Houston Business Journal articles from October 1999

Houston Business Journal archives from October 1999

Fina favors Houston for new HQ.(Fina Inc., headquarters)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Oil and gas company melds U.S. presence after merger Fina Inc. is forfeiting a 10-year tax abatement in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex to move its U.S. operations to Houston. The relocation Comes in the wake of the second international...

Secret salt of the earth.(includes related article on company's existing plants)(United Salt Corp. unveils major expansion plans)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Obscure local company builds plant to take on national players in salt Dan Sutton is aware that few people in Houston know anything about his local company, even though it has been around since the 1920s, goes head-to-head with major...

Lawyer launches 'loft-lite' concept on Waugh.(trial lawyer David Sheller plans to construct a mini-loft project in Waugh, Texas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Trial lawyer David Sheller has tried out townhomes. Now he's moving on up to a midrise. After developing in the townhome arena, he's planning to construct a mini-loft project about a mile west of downtown. The site for One Millennium...

Memorial Hermann, Christus seek buyers for HMO venture.(Memorial/Sisters of Charity Health Network up for sale)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... The Memorial/Sisters of Charity Health Network is officially up for sale - signifying the end of a four-year-relationship between two health care systems in Houston. The Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Christus Health, formerly...

Two Houston companies plan to make public stock offerings.(Mariner Energy; Allquest Com Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Two Houston businesses filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission this week to make initial public offerings of stock. The IPOs are being made by Mariner Energy LLC, an offshoot of a 16-year-old company, and Allquest Com Corp., an...

Randall & Dewey and GE Capital team up to offer merchant banking.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Firms will focus on providing service to oil industry A 10-year-old oil and gas consulting firm in Houston has linked with GE Capital Structured Finance Group of Stamford, Conn., to begin offering merchant banking services to the oil...

Government contractors protest as prisoners get preferential treatment.(competitors of Federal Prison Industries decry firm's mandatory source advantage)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 1999... Standard Business Furniture had completed the space planning and design work for Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. Now it was time for the payoff - a $160,000 order for office furniture. But the order never came. ...

Cutting edge consulting.(Occam's Razor Technologies Inc.)
October 1, 1999... Eric Elfman has used Occam's Razor to carve out a niche in legal department management Only three months out of business school, Eric M. Elfman was in for the shock of his life. Elfman found out that taking business courses in a...

Tech wildcatter sells company for $35 million.(Primedia Intertec Publishing's acquisition of MultiMedia Publishing Corp.)
October 8, 1999... Marc Ostrofsky believes you can never be too rich, too lucky or the founder of too many companies. The day after Ostrofsky, 37, sold the assets of his MultiMedia Publishing Co. to Primedia Intertec Publishing for $35 million last week, he...

Forget donuts and coffee ... brunch business is booming.(Dining & Entertainment Guide)(Houston, Texas-restaurants offering good brunch menus)
October 8, 1999... It's not exactly breakfast, and it's not quite lunch. But you get a really good meal, and there's a nice piece of fruit at the end. That's how brunch was explained to The Simpsons' blue-haired Marge by the French-accented bowling instructor who...

Festive or restive, ambiance is essential.(Dining & Entertainment Guide)(Houston, Teaxs-restaurants offering good brunch menus)
October 8, 1999... With busy people always strapped for time,not many of us get to enjoy meals that are as leisurely, festive or convivial as we would like. We wolf down breakfast because we have to get to work. We grab a quick lunch in mid-shift or gobble...

BMS adds Enserch Tower to Westchase holdings.(BMS Management Inc.)
October 8, 1999... BMS Management Inc. has purchased West Houston's Enserch Tower, making the Houston-based firm the largest office owner in Westchase. BMS added the 365,000-square-foot Class A office property to its portfolio, bringing the company's West...

Memorial, Columbia complete hospital swap in complex deal.(Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.; Memorial Hermann Healthcare System)
October 8, 1999... Facilities in Beaumont, Pasadena to consolidate in wake of Medicare cuts After months of negotiation, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System closed on two separate acquisitions last week that involve...

Caterer and lounge owners creating recipe for success.(Dining & Entertainment Guide)(Icon Ventures' contract with A Fare Extraordinaire)
October 8, 1999... A new recipe is being blended by Houston caterer A Fare Extraordinaire and ICON Ventures, parent company of The Mercury Room - a new lounge in the old Isis Theater Building at 1008 Prairie at Main Street. The principals involved say...

Azurix flows into Europe deal, Mexican venture.(company acquisition and joint agreements failed to raise stock price)
October 8, 1999... However, acquisitions and joint agreements fail to buoy sinking stock price Azurix Corp., the water company spun off earlier this year by Enron Corp., was on a roll last week, announcing a major acquisition in Europe and a joint venture in...

Small businesses may benefit from targeted national tort reform.
October 8, 1999... It's easy to find small businesses who have been victimized by frivolous lawsuits. Roger R. Geiger, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, lists these examples: * An Athens County...

Healthy competition.(Tom Lucksinger's launching of AmCare Health Plans)
October 8, 1999... Tom Lucksinger seeks to duplicate his NYLCare success at new venture AmCare Health Plans Tom Lucksinger fully intends to do a repeat performance in the managed care industry by developing the largest HMO in Houston. He first did it...

Taste of Thai: familiar dishes take on terrific new dimension.(restaurant in Houston, Texas)
October 8, 1999... Call me Art. Well, the owner of Taste of Thai didn't really go into "Moby Dick" mode when I asked him his name. But his nickname was all he would give me (I guess restaurateurs don't have ranks and serial numbers) because, he explained, his...

Rocket science.(Astro Technology Inc.)(Company Profile)
October 8, 1999... Astro Technology sets sights high in disparate high-tech arenas When Robyn Brower Sent her fourth child off to kindergarten, she decided she was ready to start up her own business. And after brainstorming her idea with her husband...

Budget act keens hospitals off balance.
October 15, 1999... Two weeks ago at a table at Brennan's, a who's who of Houston hospitals scored some private time with Congressman Bill Archer to complain about financial shortfalls caused by the Balanced Budget Act passed two years ago. Houston hospitals...

Sanders, Pinnacle consent to merger.
October 15, 1999... Deal unites local investment banks into Texas' largest Sanders Morris Mundy and Harris Webb & Garrison Inc. - two of Houston's largest independent investment banks - will merge to create Sanders Morris Harris. The new entity will be a...

A Main attraction for Aldo's.
October 15, 1999... Restaurateur takes upscale tastes to downtown spots Aldo Elsharif figures if he can't be in Italy, he'll bring his own mini-version of the fashion- and food-loving country to downtown Houston. Known by customers and competitors alike...

Private banking getting public push.
October 15, 1999... Local bankers scrambling for business of affluent clientele It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. In fact, financial institutions are lining up to manage the prodigious wealth that Americans have amassed in the last quarter of...

Ex-Rocket fares better in bank shot.
October 15, 1999... The ephemeral world of professional sports gave Coastal Banc execs a hard call last week. Though NBA forward Scottie Pippin was no longer a Houston Rocket, his commercial pitch for Coastal's business banking unit was scheduled to run on...

Two Texas ships passing in the day.
October 15, 1999... The USS San Jacinto is returning to its roots for a port visit to its hometown this week. The ship docks in the Houston Ship Channel, Wharf 32, Oct. 20 for public visitation. While making her approach up the Houston Ship Channel, the San...

Aeros say "bienvenidos" to local hockey fans.
October 15, 1999... The Houston Aeros will make hockey history by becoming the first team in the International Hockey League to broadcast its games in Spanish. The Aeros will do a radio simulcast in Spanish for five of its upcoming games in conjunction with...

Playoff strike-out is attendance home run.
October 15, 1999... The Houston Astros may not have been able to break through the first round of playoffs -- again -- but they did break all sorts of attendance records as they battled toward the pennant and bid "adieu" to the Dome. The Astros sold a...

Oshman's grants top $100,000 for girls.
October 15, 1999... Riding the Mia Hamm high, Houston-based Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. is giving girls $100,000 in grants throughout 27 U.S. cities as part of its 6th annual Grants for Girls program. While the cash can be applied to equipment, the girls'...

News from the food and drink front.
October 15, 1999... Wendy Jones, Houston's self-pro-claimed bean queen and ruler of Mission Burritos, has been preaching the fresh-food-fast gospel for close to three years. In that short span she has expanded the burrito boutique from its original location...

Ruggles Cafe Bakery.
October 15, 1999... Ruggles Grill on Lower Westheimer has long been salivated over for its savory pastries, but now chefs Bruce and Susan Molzan are giving diners their just desserts. The Molzans are opening a more casual Ruggles Cafe Bakery on Rice Boulevard...

Barnaby's Cafe.
October 15, 1999... Jeff Gale, whose Barnaby's and Baby Barnaby's draw quite a crowd on Fairview in Montrose, has opened a second location at 1701 Shepherd in the spot briefly occupied by Cafe Take-away. Barnaby's Cafe opened two weeks ago and sells the same...

HCC Insurance Holdings to pay $171 million for competitor Centris.
October 15, 1999... HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. plans a $171 million acquisition that the Houston-based company says will make it the preeminent provider of medical stop loss insurance in the industry. At the same time, the fast-growing HCC announced a...

Out of this world: Planet Hollywood closes in Houston.
October 15, 1999... By the time Planet Hollywood opened one of its last locations in The Galleria two years ago, the chain's stock had already taken a hit, and the popularity of the theme restaurant chain had pretty much faded like the careers of some of its...

As compliance with EPA grows, 30-year-old Conroe plant closing.
October 15, 1999... When the Environmental Protection Agency gave the petroleum industry a 10-year deadline to upgrade their underground storage tanks, sales at the Containment Solutions Inc. plant in Conroe grew by 20 percent each year for the next decade. ...

Hello, dolly: DSI Toys purchase boosts its line of girls' playthings.
October 15, 1999... In a move that will bolster its line of dolls, DSI Toys Inc. is acquiring a privately held New Jersey toy maker for cash and stock. Houston-based DSI on Oct. 8 said it has agreed to acquire Meritus Industries Inc. for $2.79 million in cash...

Unitrin divests more of Baker Hughes shares in sell-off worth $115 million.
October 15, 1999... Insurer Unitrin Inc. reduced its stake in oilfield service provider Baker Hughes Inc. by selling 3.4 million common shares for nearly $115 million, according to an amended Schedule 13D filed in September with the Securities and Exchange...

Name game for real estate firms balances alliances, independence.
October 15, 1999... What's in a name? A lot, judging from the actions of some local real estate firms each scrambling to update their monikers. In major metro areas, signs for mega real estate companies CB Richard Ellis, Grubb & Ellis and Cushman & Wake-field...

Court decision orders Compaq to pay back taxes on 1992 transaction.
October 15, 1999... Issue involves purchase, fast sale of $868 million in depository reciepts Compaq Computer Corp. apparently had a mixed week in U.S. Tax Court during September. Although Chief Judge Mary Ann Cohen ruled last month that the...

Sakowitz tailors retail venture to suit technology-age fashion.
October 15, 1999... Robert Sakowitz, whose family was once associated with high-fashion retail, is once again selling suits for a living. Where the Sakowitz department stores were known for catering to the needs of a tight circle of old-line elite, Sakowitz...

Retail rumblings.
October 15, 1999... The Houston auto industry is experiencing a Sonic boom. Sonic Automotive, a national automotive retailer, has snapped up Reading Toyota from Ben Reading and will rename the dealership Toyota of Baytown. Sonic, a North Carolina company; is...

Edwards Theatres.
October 15, 1999... Another chi-chi movie theater is opening in Houston. After more than a year of development, Edwards Theatres plans to premier its $26 million, 120,000-square-foot, two-story, 24-screen Grand Palace Oct. 22. The movie theater chain, based out of...

Wiese brothers propose loft office concept for Battelstein's building.
October 15, 1999... With residential lofts steadily coming online in downtown, the next logical progression - loft offices are starting to crop up. Brothers Aaron and Tony Wiese are collaborating to transform the old Battelstein's Department Store building on...

Southwest Residential Partners.
October 15, 1999... Houston-based Southwest Residential Partners has wrapped up five transactions in five different states, brokering a total of 2,382 units. Four local complexes sold, including the Fall Lake Apartments on Greens Parkway to Bryant Management....

Vantage Cos.
October 15, 1999... Houston's Vantage Cos. has broken ground in Pinemont Center on a two-building office/service complex, bringing the company's holdings to 30 percent of all new space in the northwest industrial sector,, says CEO Stephen Jaggard. The project...

Would-be suitors for Southwest banking on stock's performance.
October 15, 1999... At least three suitors have kicked the tires at Southwest Bank of Texas in the past few months, local investment community sources say. So if publicly traded parent company Southwest Bancorp of Texas Inc. chooses to remain independent in...

Odd lots.
October 15, 1999... One of the best-performing initial public offerings of 1998, Internet stock Bind-View Development Corp. continues its winning streak. Merrill Lynch has initiated coverage of the systems management software provider with a purchase...

Laid-off workers test the market for stroke screening services.
October 15, 1999... Downsizing and a rumored sale at Houston-based Life Line Screening Corp. has encouraged some former employees to strike out on their own. Misty Dunivan, who says she was laid off from Life Line last month, has formed Stroke Prevention Plus...

Cyberonics Inc.
October 15, 1999... Houston-based Cyberonics Inc. says its product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating epilepsy may be an effective treatment for obesity. Cyberonics did studies on animals involving nerve stimulation to the chest to...

Baylor College of Medicine.
October 15, 1999... * Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of BaylorMethodist Primary Care Associates, has been named one of this year's "Up & Corners" by. Modern Healthcare magazine. The national trade publication says Boom and his fellow honorees are remarkable...

University of Texas Medical Branch.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has teamed up with CapRock Communications Corp. to offer emergency telemedicine services to offshore oil and gas workers. Energy companies will use satellite and videoconferencing to link...

Executive Health Group.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... New York-based Executive Health Group is opening a Houston office at the end of the month. The company specializes in providing annual physical exams to companies and their executives. A full range of tests are conducted at one location as...

Maximum trouble: Wage hike could hurt welfare-to-work efforts.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... As vice president of new concepts development, Darrell Woods helped San Antonio-based Luby's develop a smaller prototype restaurant that can be staffed with only 35 full-time employees, compared with 70 in the low-price chain's full-size...

Fears over liability would lead many to drop health plans, asserts chamber.(U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Nearly two-thirds of the businesses surveyed recently by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would drop their health insurance plans if new legislation exposes employers to legal liability over coverage decisions. Critics of the patients' rights...

SAFE 'alive and well' despite encoding policy.(Security and Freedom through Encryption Act)(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... The Clinton administration's announcement that it will relax restrictions on exports of encryption technology is "long on potential but short on detail," says the sponsor of the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act. Rep. Bob...

Appeals court limits enforcement by EPA.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... The Environmental Protection Agency can't bring its own hazardous waste enforcement cases against companies that have already settled the matter with state regulators, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled.

Class action reform bill narrowly passes House.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Business groups won a skirmish in the battle for tort reform Sept. 24 when the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill that would move most large class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts. The bill, which...

The Crisis Counselor: The executive's guide to avoiding, managing and thriving on crises that occur in all businesses.
October 15, 1999... Violent threats against businesses, discrimination suits, damaging rumors about a product or natural disasters that render a business useless for several months are just a few scenarious that are among the many crises that can confront any...

SMALL BUSINESS NEWS.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... The University of Houston Small Business Development Center was one of 10 small business development centers hat was honored with a Star Performer award by the Association of Small Business Development Centers at its annual meeting Oct. 2-5 in...

Silver lining.(Matt Hackett)(Company Profile)
October 15, 1999... After transforming his life, Matt Hackett has turned his craft of making specialty belt buckles into a top-notch business When Matt Hackett first sought a bank loan to help finance the growth of his small silversmith operation, he was...

Rewriting history: Resume falsification more than a passing fiction.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Many businesspeople -- even in management -- consider falsifying a resume to be nothing more than a mere peccadillo. But in reality, it has become part of the larger connection between personal ethics and the good or bad business they create....

A Letter from the Publisher.
October 15, 1999... Over the past 10 years, the Houston 100 has gained its stature due to the supreme effort of the University of Houston Small Business Development Center (UH SBDC), which created the program, and the partnership of its underwriters. The UH...

Southwestern Bell Special Awards Recipients.
October 15, 1999... Southwestern Bell Special Awards Recipients Top Companies Based on Absolute Sales Increase from 1996 to 1998 Houston 100 Ranking Company Name 16 SkillMaster Inc. ...

Program celebrates 10 years of promoting small business.
October 15, 1999... This year is the 10th annual Houston 100! The program, originally created to highlight the important role of entrepreneurs in our community, has blossomed into an annual sell-out event, at which more than 1,400 business leaders, news media and...

How a company can qualify for The Houston 100.
October 15, 1999... The Houston 100, Houston's fastest-growing companies, are elected through a program administered by the University of Houston Small Business Development Center. The nominating process has rules similar to those used in compiling Inc....

HOUSTON'S 100 FASTEST-GROWING SMALL BUSINESSES.(Directory)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... HOUSTON'S 100 FASTEST-GROWING SMALL BUSINESSES (Ranked by Sales Growth Percentage Between 1996 and 1998) Last Company Sales Year's Address ...

Business services shaping growth of the Houston area.(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Booming, young, diverse and international - four words that describe the face of small business in Houston. Add to this profile enthusiasm for the Houston business climate and you get the 1999 Houston 100, an annual list of the fastest-growing...

TOP 100 HOUSTON COMPANIES.(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)(Directory)
October 15, 1999... No.1 Align online for future with growth, merger, IPO Maude Veech 1 Company: Align Solutions Corp. Product/service: Internet professional services Date founded: 1996 Employees (1998): 109 Sales growth (1996-98):...

Houston: where Energy and Technology Converge.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... From October 25-28, 1999, Houston will be THE place for information technology (IT) and energy professionals. During this exciting week, Zeus Development Corp. and Energy Commerce newsletter will be hosting Interactive Energy '99, a...

Global Bandwidth.(Enron Communications)
October 15, 1999... Commodity Market Introduced You can trade barrels of oil and even electricity as commodities on the market today. In fact, there seems to be no limit to the number of items that can be traded. Now, the Internet industry is being...

FiberWeb Brings High-Tech Offshore.(PetroCom's FiberWeb system)
October 15, 1999... Workers in the Gulf of Mexico enter the new Millennium with advanced communications services Offshore workers in the gas and oil production business work in large facilities with office equipment and machinery not unlike land-locked...

Energy Portals.(virtual energy communities)(Industry Overview)
October 15, 1999... Promise to Shake Up the Power in the Energy Industry Fueled by the opportunity to capture millions of customers and billions of dollars, early pioneers are taking a stake in the internet by building virtual energy communities. These new...

Chevron Gets On the "FasTrack" to Asset Management.
October 15, 1999... Industry estimates show that any given company has five percent to ten percent of total assets that are idle and redeployable. With Chevron holding at least $11 billion in total equipment assets, just five percent would translate to $550...

Web-Based Power Trading Site Sets Industry Abuzz.(Houston Street Exchange)
October 15, 1999... Seventy companies trade 270,000 megawatt-hours in first four weeks Imagine the amount of electricity needed to serve more than 415,000 homes in New England for a four-week period without interruption. That's how much power was bought...

Grand plans for Hermann Park still capture city's imagination.
October 15, 1999... In 1885 George Hermann commented to an acquaintance, "Central Park is wonderful. I wish my town of Houston had one like it. Perhaps they will some day." The efforts of many through the years did, indeed, create a park in the vein of New York's...

Houston 100 a slice of local excellence.(Statistical Data Included)(Industry Overview)
October 15, 1999... While mega-mergers and consolidations have cast national attentions on big business in recent months, hundreds of thousands of smaller businesses in the country have been doing very well on their own. That fact is evident from the Houston...

Where you're @: Home is where the Net is.
October 15, 1999... A friend of my wife's shares a story that illustrates how influential the Internet has become in our society. This woman has a 4-year-old daughter who asked, "Mommy, where do we live?" The mother recited their address, e.g.: "We live...

It's simple: Houston needs a convention hotel.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Editor's note: The following was written in response to the Sept. 10 Editorial, "Conventional wisdom on city hotel proposal." It's really very simple. Houston needs a downtown convention center hotel. Those of us in the convention and...

'Hispanic Texas' has special meaning in many ways.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... From Sept. 15 through Oct. 16 every year, we now celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month nationally. "Hispanic Texas" is a catchy but sketchy concept. It can mean many things. I believe there continues to be a need to search out, identify, and...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Fuel folly I am writing in response to the Sept. 24 Commentary, "Energy race is on to develop alternative fuel," written by Howard W. Stern. Mr. Stern's idea is all well and good, but he almost begs the question: Who or what is going...

Oil field interests.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Texoil Inc. has agreed to purchase the operating interests in the Eloi Bay Field, located in state waters in St. Bernard Parish, La., for about $7.2 million. The acquisition, which became effective September 1, 1999, will add about 3.9 million...

Asset divestment.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Core Laboratories, a reservoir production and management provider, has completed the sale of its U.S. environmental testing and certain other assets to Severn Trent Laboratories Inc., a Delaware corporation. This divestment will allow Core to...

Gas discovery.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Mariner Energy Inc. has made a natural gas discovery on its Apia prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico located on Garden Banks Block 73. The test well, located in about 700 feet of water, was drilled to a total vertical depth of about 4,500....

Ownership increase.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... The Coastal Corp. subsidiary, Coastal Field Services Co., has purchased an additional 27.9 percent ownership interest in Mobile Bay Processing Partners. The partnership owns a natural gas processing plant and a 40-megawatt co-generation...

Joint agreement.(Brief Article)
October 15, 1999... Blue Dolphin Energy Co. and Equilon Enterprises LLC have agreed to jointly continue development of the Petroport deepwater port project. Development efforts will focus on optimizing the facility design configuration, phasing in the facility...