Philadelphia Business Journal articles from November 1998

Philadelphia Business Journal archives from November 1998

Big plans by big-time mogul.(real estate developer Tony Goldman to invest 50 to 100 million in development projects in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 27, 1998... He's ready to spend up to $100 million in next five years Tony Goldman, a real estate entrepreneur who helped transform New York City's Wall Street area into a revitalized residential center and pumped new life into Miami's South Beach,...

Drug firm gets bug, now hopes for recovery.(ViroPharma Inc.)
November 27, 1998... Investors in the biotech company lost confidence when clinical trials failed to deliver expected results; additional test results are expected soon. EXTON - ViroPharma Inc. will soon get another shot at restoring investors' waning faith...

Local Internet provider breaks phone barrier.(VoiceNet to offer regular telephone service in Philadelphia, PA)
November 27, 1998... IVYLAND - The Philadelphia area's largest Internet service provider has become the first ISP to offer regular phone service over the net. VoiceNet has begun offering flat-rate long-distance and local phone service to business and...

S&Ls: last of a dying breed.(new state bill could lead to the demise of some of Philadelphia's building and loan associations)
November 27, 1998... A bill expected to soon reach the desk of Gov. Tom Ridge would extinguish some of Philadelphia's smallest and oldest financial institutions - neighborhood building and loan associations. Sponsored by Secretary of Banking Richard Rishel,...

How much to start a bank?(start-up costs for new Philadelphia-area banking institutions)
November 27, 1998... Just how much money do you need to start a bank? Millennium Bank, which opened its doors in November, did so with $21 million in start-up capital. Pennsylvania Business Bank, still in formation, has $6.18 million and is good to go as soon...

Cephalon may pull plug on its ALS drug.(Myotrophin, which is used in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease)
November 27, 1998... WEST CHESTER - Cephalon Inc. may withdraw its new-drug application for its ALS drug if the Food and Drug Administration requires it to conduct additional tests. To date, the Chester County biotechnology company has spent more than $180...

Destiny Software gets funding; sees its destiny.
November 27, 1998... CONSHOHOCKEN - Destiny Software Corp. has received a second round of venture funding that it will use to launch a new product and enter new markets. Destiny, which develops online software for credit-card issuers and other financial...

Corbin A. McNeill Jr.(chairman and CEO of PECO Energy Co.)(Interview)
November 27, 1998... Personal information: Name: Corbin A. McNeill Jr. Title: Chairman, president and CEO Organization: PECO Energy Co. Type of organization: Electric and natural gas distribution, electric generating and wholesale power...

Advertising with a twist.(advertising agency D4)
November 27, 1998... Ever hear about advertising firms that were long on creative but fell short on meeting their client s business goals? As far as Suzanne Hatfield was concerned, it was an all too common occurrence. It convinced her and a former...

Proxy fight erupts at chip firm.(Integrated Circuit Systems Inc.)
November 20, 1998... Dissidents claim management is trying to drive down value of company VALLEY FORGE - A former chief executive officer of Integrated Circuit Systems Inc. plans to launch a proxy fight to replace the company's board of directors. Stay...

Peco slashes economic development budget.(Peco Energy Co.)
November 20, 1998... The utility's reasoning? Deregulation and new competitive pressures Peco Energy Co., facing new competition thanks to deregulation, is scaling back its investment in economic development in favor of more targeted marketing. For...

Bank to trade - sort of.(Millennium Bank)
November 20, 1998... Millennium Bank has reserved a trading symbol - MLBK - but would-be investors need not line up: its stock will not be trading any time soon. First into the field among the latest crop of new banks, Millennium raised $21 million for its...

Ailing physician manager flat lines.(U.S. Physicians Inc.)
November 20, 1998... FORT WASHINGTON - In the end, U.S. Physician Inc. may have just picked the wrong time to try to go public, though poor timing wasn't its only problem. The Montgomery County-based physician practice management firm filed for Chapter 11...

Start-up receives $50M in funding.(Netera Inc.)
November 20, 1998... CONSHOHOCKEN - Three technology-industry veterans have received $50 million in venture funding to start a national systems integration company. Netera Inc. plans to acquire four to six regional integrators with annual revenues from $20...

Tenet's asked, 'Where's the pledge?'.(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
November 20, 1998... Tenet Healthcare Corp. has come under fire from a national consumer group for failing to make a specific pledge regarding the amount of charity care it will provide now that it has acquired Allegheny's local hospitals. "It appears as...

Brown Brothers seeks trust biz.(Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.)
November 20, 1998... Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is stepping up its campaign for a piece of the Philadelphia region's lucrative trust business. As part of its strategy, Brown Brothers last month lured veteran trust executive William Levy from...

Going after tax-free business zone: Phila. making bid for area without Pa. or city taxes.(Philadelphia)
November 20, 1998... Phila. making bid for area without Pa. or city taxes Philadelphia is pursuing plans to establish tax-free business zones in blighted sections of the city. Outlines of the city's bid for a Keystone Opportunity Zone - in which...

Progress Financial planning subsidiary.
November 20, 1998... BLUE BELL - Progress Financial Corp. has set up a financial planning subsidiary in a deal with an affiliate of the giant Equitable of New York. Pending regulatory approval, plans are for Progress Financial Resources Inc. to maintain some...

Hospital seeks 1st state heart-care exception.(Doylestown Hospital)
November 20, 1998... DOYLESTOWN - Gary Bergstresser thought it was something he ate. "I got up in the morning and had a brownie and iced tea," he said. "I went to work and I wasn't feeling well. I thought I had ingestion." Bergstresser, a 45-year-old...

CEO portrait.(ACCU Staffing Services CEO Doris M. Damm)
November 20, 1998... Doris M. Damm Personal information Name: Doris M. Damm Title: CEO of Company: ACCU Staffing Services Education: Farleigh Dickinson, B.A. Business Hometown: Moorestown, N.J. Business philosophy Essential business philosophy:...

Paper, puppets, pencils: 'creative stuff kids love' saved their family's business.(Growth Strategies)(toy store O'Doodles Creative Stuff Kids Love)
November 20, 1998... Stationery alone wasn't cutting it for the O'Donnell family anymore so after trying practically everything else, they opened O'Doodles, a toy store. For decades, the O'Donnell's office supply shop in Chestnut Hill enjoyed a loyal and...

A snapshot of 10 years of the Philadelphia 100.(fastest-growing privately companies)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
November 13, 1998... Philadelphia's 100's Top 25 All-Time Performers Rank Company 1997 Revenue(*) 1 NovaCare Inc. $1,671.9 2 Softmart Inc. ...

Merger hangover brings new banks.
November 13, 1998... The obligatory wave of new banks is rising in the wake of the merger mania that has shaken the market here over the past several years. In the month of October alone, three groups of organizers applied to the Pennsylvania Banking...

Defunct outfit firm blames IT firm; in liquidation, firm alleges Andersen Consulting added to its troubles.(FoxMeyer Corp.; SAP America Inc.)
November 13, 1998... The lawsuit charging that Andersen Consulting "delivered only ruin" to a large Texas pharmaceutical distribution company signals a growing trend of litigation in the multi-billion-dollar information technology consulting industry. The...

Allegheny tackles Eagles.(10-year corporate sponsorship contract between Allegheny health system and Philadelphia Eagles)
November 13, 1998... In addition to the team's on-field losses this season, the Philadelphia Eagles also suffered a multimillion-dollar off-field setback. The collapse of the Allegheny health system cut short a 10-year corporate sponsorship deal that would...

Chicago REIT picks up more city stores.(City Center Retail Trust's purchase of properties in Philadelphia, PA; real estate investment trust)
November 13, 1998... City Center Retail Trust, a private real estate investment trust based in Chicago, has expanded its Philadelphia holdings with the purchase of two Walnut Street properties on Restaurant Row, and four along the tony main thoroughfare in the...

Venture capital fair sees changing tides.(Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair)
November 13, 1998... Two factors have helped boost attendance at this year's Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair: A whopping amount of money in private-equity funds and the drying up of the market for initial public offerings, which has increased the number of...

CEO portrait: Lawrence A. Weinbach.(chairman, president and CEO of Unisys Corp.)
November 13, 1998... Personal information Name: Lawrence A. Weinbach Title: Chairman, president and CEO, Unisys Corp. Type of company: Information services and technology company Education: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, B.S., economics....

Providing a global segue.(Growth Strategies)(Electro-Mechanical Systems International Ltd.)(Company Profile)
November 13, 1998... How would you like to run a business whose fate predominantly rests on the political, economical and even cultural stability - or instability - of 65 different countries? John O'Donnell has been doing that for almost 20 years. His...

Barrack Rodos wins Cendant bid.(Barrack, Rodos and Bacine as the co-counsel law firm involved in the lawsuit against Cendant Corp. filed by its shareholders)
November 6, 1998... At stake: Millions in legal fees in the biggest stockholder suit in the nation Barrack, Rodos & Bacine has hold onto the co-lead counsel job in the biggest shareholder suit in the nation after a slugfest over fees. The Philadelphia...

Convention labor rates bemoaned.(results of the survey showing the impact of labor rates and unions on the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the state's hospitality industry)
November 6, 1998... Is the cost of unionized labor costing the Pennsylvania Convention Center business? People in the local hospitality industry have long believed so, a point of view bolstered by a recently released comparison of labor costs in cities...

Scrounging for cash amid turmoil.(reactions of emerging companies and private equity funds on the decline of initial public offerings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 6, 1998... The virtual shutdown of the market for initial public offerings is forcing the area's emerging growth companies and private equity funds to make some changes in how they do business. "It's not an easy time," said John Farrar, president...

Hemispherx says it's under attack.(Hemispherx Biopharma Inc.'s financial performance)
November 6, 1998... Seven weeks after its stock was shorted, Hemispherx Biopharma Inc. has yet to regain all of the ground it lost and has gone to court in hopes of undoing the damage done. On Sept. 22, the stock plummeted $2.75 to $5.25 after Asensio & Co....

Bonds tighten for hospitals.(tighter policies of bond insurance agencies on insurance of hospital bonds in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 6, 1998... Bond insurance agencies say they will be conducting more stringent reviews prior to insuring Philadelphia hospitals; higher interest rates are expected to result from any downgradings. Philadelphia's nonprofit hospitals, bracing for the...

SunSource shines with acquisitions.(SunSource Inc.)
November 6, 1998... SunSource Inc. has been on an acquisition binge this year that has added tens of millions in new revenues in its drive to consolidate its industry and become a leading supplier to the nation's biggest hardware chains. In its most recent...

Little insurance firm has a higher profile.(Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.)
November 6, 1998... BALA CYNWYD - Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.'s third-quarter profit picture is just one of the reasons why Wall Street likes the little insurance company so much better in these grim times than it did in the full bull days of 1997....

Hartford Life challenges Wentworth tactics.(unfair competition lawsuit filed by Hartford Life Insurance Co. against J.G. Wentworth and Co. Inc.)
November 6, 1998... Another major insurer has tackled J.O. Wentworth & Co. Inc. in court, challenging the legality of the Philadelphia finance company's settlement-buying business. Hartford Life Insurance Co. and 16 of its affiliates filed suit in federal...

Revenues are rising for DEM.(DEM Group marketing and public relations agency on information technology)
November 6, 1998... Now two colleagues find themselves heading up an agency that expects 1998 revenues to reach $2.6 million. Three years ago The DEM Group registered revenues of $389,741. KING OF PRUSSIA - As marketing communications director for the GE...

Sanchez Computer's IPO helps raise its profile.(Sanchez Computer Associates Inc.'s initial public offering)
November 6, 1998... Thanks to deals with some of the world's biggest banks, its stock price rose 270 percent last year It's difficult to imagine how Sanchez Computer Associates Inc. could have been more successful with its initial public offering in...

Bentley Systems: taking CAD to new levels.(Bentley Systems Inc.'s computer-aided design software)
November 6, 1998... Its software helps design and manage large-scale engineering, architecture projects worldwide You could say that Keith Bentley reached heights known by few under 40. Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems Inc., created software for the...