Pittsburgh Business Times articles from April 1995

Pittsburgh Business Times archives from April 1995

Pittsburgh region had most strikers statewide in 1994. (Pennsylvania)
April 24, 1995... State officials, labor leaders call last year an 'aberration' Harrisburg - With the shift from heavy industry to service-sector jobs in recent years, Pennsylvania has lost fewer days to strikes - until 1994. Although the state Department...

AT&T plans new service center will bring hundreds of jobs here. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
April 24, 1995... New facility at Station Square will combine existing, new jobs Station Square - Pittsburgh has AT&T's number. The New Jersey-based communications giant says it will open a customer service center here that could create as many as 500 jobs....

Robroy will move factory to Texas. (Robroy Industries Inc.)
April 24, 1995... About 50 jobs affected by local company's makeover Verona - As part of a company make-over, Robroy Industries expects to close its Verona factory and relocate its 50 jobs to another plant in Texas. An official decision could be a week or...

The big names covet Pittsburgh shoppers, but our hills, tastes and lack of space stymie their efforts. (retail industry; Pennsylvania)
April 24, 1995... When Williams Sonoma opens the first of three regional cookware shops in the Galleria this spring, it will culminate a 10-year attempt by the San Francisco retailer to enter the Pittsburgh market. Willlams Sonoma learned long ago the sad fact...

New group unites local minority corporate counsels. (social network for minority corporate attorneys established by Reed Smith Shaw and McClay)
April 24, 1995... Minorities who serve as corporate lawyers build their own network Downtown - It's been 104 years since an African-American was first allowed to practice law in Allegheny County. Now Reed Smith Shaw & McClay wants to give minority lawyers a...

Area's savings institutions say nay to rate hike. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)(Special Report: Banking & Finance Quarterly)
April 24, 1995... Changes in insurance law means less in coffers Downtown - On Wood Street Downtown, One PNC Plaza looms over the three-story Pittsburgh Home Savings Bank building. The relative sizes of the institutions' main Downtown branches stands as a...

PNC Bank offers its employees a piece of the action. (PNC Bank Corp.'s Employee Financial Services unit)(Special Report: Banking & Finance Quarterly)
April 24, 1995... New internal bank makes PNC products a bargain Downtown - Belly Berkely was visiting Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, when she experienced something everyone dreads: She lost her billfold. Most people, however, wouldn't do what she did...

Integra Financial Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
April 24, 1995... (NYSE:IFC) Information for Proxy Corner was taken from Integra Financial Corp's 1994 annual report and a proxy statement dated March 17, 1995. [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Operating Results (Dollars in...

Divine inspiration. (Mary Ann Graf's restoration business)(Small Business Journal)
April 24, 1995... In an abandoned North Side church, Mary Ann and Ed Graf found a business with heavenly potential. Now they're hoping for a Second Coming. Mary Ann Graf stands in the center of a 19th-century church, surrounded by St. John the Baptist, St....

Shifting gears. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bike messenger services)(Small Business Journal)
April 24, 1995... Pittsburgh's bike messenger services haven't let electronic mail and faxes kill them; instead, they've learned to diversify. Just because businesses are more reliant than ever on electronic gadgets to communicate, does that mean bike...

Were Phar-Mor woes hidden by Westinghouse? (Phar-Mor-Inc.; Westinghouse Electric Corp.)
April 17, 1995... Drugstore chain's former auditors, sued by Westinghouse, says yes Bulging with almost $14 billion in rotting junk bonds in the late 1980s, Westinghouse Electric Corp. needed Phar-Mor Inc. stock like it needed another hole in its portfolio....

A tale of two colleges. (Robert Morris College's budget surplus and Point Park College's budget deficit)
April 17, 1995... Like big schools, Point Park and Robert Morris face fewer students, less money, but with different results DOWNTOWN - When Robert Morris College's new football team kicked off this year, the school's game plan had little to do with the...

Three bidders gain time to buy Clark. (D.L. Clark Co.)
April 17, 1995... Bankruptcy court extends deadline for candy maker's liquidation DOWNTOWN - Entrepreneur Michael Carlow won't be running it, but the near-dead D.L. Clark Co. has been granted a last-minute reprieve. The bankruptcy attorney for D.L. Clark's...

A colorful chip off the old wood block. (Energy Gear commercial artist Burton Morris)
April 17, 1995... Burton Morris makes distinctive art for all of us - just check your refrigerator SHADYSIDE - Burton Morris' artwork may not hang on your walls but odds are it roosts in your refrigerator. Mr. Morris has designed labels for Heinz salad...

Overtime makes manufacturing more productive.(Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
April 17, 1995... Extra hours boost output, but keep employment low MCKEESPORT - In the old steel plants around McKeesport that now house newly formed small companies, overtime has become a way of life. "We offer it to employees. If they take it, they take...

Hospitals manage new attitudes toward time off. (vacation and sick day policies)(Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
April 17, 1995... Flexible leave time helps employers avoid the unexpected OAKLAND - The vacation and sick day policies at Magee Women's Hospital give Dee Dee Brackett the flexibility she likes - and reward her for not calling off sick. Magee, like many...

'Medical monitoring' lawsuits can have costly results. (chemical companies)(Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
April 17, 1995... Planning in advance will keep costs down Imagine that you are a chemical manufacturer and that you discover a small leak of radioactive material into groundwater. You immediately notify the appropriate regulatory authorities. You take...

Are you personally liable for employment decisions? (executives; employment litigation)(Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
April 17, 1995... Executives who presume that they cannot be held personally liable for employment actions they take in their official capacities may be in for a rude awakening the next time an ex-employee decides to sue. American businesses continue to suffer...

HMOs battle for market supremacy, as employers scout out the best deals. (HealthAmerica Corp.; Keystone Health Plan West)(Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
April 17, 1995... Blue Cross and HealthAmerica fight it out for No. 1 ranking Just beneath the surface of this week's deceptively placid list of local health maintenance organizations, a bloody war rages. And nowhere is the local fight for HMO subscribers...

PDG Environmental Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
April 17, 1995... (NASDAQ:PDGE) PDG Environmental Inc. provides asbestos abatement and environmental remediation services to the private and public sectors. Through its subsidiaries, the company performs all types of asbestos clean-up and disposal, and...

Doubletree will replace Vista at Liberty Center. (Doubletree Hotels Corp.)
April 10, 1995... Hotel management change comes as center emerges from bankruptcy Downtown - Pittsburgh's second-largest hotel will soon fly a new flag. As part of the refinancing of the troubled Liberty Center complex, the owners of the Vista have hired...

Corporate downsizing stole clients from area's law firms, teaching them new - and painful - lessons.
April 10, 1995... Downtown - When the big clients leave town, so do the law firms that service them. Right? Not in Pittsburgh. While the 'Burgh has lost Koppers Co., Gulf Oil, Allegheny International and Rockwell International in the last decade, the number...

The legacy of Phar-Mor: far more than $1 billion. (Phar-Mor Inc.)
April 10, 1995... Coopers & Lybrand is the largest target in suits by angry investors Pittsburgh - Picture Youngstown, Ohio, as Mayberry and Phar-Mor Inc. as the corner drug store. Then imagine that Opie pocketed the cash from the till. Now store owners...

New Baker execs engineer a rebirth. (Michael Baker Corp.)
April 10, 1995... Analysts and executives agree that Michael Baker's worst is over Moon Township - For five decades, Michael Baker Corp. has designed roads, airports and military facilities. For the last five months, the multifaceted engineering company has...

Bishoff interested in buying troubled Clark Building. (E.V. Bishoff Co.)
April 10, 1995... Real estate investor likes its potential and its price Downtown - The troubled Clark Building, which is expected to be sold at a sheriff's sale in June, has an interested buyer. David Bishoff of E.V. Bishoff Co. Real Estate said the Clark...

WDVE surpasses KDKA in ad sales. (WDVE-FM radio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
April 10, 1995... For first time in history, FM station grabs top spot Green Tree - The sales team and top managers of radio station WDVE-FM, along with their spouses, went on all expense-paid trip to the Bahamas early this year. The occasion? WDVE topped...

Washington County plant turns coal waste into energy. (Pennsylvania)
April 10, 1995... Air Products and Chemicals Inc. venture uses new high-tech process Washington County - Pennsylvania produced an energy source that fueled the industrial revolution - coal. The remnants of that contribution, however, have long been seen as...

Chatham sees gains in green studies. (Chatham College)
April 10, 1995... College banks on environmental conference, major for growth Shadyside - Rachel Carson would be proud. The famed environmentalist and author of "Silent Spring" was a 1929 graduate of Chatham College, which today is building on her legacy by...

Serious bidder pursues Clark. (D.L. Clark Co.)
April 3, 1995... Local officials hope to close the deal, keeping candy maker here O'Hara Township - A serious buyer is negotiating to purchase D.L. Clark Co. before a creditor can claim the company's candy-making equipment on April 15, the Business Times has...

Sheriff to sell Clark Building at auction. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
April 3, 1995... Battle affects Cultural District home of wholesale jewelers Downtown - Integra Financial Corp. says the Clark Building in the heart of Pittsburgh's Cultural District will be sold at a sheriffs sale on June 5. But Michael Hahaylak, who owns...

Alcoa's new North Side headquarters symbolizes its new drive and chairman Paul O'Neill's vision. (Aluminum Company of America)
April 3, 1995... North Side - In eight years, chairman Paul O'Neill has tested the metal - and the mettle - of Alcoa, forging a new structure for the company in the process. And some time in the next few years, Mr. O'Neill's vision will become as visible to...

One battle, two victors: Pitt, Blues. (University of Pittsburgh; Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania)
April 3, 1995... Contract loss nicks HealthAmerica, boosts UPMC and angers Pitt staff Downtown - University of Pittsburgh administrators picked finances over faculty in awarding Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania all of the university's health insurance...

Equitable seeks wealth in Columbian oil fields. (Equitable Resources Inc.)
April 3, 1995... Gas company travels to south in effort to diversify interests Downtown - In the swampy savanna of northeast Columbia, Equitable Resources Inc. and its partners are getting ready to drill an exploration well in hopes of finding oil. It may...

City's glass ceiling for women easier to crack than most. (women executives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
April 3, 1995... Study says region's largest employers tapping more women Pittsburgh - The region's largest employers have more women walking the halls of power than the national average, according to a study, but much of the difference can be attributed to...

Bell Atlantic Corp. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
April 3, 1995... (NYSE:BEL) Bell Atlantic Corp., a diversified telecommunications company, was founded in 1984. It serves the mid-Atlantic region with voice and data services; it serves the East coast, Southeast and Southwest with wireless communications....

Irish Institute travel program builds business relationships in Pittsburgh. (Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh)
April 3, 1995... Exchange lets entrepreneurs sign deals, trade information Downtown - Irish businessman Edwin Masterson may have done it the hard way, but in the end he worked out a technology distribution deal during a three-week trip to the United States....

Alcoa won city financing for new HQ, but now seeks tax, zoning changes, too. (Aluminum Company of America; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
April 3, 1995... Downtown - When Alcoa goes to city government officials to request zoning changes and tax abatements for its new headquarters building, it will do so with confidence. After all, Mayor Tom Murphy and his administration have already given the...

Up from da undaground: Jet and Ebony wouldn't print Jehvon Buckner's work, so he began his own magazine. (Da Ghetto Tymz magazine)
April 3, 1995... East Liberty - In your hands, the black and white pages of Da Ghetto Tymz blaze with color. "I cry in sadness like water flowing in the sewers," writes contributor Brian Arrington. "I am depressed, do you not need me? You stand right beside...

Profiting from education. (Turner Elementary School)
April 3, 1995... Wilkinsburg's Turner Elementary may become the state's first privately operated public elementary school. Wilkinsburg - The Tennessee investment advisers hired to operate Turner Elementary School are finding public education somewhat less...