Houston Business Journal articles from March 2001

Houston Business Journal archives from March 2001

Trauma centers in critical condition.
March 2, 2001... Hospitals suffer from financial bleeding in efforts to deliver urgent care Dr. Kenneth Mattox has told ambulance drivers to stop bringing cases to Ben Taub Hospital when there are too many patients to treat. But he always finds room for...

Coaching in a pinch.
March 2, 2001... There's a new hired-gun coaching business in town, and entrepreneur Paul Hicks hopes it will catch on statewide and nationally. Hicks, owner of Baseball Coaches for Hire, launched a rent-a-ringer baseball concept in Houston earlier this...

California crisis generates conspiracy suits.
March 2, 2001... El Paso Energy Corp. and three of its subsidiaries, along with a California energy company, are fending off lawsuits that claim they conspired four years ago over proposed pipeline deals that eventually helped drive up gas and electricity...

Flashy dot-com dissolves.
March 2, 2001... Another dot-com is becoming a not-com. Bodyflash.com, a Houston-based online jewelry retailer that targeted consumers aged 18 to 39, was to cease operations on March 1, according to Bodyflash.com co-founder Karen Post. The company was...

A star search on the 'Patron Promenade'.
March 2, 2001... You don't have to be an Oscar winner to have your name engraved on one of the 100 gold stars that will line the walkway to downtown's new Hobby Center for the Performance Arts. A check for $50,000 will do. Each star will commemorate a gift...

Keen Cougar puts UH in 'Jeopardy!'.
March 2, 2001... Have you ever watched an episode of "Jeopardy!" and fantasized about opening a can of smarts on Alex Trebec that would stagger the quiz show host? Well, Houstonian Raj Choudhary Houstonian recently fulfilled that fantasy. And now he wants...

Banking returns to beacon building.
March 2, 2001... Nearly a full decade after the disappearance of the Houston institution that named it, the old First City Bank Building features a new bank. Houston-based Horizon Capital Bank last month opened a down town office in the lobby of the...

Bar award emerges in City Hall chaos.
March 2, 2001... In the midst of all the cat fighting that goes on at City Hall, one Houston City Council member has been recognized for his actions rather than words. Quan, Burdette & Perez, a local law firm founded by Councilman Gordon Quan in 1980, was...

Reservations taken for Astro World rides.
March 2, 2001... Patrons of Houston's Six Flags Astroworld may want to make a reservation before heading out to the theme park when it opens for the 2001-2002 season this month. As part of the park's annual grand re-opening, Astroworld is offering a new...

News from the food and drink front.
March 2, 2001... The barbecue sauce didn't flow for long at the Otto's Bar-B-Q location in downtown Houston. After just a few months in business, the Otto's near Prairie and Louisiana has stopped smoking. The closure of the new restaurant came as a...

Bombay Palace Indian.
March 2, 2001... After more than 20 years on Westheimer, Bombay Palace Indian restaurant has moved to another location -- on Westheimer. Part of a chain based in New York, Bombay Palace was displaced from its home on Westheimer late last year to make way...

Hyatt Hotels Corp.
March 2, 2001... Houston's two Hyatt hotels are seeing stars. Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Starbucks Coffee Co have struck an agreement that will help awaken sleepy guests. The Hyatt Regency Houston downtown and the Hyatt Regency Houston Airport have begun...

Drugstore wars: Giant chain searches for sites in Houston.
March 2, 2001... CVS Corp. is quietly scouting the Houston market for locations that would pit the nation's second-largest drugstore chain against Walgreen Co. and Eckerd in an already super-competitive market. Officials at publicly traded CVS are...

Rough market leads Genometrix to pull $84 million IPO proposal.
March 2, 2001... A year after unveiling plans for an $84 million initial public offering, Genometrix Inc.; The Woodlands-based gene screening and drug discovery company, has withdrawn its filing, citing concerns about market conditions. "Clearly the...

J.A. Green slates 1 million square feet of commercial space for airport locale.
March 2, 2001... Houston-based J.A. Green Development Corp. has blueprinted million square feet of warehouse and office space on land it owns near the Bush Intercontinental Airport. Construction is under way on two buildings comprising 350,000 square feet...

Record release strikes sour note with legendary local bluesman.
March 2, 2001... When famed Houston guitarist Pete Mayes saw one of his songs on another label two years ago, he didn't just sing the blues -- he went to federal court. The ailing musician has filed suit seeking to claim royalties allegedly owed to him for...

Hall family makes Maxim move to meld Galveston County banks.
March 2, 2001... Citizens State Bank is changing its nearly century-old name after being controlled by the same League City family since the 1930s. The Citizens name dates back exactly 95 years ago this week, when the bank opened in Galveston County with...

Austin Realtors, eRealty.com settle suit over online listings.
March 2, 2001... A year-long battle between Houston-based eRealty.com and the Austin Board of Realtors has finally come to a close. The locally based Web site that provides an online forum for buying and selling homes was taken to court last year by the...

Trammell Crow Co.
March 2, 2001... Despite timing setbacks for Trammell Crow Co.'s Ballpark Place -- a mixed-use, high-rise project across from Enron Field -- ground breaking is scheduled to begin in May, according to Patrick Hicks, a principal at the company's office division....

River Oaks Financial Group Inc.
March 2, 2001... Welcome Wilson Jr. and Jason Wasaff have formed a new commercial leasing firm as a division of River Oaks Financial Group Inc. The Wilson Wasaff Group Inc. specializes in commercial office and industrial leasing, representing both tenants...

Inwood Builders Corp.
March 2, 2001... With more than 20 years of real estate and construction experience combined, local home builders David Sanguesa and Leigh Adkins have joined forces to form Inwood Builders Corp. The new company builds mainly custom and spec homes in upscale...

Houston PR pros win national awards at New York event.
March 2, 2001... Local public relations pros have made a splash on the pages of PRWeek by winning national awards. At the magazine's annual awards event, the PR team at the Children's Museum of Houston received an honorable mention as "Non-profit PR Team...

Haynes Media & Marketing.
March 2, 2001... Tom Haynes has launched a consulting arm called Solutioneers. The firm works with companies to develop and implement branding strategies. The company's newest client is the Houston Aeros. Solutioneers will be working with the pro...

Shirley Barr Public Relations.
March 2, 2001... Shirley Barr Public Relations has some juicy new work. Barr has been busy preparing the March grand opening for the newest location of Jamba Juice, owned by franchisee Alameda Juice LLC. Barr already has lined up KPRC's Chuck George, who...

Innova Design & Advertising.
March 2, 2001... Innova Design & Advertising has been chosen agency of record by Portable Pipe Hangers, a locally based company that creates piping and equipment for walkways. Innova will handle a new branding campaign for the company, says J.B. Jarman...

International Association of Drilling Contractors.
March 2, 2001... The International Association of Drilling Contractors has retained Paula Ruth & Co. Public Relations to handle media relations. Ruth was chosen for her experience with trade associations, according to an official at the locally based...

Local buyer offers Apache Telecom access to capital markets.
March 2, 2001... Houston-based Apache Telecom has agreed to be acquired by US Industrial Services Inc., a publicly-traded Houston company in the process of changing its business focus. The purchase price was not disclosed. Apache Telecom installs...

CCC GlobalCom Corp.
March 2, 2001... CCC GlobalCom Corp. has agreed to purchase select assets of Houston-based Equalnet Communications Corp., which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Houston-based CCC GlobalCom is buying Equalnet's customer base of 30,000 long-distance...

EBIZ Enterprises Inc.
March 2, 2001... New operations have moved to the Houston area over the past month, as a result of the acquisition of JBSi of Stafford by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based EBIZ Enterprises Inc. And three of the top executives at EBIZ, a publicly-traded company, now...

Saving San Jacinto.
March 2, 2001... International executive George Donnelly brings a unique perspective to the task of preserving the cradle of Texas independence Deep in the belly of the San Jacinto Monument, a movie theater plays a slide show as Charlton Heston narrates the...

Drilling with lasers: Energy group tests 'Star Wars' technology.
March 2, 2001... "Star Wars" laser technology ultimately may prove to be of more value underground than out in space. The Gas Technology Institute and other partners have begun work on the second phase of a project to determine the commercial viability of...

The U.S. Minerals Management Service.
March 2, 2001... The U.S. Minerals Management Service, which manages oil and gas exploration and development activities in the Gulf of Mexico, will offer first-time-ever incentives to increase natural gas and oil production from federal offshore areas. ...

State Oil Co.
March 2, 2001... Houston-based Conoco reopened its office in Baku, Azerbaijan, saying it will double its spending to $10 million this year in the former Soviet republic. Conoco has a 20 percent stake in a consortium developing the Zafar-Mashal oil field under...

Suspension of 'blacklisting' rule by Bush may have violated law.
March 2, 2001... The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service says the Bush administration may have acted illegally by suspending a new regulation that requires federal procurement officials to deny contracts to companies that have violated labor,...

Retail woes show in Oshman's deal.
March 2, 2001... Last week's deal between home-grown retailer Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. and a Denver company was only the latest surprise twist in the local retail market. It also underscores how drastically Houston's retail landscape has changed over the...

Trivia fanatics visit mecca for factoid bash.
March 2, 2001... Houston will play host to a curious convention of sorts this weekend. The 20 or so visitors converging from various states won't fill up many hotel rooms or make much of an economic impact, except in a few local bars. But their presence...

Downtown revivals bring back Main Street.
March 2, 2001... Downtown areas have historically played unique and important roles in the lives of many Texas cities. I can still remember the days when city squares were packed with farmers selling their agricultural products and merchants hawking their wares...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.
March 2, 2001... Light rail Houston advocates of light rail see that San Diego and St. Louis have built light rail lines, and Minneapolis is building one, so Houston has to have one too. Other than to prove it is a "world-class city," there is no good...

Shelf registration.
March 2, 2001... Midstream energy partnership Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell debt and equity worth $500 million over the next two years. The company says proceeds from the sale of debt or equities...

Long-term financing.
March 2, 2001... Houston-based iExalt Inc. has secured $6 million in long-term financing from Fort Worth-based Woodcrest II Limited Partnership. The funding includes a combination of convertible debentures, restricted stock and warrants. In November, the...

Data center opens.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Reliant Energy Inc.'s Web-hosting services unit, Reliant Energy Communications, has opened an Internet data center in Austin. The center, Reliant Energy Communications' second facility since opening its first one last summer in Houston, is...

Shopping for centers.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Real estate investment trust Weingarten Realty Investors of Houston has acquired Colonial Plaza Market-center in Orlando, Fla. The 480,000-square-foot community center was purchased from Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc. for $54 million....

Trading exchanges.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... E-business. software provider BMC Software Inc. will see its common stock begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BMC" on March 13. To mark the Houston-based company's first day of trading, BMC President and CEO...

Power Play.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Gart Sports Co. has inked an $84 million cash-and-stock deal to buy Houston-based Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. Gart, based in Denver, says it will exchange $7 cash and 0.55 of a share of its common stock for each Oshman's share. The transaction...

Electric opportunity.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Duke Energy North America has broken ground on a new $250 million electric power generating facility in Arlington Valley, Ariz. The Arlington Valley Energy Facility, a 570-megawatt merchant power plant, will supply electric power to the...

Energy management.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Houston-based Enron Corp.'s Enron Energy Services unit has landed a 10-year energy management deal with Quaker Oats Co. The contract covers 15 U.S. Quaker facilities located in 11 states and two facilities in Canada. The deal calls for Enron to...

Securing Sears.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Waste Management Inc. of Houston has inked a new multiyear agreement with Sears, Roebuck and Co. to provide waste service. Waste Management has provided waste service to Sears since 1993. With the renewal agreement, Waste Management's program...

Marking time for 165 years on historical Texas Avenue.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Texas Avenue has played an important role in Houston's history over the past 165 years. That history -- reflected in government, entertainment, religion, communications, commerce and transportation -- is now being highlighted on markers lining,...

Same Game, New Rules: Contemporary Insights for the Advanced Sales Professional.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... By Bill Caskey Same Game, New Rules provokes a deeper level of thought about selling and achievement in business by giving the reader new ways to think about the old game of selling. As the rules of selling change, thinking must change as...

The Business Plan: Roadmap to Success.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... March 10, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. University of Houston Small Business Development Center, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200 Seminar topics include, how to analyze market conditions, allocate marketing dollars, gauge start-up or expansion...

Healthy solution.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Near Term gives partners 'filling' careers in health care placement The founders of health care management firm Near Term Corp. don't mind pushing up their sleeves, turning on their voice mail, ordering a pizza and spending several hours...

Loan Expert Panel.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... March 15, 1-4 p.m. South Montgomery County Woodlands chamber 1400 Woodloch Forest, Suite 500, The Woodlands Sponsored by the Small Business Development. Center of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District, the seminar will...

Financial focus shifts to active bond market.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2001... Over the past year and into 2001, bonds increasingly have been competing with stocks for investors, as the bond market last year produced more attractive yields at a cheaper price than in years past. More money is flowing into the bond...

Relationship of CFO, CIO changes with evolving IT.
March 2, 2001... Today, a company's chief financial officer and chief information officer are colleagues with roles that often rely on the expertise of the other, and both benefit from this partnership. A few years ago, information technology was merely a...

Educational savings plans are financial strategy bonus.
March 2, 2001... Financial, tax and estate-planning professionals should advise their clients about the importance of initiating educational saving plans early and help them implement appropriate and tax-efficient programs. Their high net worth clients should...

Community bankers' biggest tech concern is security.
March 2, 2001... Security is the biggest technology concern of community financial institutions throughout the country, according to a survey of all community financial institutions in the United States (some 9,000 institutions), conducted in late summer 2000...

Multiple money managers give investors a safety net.
March 2, 2001... Almost everyone's heard a horror story about an individual who has been given a death-is-imminent prognosis by one doctor only to be told, upon seeking a second opinion, that the original diagnosis was incorrect, and the emergency surgery that...

Kim D. Wheless joins Bank of Tanglewood.
March 2, 2001... Banking industry veteran Kim D. Wheless has been named executive director of marketing at Bank of Tanglewood and has been elected to the bank's board of directors. "He brings a huge banking background, especially in the Tanglewood market,"...

Ten banks contributing to TCCDC loan programs.
March 2, 2001... Ten banks are contributing to Third Coast Community Development Corp., a nonprofit corporation that provides technical assistance and business loans to small companies in a seven-county area that have been unable to obtain funds through...

Wells Fargo initiates new online banking.
March 2, 2001... Online banking through Web ready wireless phones has been introduced by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. The bank's Wells Wireless service, introduced in February, enables consumers and small business customers to access online...

CEO's pay, company's performance go together.
March 2, 2001... The more stock a company's CEO owns, the better its stock performs in terms of total returns to shareholders, according to a study on executive pay in 2000 by Watson Wyatt Worldwide (www.watsonwyatt.com), a global human capital consulting firm....

Laws place limits on bill collectors.
March 2, 2001... Federal law prohibits professional bill collectors from contacting people at work if they have been advised in writing not to do so -- and from calling people at home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. unless the collector knows such times are...

Taxpayer, company may save by following a few tips.
March 2, 2001... April 15th is just around the corner. Following are a few tax tips: * Business. The Code Section 179 expensing deduction for most fixed assets acquired for use in a business has been boosted to $20,000 for 2000, up from $19,000 last year....

LARGEST HOUSTON-AREA MONEY MANAGEMENT FIRMS.
March 2, 2001... LARGEST HOUSTON-AREA MONEY MANAGEMENT FIRMS (Ranked by Assets Under Local Management) Assets Last Name of Firm ...

Economy's soft landing could be cushion for real estate.
March 2, 2001... Continuing forecasts of a slowing economy, but not a recession, in 2001 indicate that the immediate future could continue to be bright for the residential real estate industry, as it will be a particularly advantageous time for prospective...

LARGEST STOCKBROKERAGE FIRMS IN HOUSTON.
March 2, 2001... LARGEST STOCKBROKERAGE FIRMS IN HOUSTON (Ranked by Number of Local Stockbrokers) No. of No. of Last Name of Firm ...

'Smart money' angel investor provides more than cold cash.
March 2, 2001... Many an entrepreneur thinks that the ideal investor is one who will provide money (preferably in very large quantities), then disappear to some far-off island with inadequate telephone services. But private-equity investing in early-stage...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
March 2, 2001... ACCOUNTING Casi Cornejo has been named a senior at Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors Inc. Baird, Kurtz & Dobson has named Sylvia Chen, Kelley Cooney, Kim Hickman and Stephanie Martyak as supervisors and David Benavente as a senior....

Galveston County Commissioners Court.
March 2, 2001... The Galveston County Commissioners Court has recently named Bay Architects as the lead design firm for the new $80 million justice center and jail.

Letsos Co.
March 2, 2001... Letsos Co. has been awarded the $7.15 million+ HVAC contract with Linbeck Construction for the Memorial Hermann Woodlands Hospital bed tower addition in The Woodlands.

Association Management Inc.
March 2, 2001... Association Management Inc. has been selected to provide community association management services to the following associations: The Villas Master Association Inc.; Bellavita at Green Tee Homeowners Association; and Heron Lake Town-homes...

Graco Awards Inc.
March 2, 2001... Graco Awards Inc. of Tomball has received a contract from the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia to manufacture 600 Congressional Medals of Honor for the Department of Defense. The order value is $15,840.

Earnings.
March 2, 2001... Earnings PENNZOIL-QUAKER STATE CO. 4th Qtr. ended Dec. 31 2000 1999 revenue in 1,000s 766,695 765,054 net income (loss) in 1,000s (101,331) (323,149)...

A few low-cost measures can prevent high-cost online fraud.
March 9, 2001... Have high hopes for your Internet storefront this holiday shopping rush? Be aware that the number of online shoppers is not the only thing expected to skyrocket this season online credit card fraud is expected to rise as well, costing merchants...

Tech Directory of Houston.
March 9, 2001... PUBLISHER'S LETTER We're proud to present this first edition of the Tech Directory of Houston. This publication contains a list of nearly 500 technology companies in the Houston area and is intended as a ready reference, a guide to the...

Earnings.
March 9, 2001... Earnings 2000 1999 CARRIAGE SERVICES INC. 4th Qtr. ended Dec. 31 revenue in 1,000s 32,176 31,660 net income (loss) in 1,000s 921 760 per...

Graco Awards Inc.
March 9, 2001... Graco Awards Inc. of Tomball has received a contract from the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia to manufacture 108,000 American Campaign Medal sets for a total of $128,144 with two one-year options for a total contract value of $378,432. This...

Clay Development & Construction Inc.
March 9, 2001... Clay Development & Construction Inc., a Houston-based industrial developer, has been retained to design and build a 393,000-square-foot office/warehouse at 7611 Railhead for Novo Industries, a Houston-based, nationwide manufacturer of...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
March 9, 2001... ACCOUNTING Briggs & Veselka Co. has named Meresa S. Morgan a shareholder. Arthur Andersen has appointed Stephen N. Mortenson to principal, client services group; Barbara J. Duganier to managing partner, chief financial officer; Gary B....

Association Management Inc.
March 9, 2001... Association Management Inc. has been selected to provide community association management services to Rock Creek Community Association Inc. with effect from March 1.

Salary increases expected in Internet companies.
March 9, 2001... Internet and e-commerce companies expect to provide average salary increases of between 7.7 percent and 9.7 percent in 2001, according to a recent study conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. By comparison, average salary increases in general...

LARGEST PUBLIC EMPLOYERS IN HARRIS COUNTY.
March 9, 2001... LARGEST PUBLIC EMPLOYERS IN HARRIS COUNTY (Ranked by Number of Full-Time Employees in Harris County) Last Name of Public Entity Full-Time Year's Address ...

Child care center serves Administaff employees.
March 9, 2001... Thirty children of Administaff Inc. employees are among the 32 current enrollees at a 5,000-square-foot child care center at the Administaff Service Center located in Interwood Office Park, south of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. ...

Structure retirement plans to suit owner and employee.
March 9, 2001... Now that George W. Bush has been inaugurated as the 43rd president of the United States, the American people are anticipating how his policies will impact the state of the country and, in particular, their pocketbooks. Comprehensive tax reform...