borish family, proprietors of Marathon Grill, is opening another restaurant the week of April 2 at 2201 Market St., also known as Commerce Square. The sixth location for Marathon in Center City will be a different from most of the...

Cooking convention.(The Book and the Cook Fair)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The Book and the Cook Fair begins March 30 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Sponsored by Kitchen Aid and managed by local facilities management company SMG, the fair displays foods and beverages, cookware and cookbooks through...

Consultant: Medicaid payments should go up.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... A private health-care consulting firm hired by the Pennsylvania General Assembly's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee has concluded Medicaid payments to hospitals in the state should be increased, especially for outpatient care. In...

First for New Jersey.(Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Philadelphia's three children's hospitals -- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Temple University Children's Medical Center -- have some new competition across the river. The first...

Joan K. Richards.(Crozer Keystone Health System)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Joan K. Richards was appointed chief operating officer of the Crozer-Keystone Health System, the largest health-care provider in Delaware County. Richards will retain her position of president of Crozer-Keystone hospitals, a post she has held...

University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center received a $1.2 million grant to further develop Compstatin, a new drug designed to halt overzealous immune systems. The research effort is being led by John D. Lambris, a professor...

Howard Pitkow.(National Association of Academies of Science.)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Howard Pitkow, professor of physiology at the Temple University School of Medicine, was named president of the National Association of Academies of Science. The organization consists, of 44 state academies of science, representing more than...

Terramics Property is being resurrected.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Now that Brandywine Realty Trust has acquired Prentiss Properties Trust's Philadelphia-area portfolio, Peter Hausmann, senior vice president and regional manager for Prentiss, has decided to delve into something different yet familiar. ...

ABA is against them but MDPs on the rise.(The American Bar Association)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The American Bar Association made its opinion clear last year: Multidisciplinary practices are a no-no in the legal profession. Nevertheless, MDPs, as they're known, continue to sprout up and thrive. By employing groups of lawyers...

Harleysville updates while getting raves.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Harleysville Group's net income for 2000 totaled $48.69 million, or $1.45 per share, a healthy improvement over the $39.91 million, or $1.09 per share, tallied in 1999. The stock price rose, too, climbing 105 percent. And Money Manager...

Vanguard Group.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Vanguard Group head honcho Jack Brennan has been making the rounds of TV finance shows of late. On March 6, he appeared on CNN's "Moneyline," followed on March 14 on CNBC's "Market Wrap"; on March 20, he chatted on CNBC's "Business Center"

Widmann, Siff & Co.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Bryn Mawr-based money managers Widmann, Siff & Co. ranked highly with Nelson Information's World's Best Money Manager lists for last year. Its U.S. growth and value equity offering ranked 12th of 270, returning 23.2 percent. In the U.S....

Beneficial Savings Bank.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Beneficial Savings Bank has a new corporate home as of Monday, moving from 1200 Chestnut St. to the Penn Mutual Towers at 5th and Walnut streets

Lincoln Financial Group Foundation.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... The Lincoln Financial Group Foundation donated $40,000 in support of Philabundance's hunger relief efforts. The money will be used to cover the costs of four new vehicles

Gilbert J. Golding.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Attorney Gilbert J. Golding will discuss lending to troubled health-care organization at RMA-The Risk Management Association's fifth annual health-care conference April 18-20. Golding chairs the commercial services section of Curtin & Heefner...

B.G. Balmer and Co. Inc.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Insurance brokerage B.G. Balmer and Co. Inc. of West Chester acquired the assets of two local competitors, Yeatman Mills Insurance Association Inc. and Mackey & Flynn, and hired three new executives

Fleet Credit Card Services.(sponsor for Junior Achievement)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Fleet Credit Card Services of Horsham sponsored Junior Achievement of the Delaware Valley's annual Bowl-A-Thon in Willow Grove, with $60,000 as the goal

Weiss Ratings Inc.(nation's strongest property and casualty insurers not based in Pennsylvania)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... None of the nation's strongest property and casualty insurers are based in Pennsylvania, according to Weiss Ratings Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. One of Weiss' weakest -- tiny Lakeland Mutual Insurance Co. -- does call Pennsylvania home....

CEO Portrait.(George R. Gunn Jr.; ACTS Retirement-Life Communities Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Personal information Name: George R. Gunn Jr. Title: Vice chairman and chief executive officer. Organization: ACTS Retirement-Life Communities Inc. of West Point, Pa. Type of organization: Developer, owner and manager of...

'Repositioning Asia: From Bubble to Sustainable Economy'.(Hermawan Kartajaya)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Philip Kotler Hermawan Kartajaya A look at the problems and lessons of the Asian crisis, including a "learning perspective" for governments and companies operating in Asia, as well as recovery strategies. John Wiley & Sons,...

'Business Intelligence Using Smart Techniques'.(Charles Halliman)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Charles Halliman This book puts the reader inside a fictional company as a strategic planner and takes the reader through the process of mining and analyzing text from company-external sources. Information Uncover, $49.95

'Start and Run Your Own Record Label'.(Daylle Deanna Schwartz)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Daylle Deanna Schwartz Tips and guidelines from the author based on her experience in the music industry. Watson Guptill Publishers, $16.95

The Business Start Page.
March 30, 2001... A site where entrepreneurs and business people can start each business day with all the tools they need close at hand. www.bspage.com

Pilot Air is flying high.(Pilot Air Freight rebounds under Richard Phillips)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
March 30, 2001... LIMA -- When Richie Phillips took the helm at Pilot Air Freight in 1994, the company's staffing had been pared to the bone and losses for the previous year were about $5 million. In his first year, Phillips took that deficit and turned it...

PEOPLE.(includes multiple appointments)
March 30, 2001... * FINANCIAL SERVICES Andrew E. Avellino has been named vice president of community banking at Bryn Mawr Trust Co., Bryn Mawr. Thomas M. Balderston has been named president at SGI Capital LLC, Radnor. Before joining SGIC in 1999,...

Labor Unions.(ranked by number of local members)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 30, 2001... Labor Unions RANKED BY NUMBER OF LOCAL MEMBERS Phone '01 Rank Name Fax '00 Rank...

Cingular will relocate more than 400 jobs.(Cingular Wireless to move local call-center out of state)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... WAYNE -- Cingular Wireless, the No.2 wireless services company, plans to transfer its local call-center operations out of state and will relocate more than 400 jobs as part of the move. The Atlanta-based wireless firm, created last fall...

Diamonds lose luster; creditors win in court.(Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds, bankruptcy)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 30, 2001... With nobody stepping up to the plate to buy the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has ruled in favor of a reorganization plan put forth by the team's creditors. The creditors' plan is to withdraw the Black...

Schools deserve some new thinking.(Philadelphia School District)(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... We've said it before, we'll say it again: The Philadelphia School District needs a serious overhaul. With a new administration in place and deficits mounting, it's time to make some sweeping changes. To say that times have changed for...

What? Another black eye!
March 30, 2001... Chutzpah levels are at an all-time high in these parts. Consider: * New Jersey Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco finally releases seven years of tax records and accuses those who pressured him to do so of engaging in America's new...

When speech isn't free on a college campus.(Brief Article)
March 30, 2001... Pity the students at Brown University. They're caught in a crossfire between students who steal student newspapers that print things they don't like and students who demand the right to read and decide for themselves. What ignited the...

Racial ad has nothing to do with free speech.(David Horowitz, reparations for African Americans)(Brief Article)(Column)
March 30, 2001... Most people view slavery as an abomination, pure and simple. David Horowitz, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for the Study of Popular Culture, has a little different spin. For today's black Americans, the left-wing-turned-right-wing...

From the Publisher.
March 30, 2001... Welcome to our 11th annual 40 Under 40, the Business Journal's annual look at 40 individuals under the age of 40 who are making their mark on the Philadelphia community. The program's alumni are a who's who of the region's elite, with...

40 UNDER- A PROFILE OF PHILADELPHIA'S UP-AND-COMERS!
March 30, 2001... Adelman aids UCD turnaround JIM CORY A decade ago, a landlord in Columbus, Ohio, received a letter from one of his student tenants. The letter reiterated an earlier complaint concerning a dearth of electrical outlets in the tenant's...

Kimmel's $25M donation in doubt.
March 23, 2001... Philadelphia philanthropist Sidney Kimmel has resigned his seat on the Thomas Jefferson University Board of Trustees in an action that throws into question his promise to partly fund the medical school's planned $140 million cancer treatment...

WHERE THE WOMEN AREN'T.
March 23, 2001... The number of females in board positions at Phila.'s public companies lags far behind Cigna's Carol Cox Wait. Jackwyn Nemerov of Jones Apparel. Mothers Work's Rebecca Matthias. As business executives, they're in the minority. As...

Estimates for City Hall redo may be way off.
March 23, 2001... Any chance of a private-sector overhaul of Philadelphia's 100-year-old City Hall, complete with mall-like retail stores and tourist amenities, is still a while away. City Managing Director Joseph Martz said it will take until at least...

Why he earns the big bucks.
March 23, 2001... Last year was a good year for SunGard Data Systems Inc., the Wayne-based provider of financial software and computer services. As a result, it was also a good year for the SunGard Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James L. Mann. ...

Lockheed Martin wins contract.
March 23, 2001... Lockheed Martin's Corp's Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems-Surface Systems facility in Moorestown, N.J., won a $446 million contract to develop its Integrated Warfare System technology for aircraft carriers. The contract was...

Checkpoint names new chief exec.
March 23, 2001... THOROFARE, N.J. -- Checkpoint Systems Inc. has named a new president and chief executive to replace Kevin P. Dowd, who is retiring. Michael E. Smith will take over the top positions immediately. Smith has been with the manufacturer of...

MeriStar sells hotel.
March 23, 2001... Washington, D.C.-based MeriStar Hospitality Corp., the nation's third-largest hotel real estate investment trust, sold the 193-room Four Points Hotel in Cherry Hill. Sale proceeds of $7.5 million will be used primarily to pay down existing...

CORRECTION.
March 23, 2001... A story in the March 2-8 issue ("Tiny Rosenbach Museum seeks wider notice"), a quote attributed to Rosenbach Museum Director Derick Dreher was missing a key word. The passage should have read: "We want to work with groups again and again, and...

ATM reseller facing cash-flow woes.
March 23, 2001... A Philadelphia-based reseller of ATMs owes nearly $70 million to two of its major suppliers. Credit Card Center owes $42 million to the NCR Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, and $26.7 million to Tidel Technologies Inc. of Houston. "Credit Card...

New facets of Emerald.
March 23, 2001... Emerald Venture is doubling its target size, adding partners to go along with its new name. KING OF PRUSSIA -- More than half a year after Emerald Asset Management started trying to raise a venture fund, the Lancaster-based firm has...

Merck invests in Acurian.
March 23, 2001... HORSHAM -- A venture capital firm established last year by Merck & Co. Inc. has selected a Montgomery County business for its first investment. Acurian Inc. raised a total of $26.5 million from Merck Capital Ventures -- set up to fund...

Why has SL put itself up for sale?
March 23, 2001... Two investors who forced the sale of Aydin may be doing the same thing with the New Jersey manufacturer. MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- SL Industries Inc. is up for sale, a move that may have been triggered by two investors who forced another...

Telecom company gets $40M.
March 23, 2001... CHERRY HILL -- Telecommunications system developer Science Dynamics Corp. has landed up to $40 million in equity financing from Alpha Venture Capital Inc., a private equity fund that finances emerging companies. "This is a company that...

Vanguard to offer free investment advice.
March 23, 2001... MALVERN --The staid Vanguard Group's hardly a trend-setter, preferring fundamentally sound investments over flashy or gimmicky flavor-of-the-month opportunities. Now, however, the mutual fund giant is raising the bar when it comes to...