Houston Business Journal articles from June 1997

Houston Business Journal archives from June 1997

HMOs raid rivals for top talent. (Houston, Texas)
June 6, 1997... Executives switch jobs at fast pace in hot market Houston's health maintenance organizations are raiding each other at a frantic pace in an intense search for experienced professionals. HMO executives are such a hot commodity that the local...

BFI exec runs for council as city considers contract. (Browning-Ferris Industries Inc. VP Dom Fitch)
June 6, 1997... A conflict of interest? Don Fitch, vice president of public affairs for Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., filed campaign treasury information last week in preparation to run lot Houston City Council. BFI does garbage business with the city,...

Firm files lawsuit in dispute over radioactive waste site. (Waste Control Specialists Inc)
June 6, 1997... Waste Control Specialists Inc. has filed a $1 billion lawsuit in Andrews County against Envirocare of Texas. The suit claims Envirocare interfered with WCS's request to operate a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in West Texas. The...

Taking a public ride. (Houston, Texas autodealers)
June 6, 1997... Houston auto dealer group revs up for run at Wall Street [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] As Houston auto dealers consider their options in a rapidly changing industry, at least one local group is preparing to roll out an automotive consolidation...

King of fill. (USA Waste Services CEO John Drury)(Company Profile)
June 6, 1997... John Drury went from running a family garbage business to top of the heap as CEO of USA Waste Services. When he was young, John Drury dreaded going to the dentist. He didn't mind having his teeth checked. but he balked at the prospect of...

Machine Ice Co. has diversified by warming up to new products.(Company Profile)
June 6, 1997... By marketing additional products, Vallerie Welsh has kept her local ice machine company's business from melting away. The Machine Ice Co., where Welsh is president and chief operating officer, years ago was primarily an industrial and...

Pipe shortage squeezes drillers; rig contractors face long waits for scarce product. (drill pipes)
June 13, 1997... Early last year, drill pipe distributor Randall Edwards was promising delivery to customers within 30 to 60 days. Now he's telling buyers the wait could be as long as 75 weeks. "Demand started building about 18 months ago," says Edwards,...

Sweet deal: ice cream vendors collect cool cash. (Cherokee Cream Co.'s purchase of Sunbelt Distributors Inc. owned by Craig Lieberman and Robert Wise)
June 13, 1997... The cold war is over for Craig Lieberman and Robert Wise. The two former University of Texas roommates spent two decades building Sun-belt Distributors Inc. into an ice cream distribution and marketing operation with $60 million in sales. Along...

Life after sports. (Charlie Thomas, former owner of Houston Rockets)
June 13, 1997... Charlie Thomas is happy to be back behind the wheel of an auto empire following his sale of the Houston Rockets. Charlie Thomas has heard all the talk about his unfortunate sense of timing. After owning the Houston Rockets for 11 years,...

Full-streaming video blurs line between TV, PC.(Focus On: Technology Quarterly)
June 13, 1997... It's been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and this is certainly true of the Internet. In 1949 when we got our first TV set, the neighbors gathered around and we watched a snowy picture of a local personality drink...

Computer backup system erases common nightmare. (Celebration Computer Systems' interactive telephone number)(Focus On: Technology Quarterly)
June 13, 1997... Houston company develops real-time mirrored storage In the worst nightmares of hospital administrators, the building that houses computer backups of patient information suddenly explodes (or floods, or burns to the ground, or numerous other...

Plains Resources Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 13, 1997... AMEX PLX 1600 Smith Street, Suite 1500, Houston 77002-7346 (713) 654-1414 Plains Resources Inc. an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition; exploitation, development, exploration and production of Crude oil and natural gas....

PanEnergy joins Duke Power fold: merger likely to herald more consolidation.
June 20, 1997... Houston lost another major publicly-traded energy company this week when Duke Power Co. completed its acquisition of PanEnergy Corp. in a $7.7 billion stock deal. And industry observers say Houston should prepare for more energy company name...

Duke Energy to meld electricity, gas business. (PanEnergy joins Duke Power fold)
June 20, 1997... While officials at Duke Energy Corp. celebrate the completed merger between Duke Power Co. and PanEnergy Corp., questions linger about how the deal will affect the firm's long-term corporate structure, market reach and earnings potential. The...

Chapter 7 forces Home Front out of local market. (Houston, Texas)
June 20, 1997... On the ropes for more than a year, Linen Supermarket, the corporate parent of nine local Home Front stores, is liquidating and plans to close all of its Houston sites by August. Linen Supermarket, based in Pompano Beach, Fla., filed for Chapter...

Developers plan new Galveston community. (upscale residential community)
June 20, 1997... The owners of 225 acres of beachfront property in Galveston are planning to develop an upscale residential community there. Developers Kent Hytken and Tofigh Shirazi say they have been planning the project for about a year. Hytken, president of...

Carrizo Oil & Gas lays IPO plans to finance increases in exploration. (initial public offering)
June 20, 1997... Another local oil and gas exploration and production company that relies heavily on 3-D seismic data plans to raise money in the public markets. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. last week filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct...

Nuevo keeping up with the majors, says Arthur Andersen survey. (Nuevo Energy Co.)
June 20, 1997... Nuevo Energy Co. emerged at the top of several categories in the domestic oil and gas exploration and production industry as part of an Arthur Andersen study released this week. The small independent oil and gas company turned up as Nos. 2 and...

Medical Savings Accounts program is off to slow start.(Focus on: Employment & Employee Benefits)
June 20, 1997... A new employee benefit heralded as a boon to the self-employed and those working for small companies appears to be getting a cool reception. Several Houston-area insurance agents and industry watchers say the national program for Medical...

On the home front: duo declares 'open season' on dull decors. (Open Season on Flowers and Antiques)(Growth Strategies)
June 20, 1997... West Houston is a long way from Martha Stewart's East Hampton stomping grounds. But walk into Open Season on Flowers and Antiques, near the Woodway and Voss area, and you'll find plenty of "good things," Partners Miriam Westmoreland and Sandy...

Gas marketer goes bankrupt. (Olympic Gas Marketing Inc.)
June 27, 1997... Olympic files after creditors attempt to force liquidation A week after five major creditors sought to force Olympic Gas Marketing Inc. into liquidation, the Houston company has filed its own Chapter 11 petition. According to the bankruptcy...

Pennzoil vulnerable to takeover, say analysts. (Pennzoil Co.)
June 27, 1997... Union Pacific Resources vows to direct attention back to domestic exploration Pennzoil Co. once boasted a common stock price of $80 a share and a $3 billion war chest of cash gained in a landmark lawsuit settlement against Texaco Inc. But...

Sweet firm bolts to Sugar Land. (CGI Desserts)
June 27, 1997... City nixes abatement A local manufacturer of frozen desserts that planned to expand its operations within Houston now is looking to relocate to Sugar Land. Sam Stolbun, president of CGI Desserts, says he now will open a manufacturing...

The French connection. (restoration of an antique French salon)
June 27, 1997... Houston hotelier reconstructs 260-year-old ballroom and salon imported from France For someone who owns one of the smallest luxury hotels in the world, Stephen Zimmerman thinks big. Big enough to buy a ballroom and salon once owned by a...

Managing change. (Gold Coin Store)
June 27, 1997... Partners target upscale collectors of valuable rare coins Clark Samuelson and Mike Goss took a big chance when they started their own business last year, but they ended up striking gold. The Gold Coin Store, which is in the business of buying...

Enserch consolidation plan will bring jobs to Houston. (Texas)(Enserch Exploration Inc.)
June 27, 1997... Relocation of company headquarters from Dallas could follow The Houston office of Enserch Exploration Inc. will gain 85 new employees this summer. And more also could be coming if current rumors about a company headquarters move from Dallas to...

PrimeCo speeds up expansion with second call center.
June 27, 1997... Houston's rising reputation as a hotbed for call centers was reinforced this week when PrimeCo Personal Communications unveiled plans to open a second customer care center in Houston, creating around 200 new jobs by December. Under a tax...

Hotel, conference facility planned for Baytown. (Texas)
June 27, 1997... The second phase of the Bayland Park project in Baytown is under way with plans for construction of a 120-room Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and a 15,000-square-foot regional conference center. The $11 million to $13 million project was launched...

Star Furniture sale solves estate tax dilemma.
June 27, 1997... Families seek stability, liquidity in selling 85-year-old retail firm The sale of Houston-based Star Furniture Co. to Nebraska financier Warren Buffett this week brought relief to a pair of local families fretting about estate-planning issues....

American Exploration Co. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 27, 1997... 1331 Lamar, Suite 900, Houston 77010 (713) 756-6000 American Exploration Co. is an independent energy company engaged in oil and gas production, exploration, development and acquisitions. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of Feb....

Man on a medical mission. (Raymond Khoury)
June 27, 1997... Raymond Khoury rose through the ranks to become administrator of St. Joseph Hospital Raymond Khoury talks a lot about the "other bottom line." As administrator of the Sisters of Charity St. Joseph Hospital, Khoury is concerned with budgets...

Local business going, going... (corporate mergers in Houston, Texas)
June 27, 1997... When the Houston Vision Group unveiled the city's latest million-dollar slogan earlier this year, the boosters overlooked one catch-phrase that's becoming more an more applicable. Rather than "Houston: Expect the Unexpected," perhaps the...

Houston's high-rise market may be on its way back up. (Texas)
June 27, 1997... It's been an up and down market for Houston's high rises. With the bust of the 1980s and their domestic and international investors crying for help, high rises haven't gotten the best welcome from the Bayou City. But after 15 years of...