Houston Business Journal articles from May 1996

Houston Business Journal archives from May 1996

Air-Cure moves its home to Houston. (relocation of Air-Cure Technologies Inc. to Houston)
May 31, 1996... Shakeup puts Allied Industrial's former president in driver's seat A publicly traded company that designs and manufactures systems used in the treatment and processing of air and other gases has relocated its corporate headquarters from...

Companies fighting back as crime takes a toll on their bottom lines.
May 31, 1996... When Russell Turner founded his commercial collection company 27 years ago, he never thought purchasing a handgun would become part of his business plan. But, weary of thieves who burglarized Cisco Inc. twice in a nine-day period last month,...

Home Health Concepts triples its size. (Home Health Concepts Inc. acquisition of Allied Home Health Nursing Services Inc.)
May 31, 1996... Texas City care provider adds employees, patients of bankrupt San Antonio firm Home Health Concepts Inc. of Texas City has taken over the operations of a troubled San Antonio home health care provider in a deal that triples the size of the...

Oilex breaks into gas business with coalbed methane prospect. (Oilex International Investments)
May 31, 1996... Tiny Oilex International Investments is going through a bed of coal to break into the oil and gas business. The startup oil and gas company is trying to convince the investment community that it is for real and that its stock, trading for...

Howell Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 31, 1996... NYSE HWL 1500 HOWELL BUILDING, 1111 FANNIN STREET, HOUSTON 77002-6923 (713) 658-4000 Howell Corp. is a diversified independent energy company operating through four wholly owned subsidiaries: Howell Petroleum Corp., Howell Crude Oil Co.,...

Industrial projects fly off drawing boards. (industrial building projects in Houston, Texas)
May 24, 1996... Speculative building marks rebirth stagnant market At least six new speculative industrial building projects will be completed in Houston by the end of the year, marking the rebirth of a market that had seen virtually no construction in more...

Going deep. (Atlantia Corp.)
May 24, 1996... Small offshore design firm making big leap Joe Blandford was nursing hurt feelings when he started Atlantia Corp. some 20 years ago. As an engineer, his first job after college involved the design and construction of offshore structures...

Weingarten Realty Investors. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 24, 1996... NYSE WRI 2600 CITADEL, PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 300, HOUSTON 7700812 (713) 866-6000 Weingarten Realty Investors is an equity-based real estate investment trust. The company focuses primarily on the development, acquisition, and long-term...

Former BFI execs buy Crown Services. (Browning-Ferris Industries Inc.; Crown Services Inc.)
May 17, 1996... Group quietly plans to build nationwide home services company Three former executives of Browning-Ferris Industries Inc. have teamed up to buy Houston's Crown Services Inc. as the cornerstone of a national network of home service companies....

St. Luke's plows ahead with proposed merger. (St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital; Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.)
May 17, 1996... St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital - eager to find a partner after more than two years of negotiations with area hospital systems - is confident that its controversial plan to jointly run the hospital with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. will succeed,...

Cellular wars heat up over calling areas. (Houston, Texas)
May 17, 1996... The local battle for cellular phone customers just got more interesting. The hotly competitive market intensified this week with Houston Cellular Telephone Co.'s announcement that it will triple the size of its home calling area. Rival GTE...

Financial firm with expansion plan opens headquarters in Clear Lake. (Clearview Acceptance Corp.; Clear Lake Shores, Texas)
May 17, 1996... A financial company that makes loans in the home manufacturing and improvement industry has set up its corporate headquarters in the Clear Lake area and plans to employ 75 people by the end of the year. Clearview Acceptance Corp., which...

Fogarty Klein lands Chevy dealers account. (Fogarty Klein and Partners Advertising Inc.; Chevy First Team Dealers)
May 17, 1996... Houston-based Fogarty Klein & Partners has rolled away with the $8 million Chevy First Team Dealers' account and has formed a new automotive division of its business, to boot. Forming the new Fogarty Klein & Partners Automotive division will...

Kerr Measurement's move a coup for Rosenberg. (Kerr Measurement Systems; Texas)
May 17, 1996... A growing manufacturer of computerized measuring devices is bucking a corporate trend by moving out of the booming city of Stafford and into the smaller neighboring town of Rosenberg. Kerr Measurement Systems, which manufactures measuring...

Isotag's gasoline-tracking system can tag explosive chemicals. (Isotag LLC)
May 17, 1996... Houston company says its isotopic labels could help solve terrorist attacks A Houston company says tests have shown that its molecular tagging system, developed for the petroleum industry, can also be used to track explosives and...

Columbia begins work on Sun Belt renovations. (Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.; Sun Belt Medical Center)
May 17, 1996... Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. has begun a $31 million renovation of its Sun Belt Medical Center in east Houston. Among other plans, the 273-bed hospital will expand its emergency department to accommodate a move that involves merging the...

Wainoco Oil Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 17, 1996... NYSE WOL 10000 MEMORIAL DRIVE, SUITE 600, HOUSTON 77024-3411 (713) 688-9600 Wainoco Oil Corp. is an independent exploration, production and refining company. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of March 22, 1996 ...

Enron ready to retail electric power: energy giant muscles in to campaign for Houston customers.
May 10, 1996... If the Texas Legislature approves, Houston's Enron Corp. says it can and will offer electricity service directly to residential and small-business customers, starting next year. The giant energy company is ready to unleash a major marketing...

Gulf Publishing averts takeover.
May 10, 1996... A family feud among the descendants of Gulf Publishing Co. founder Ray Lofton Dudley led one side of the family to buy out the other side's interest this week - thwarting a potential hostile takeover of the 80-year-old firm. Gulf Publishing...

DEA to fill up long-vacant West Loop office building. (Drug Enforcement Administration)
May 10, 1996... A West Loop "see-through building" that has been vacant for more than six years will be filled to capacity this summer when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration relocates and consolidates its local offices there. In the biggest office...

Tanglewood tales: new developments on Woodway.
May 10, 1996... $6 million retail center is already 60 percent leased Tanglewood Corp. is ending more than a decade of relative inactivity for its commercial development arm with the construction of an upscale retail center on one of the last remaining...

Investors file application to open new national bank.(Tanglewood Tales: New Developments on Woodway)
May 10, 1996... Investors with longtime ties to the Tanglewood and Memorial communities have applied to open a new national bank at the northwest corner of Woodway and Chimney Road. Despite a rash of bank acquisitions in the past year, the Tanglewood...

Wall flowers: Frank Bain and Ron Warfield have covered Houston's walls for 22 years. (Wallcoverings International)(Company Profile)
May 10, 1996... After 22 years in business together, it's only natural that Frank Bain and Ron Warfield have had their share of arguments. After all, when times get tough, patience wears thin. But Bain says it's never been a challenge for the partners to get...

Independent oil producer plans $75 million public offering. (Rutherford-Moran Oil Corp.)
May 10, 1996... An oil and gas producer with properties in Southeast Asia is planning a public offering worth about $75 million to pay for development in the Gulf of Thailand. Rutherford-Moran Oil Corp. filed April 26 with the Securities and Exchange...

Schnitzers' Mercedes leadership plans move to Greenway Plaza. (Park Place Motorcars)
May 10, 1996... Group purchasing prime parcel near The Summit to get closer to customers An investor group that includes the sons of Greenway Plaza developer Kenneth Schnitzer has signed a letter of intent to buy a prime parcel of land near The Summit for...

Memorial edges out Columbia to acquire Pasadena hospital. (Memorial Healthcare System; Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.)(Southmore Medical Center)
May 10, 1996... Rivals will compete head-to-head for area patients Memorial Healthcare System will purchase Southmore Medical Center in Pasadena and go head-to-head with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.'s Bayshore Medical Center there. The acquisition,...

Jon Lindsay hired as president of North Houston Association.
May 10, 1996... Now that he's been elected state senator, Jon Lindsay's fellow board members at the North Houston Association have hired him as association president. The board approved Lindsay for the vacant position by a unanimous vote, according to...

Columbia/HCA completes merger of emergency facilities in east Houston.
May 10, 1996... Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. has finished merging its Doctors Hospital East Loop emergency room into the nearby Sun Belt Medical Center, Columbia officials say. The cost-cutting measure was completed a week ago at the hospitals, which are...

Huge project being built for Compaq: Exel wins contract for new computer distribution center. (Compaq Computer Corp.; Exel Logistics)
May 3, 1996... A 400,000-square-foot distribution facility to be built in the Fairbanks Industrial Park will be the first visible activity stemming from Compaq Computer Corp.'s decision last year to outsource all of its distribution capabilities: Exel...

California cellular firm comes calling: NextWave wins license with $200 million bid. (NextWave Personal Communications Inc.)
May 3, 1996... NextWave wins license with $200 million bid A San Diego company is expected to be named next week as the winner of a new federal license to provide wireless communication services in Houston. But NextWave Personal Communications Inc.,...

Pipeline dumping dispute pits Big Energy against Big Steel. (Energy Industry Group; Bethlehem Steel Corp.)
May 3, 1996... Big Energy has squared off against Big Steel in a debate over the availability of large-diameter natural gas transmission pipe. The energy companies want the ability to import pipe from foreign suppliers without paying high import duties,...

City of Austin agrees to settle nuclear plant suit for $20 million: terms call for HL and P to relinquish role as operator. (Houston Lighting and Power Co.)
May 3, 1996... The City of Austin agreed last week to settle its longstanding lawsuit with Houston Lighting & Power Co. over alleged mismanagement of the South Texas Nuclear Project. As a jury appeared to be deadlocked in Houston, the City of Austin...

AIM opening Austin office in first expansion outside Houston: fast-growing mutual fund firm sets up shop beyond the range of hurricanes. (AIM Management Group Inc.)
May 3, 1996... Fast-growing mutual fund firm sets up shop beyond the range of hurricanes Continued growth at AIM Management Group Inc. has the mutual fund firm planning to expand beyond the confines of its Greenway Plaza headquarters. AIM officials...