Pittsburgh Business Times articles from June 1995

Pittsburgh Business Times archives from June 1995

Pay survey finds local pols are low-paid. (Pittsburgh, PA)
June 26, 1995... Don't follow the money if you're looking for power PITTSBURGH - Quick. Who was the highest-paid public official in Allegheny County last year? Nope. Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy ranks a lowly 33rd. Sorry. County commission chairman Tom...

Purchase, Rite Aid make MARC the local ad king. (MARC and Company Inc.)
June 26, 1995... Miami acquisition, new account push MARC to all-time high SOUTH SIDE - What's the next step after winning the $50 million account that makes you Pittsburgh's largest advertising agency? You grow even bigger. Scarcely pausing to pop the...

Business favors hidden in budget. (Pennsylvania)
June 26, 1995... Legislature grants millions to specific firms, industries HARRISBURG - Political pundits will debate who won or lost in Gov. Tom Ridge's first budget for months. But while pundits pontificate, a whole slew of satisfied business interests...

A high-tech gamble. (Ben Franklin Partnership)
June 26, 1995... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] The Ben Franklin Partnership wins more money from the state, but is the program worth the cost? OAKLAND - With Gov. Tom Ridge cutting taxes and tightening spending, an economic development program that receives mere...

Now, William Lowry's got the blues. (chief executive officer of Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania)
June 26, 1995... Blue Cross executive is cheerfully going about expanding insurer's reach DOWNTOWN - The man who heads up Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania's aggressive approach in the marketplace is, on the face of it, a surprisingly low-key executive....

Balloting begins for local Cellular One customers.
June 26, 1995... Long-distance rally opens market to new competitors PITTSBURGH - Choose now or accept the consequences. That's the message being delivered this week to Cellular One customers. More than 100,000 of the cellular phone carrier's users in...

Sharing office space means more than just sharing a coffee maker.(Special Report: Modern Office)
June 26, 1995... City's shared space market is growing 15 percent a year. DOWNTOWN - Cal Hunter didn't get into the shared office business by the direct route - he got swept up in a trend. "I was a general manager with eight district sales managers that...

When to start the spin(off) cycle. (Used Appliance Warehouse)(Company Profile)
June 26, 1995... Fred Landay doesn't understand the nuts and bolts of the appliances he sells. He doesn't have to. Fred Landay doesn't have an army of business school graduates advising him on key strategy moves. So when he decided to expand his company,...

It's a fruit! A pasta! A salad! It's three profitable products in one. (spaghetti squash sold by Remlik Foods Inc.)(Company Profile)
June 26, 1995... So says Jim Kilmer, who hopes the spaghetti squash will push Remlik Food sales to $6 million a year. Look closely at the name of Jim Kilmer's company and you glean something of the contrary view of life that's made the 42-year-old...

Ad accounts come home to local agencies; long overlooked, 'Burgh shops win work from big local firms. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
June 19, 1995... PITTSBURGH - About six months ago, H.J. Heinz Co. awarded the ad account for its flagship ketchup to Ketchum Advertising Pittsburgh. For the local ad community, it was a victory and a symbol of the changing tide in the industry. While it...

They taught the world how to transplant livers, but city hospitals now face lessons of their own. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylavania)
June 19, 1995... The legacy of livers OAKLAND - Once, there was only one place where liver transplant patients might come to save their lives - here, to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center or Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Today, UPMC and...

New poll: voters back river gaming; sixty percent would support statewide vote, legalization.
June 19, 1995... SOUTH SIDE - If voters decided the fate of legalized gaming at this very moment, a new poll obtained by the Business Times says they'd allow casinos to cruise Pennsylvania rivers. The poll, conducted for hospitality and tourism interests...

Financial footwork helps dance company; the Pittsburgh Dance Council weathers a financial storm.
June 19, 1995... DOWNTOWN - When the Pittsburgh Dance Council brought the renowned Alvin Alley dance company to Pittsburgh in March 1993, there were great expectations - but not about the weather. Then a blizzard swept in and forced the dance council to...

High court boosts state bill to end affirmative action; federal courts weaken programs for minorities.
June 19, 1995... The backlash against federal affirmative action programs has local minority and women business owners bracing for a "trickle down" effect on state and local government programs. In a June 12 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court toughened the...

Developing a Pittsburgh presence: as point man for Forest City Enterprises, Steve Nesterak is a force in real estate.(People to Watch)
June 19, 1995... SOUTH SIDE - Steve Nesterak was still in college in the '80s when Pittsburgh's Renaissance II added Liberty Center and several other Downtown office towers to its skyline. He's now in the position to be an important part of Pittsburgh's next...

Industrial Scientific "bulking up" with acquisition. (Industrial Scientific Corp.'s acquisition of Monitor Group Inc.)
June 19, 1995... Cheswick company builds research and development ability OAKDALE - Industrial Scientific Corp., a developer and manufacturer of portable gas monitoring instruments, is growing in new directions - both in products and in markets. Last week,...

Hotels become offices away from the office.(Special Report: Hotels, Meetings & Conventions)
June 19, 1995... Business travelers demand more hotel room technology PITTSBURGH - Courting business travelers has meant making a healthy investment in technology for most local hotels. But the money isn't being spent on mere bedside fax machines and...

President Riverboat Casinos Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Special Report: Hotels, Meetings & Conventions)(Company Profile)
June 19, 1995... (OTC:PREZ) President Riverboat Casinos Inc. owns, develops and operates riverboat and dockside casinos through its subsidiaries. For fiscal year 1995, ended February 28, the company reported an operating loss of $13.2 million and a net...

Burger kings savor offer of $100 million; Rudolphs hope to sell 50 restaurants back to Wendy's. (Rudolph family; Wendy's International Inc.)
June 12, 1995... PITTSBURGH - Greater Pittsburgh's burger meisters, the Rudolph family, are selling out. The owners of some 50 Wendy's hamburger restaurants in the metro area are negotiating to sell the franchise back to Wendy's International Inc., both...

Area labs test new procedure: cooperation.
June 12, 1995... Hospitals hope joint venture will cut costs, keep labs open Several local hospitals, tired of nursing in-house testing laboratories as they bleed revenue, have devised what they hope will be a powerful remedy: cooperation. In a rare...

Court orders Carlow firms to repay loans. (Frank Carlow; Columbia Portland Cement Co.; United States Cement Co.)
June 12, 1995... PIDA says it's owed $2.7 million for plants PITTSBURGH - A court has ordered the father of Pittsburgh entrepreneur Michael Carlow and two family cement companies to repay $2.7 million in defaulted state loans. Frank Carlow, of Uniontown,...

Gabriel's expands no-frills discount clothing chain.
June 12, 1995... Retailer plans three stores to sew up bargain market GREENSBURG - Greg Gabriel runs the kind of business only Ma Bell could dislike. The company follows an odd business practice of banning phones from its stores. The number for Mr....

Diamond Meat Co. will move to former Borden plant. (Borden Dairy)
June 12, 1995... Wholesaler will sell South Side building, relocate to Green Tree GREEN TREE - The former Borden Dairy facility on Mansfield Avenue has been sold to Diamond Meat Co., which plans to convert it into a distribution and manufacturing plant....

By-Products Industries seeks ammunition plant. (Hays Ammunition Plant)
June 12, 1995... HAYS - By-Products Industries wants to open a recycling plant at the former Hays Ammunition Plant, a property the city has been trying to redevelop for several years. BPI, which has plants in McKees Rocks and Oklahoma, would move its...

Richard Cyert works on his next chapter; after a battle with cancer, a former CMU president is back on campus. (Carnegie-Mellon University)(People to Watch)
June 12, 1995... OAKLAND - In the 1960s, Richard Cyert's research examined the role of the university president. He then held that position at Carnegie Mellon University for more than 18 years, Now, Mr. Cyert is creating a model for a former university...

New Clark Bar owner pulls together financing deal. (Clark Bar America; Jim Clister)
June 12, 1995... Clister awaits last item: an $800,000 state loan PITTSBURGH - The Clark Bar's new savior, Jim Clister, has now secured nearly every dollar of his deal money. The Mount Lebanon businessman, who purchased D.L. Clark Co. out of bankruptcy on...

St. Barnabas gears up for Valencia Woods expansion; after nearly a year of waiting, the state approves the project. (St. Barnabas Health System; Valencia Woods Nursing Center; Pennsylvania)
June 12, 1995... VALENCIA - St. Barnabas Health System has received final approval for its addition to the Valencia Woods Nursing Center - an expansion that will add 89 new beds to the nursing home and bring 89 jobs to this southern Butler County community....

Amsco International Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 12, 1995... (NYSE:ASZ) Amsco International Inc., Downtown, offers infection control and surgical capital equipment, services and disposable products to health care, scientific and industrial customers worldwide. The company cites the continued effects...

Former FORTUNE publisher Jim Hayes elected president and CEO of JA Inc.(Pittsburgh Partners: Junior Achievement)
June 12, 1995... Former FORTUNE Magazine Publisher James B. Hayes has been elected president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement Inc. Hayes has served as chairman of Junior Achievement's national board of directors and has been a board member of...

Local CEOs take pay cut - well, sort of. (highest-paid chief executive officers of Pittsburgh-based corporations)
June 5, 1995... Tax law cut salaries for some, others get benefits, bonuses PITTSBURGH - Some truths in life are self-evident. Run the region's biggest corporation, take home the biggest paycheck. Just ask Charles Corry, chairman and chief executive...

Bell Atlantic to bring CNBC to your PC. (starts interactive cable televisionservice in Pittsburgh, PA)
June 5, 1995... DOWNTOWN - Odds are excellent that you'll be watching interactive cable programs on your computer at least a year before you can view it on your television set. A modified version of Bell Atlantic Corp.'s TeleTV Inc. joint venture should hit...

State of unrest: how Pennsylvania hinders Pittsburgh.
June 5, 1995... PITTSBURGH - Two hundred years ago, the settlement that would become Pittsburgh perched on the frontier of a strategic migration that made it a center of industry, innovation and transportation for generations. Today, Pittsburgh stands on the...

Chicago firm pursues CNG Tower. (Yarmouth Group Inc.)
June 5, 1995... Yarmouth Group offers $70 million for Liberty landmark DOWNTOWN - The Yarmouth Group Inc., a Chicago investment company, is negotiating to buy CNG Tower for $70 million. Built in 1987, CNG Tower is one of Pittsburgh's largest and newest...

Duquesne Light unplugs Banksville service site.
June 5, 1995... Electric company changes location due to traffic snarls DOWNTOWN - Duquesne Light Co. plans to close its Banksville Road customer service headquarters and may eliminate up to 75 jobs throughout its customer service group. The Banksville...

High tech and high seas. (William Steitz, chairman of Sauer Industries Inc.)
June 5, 1995... Sauer Industries owner William Steitz builds yachts, energy devices DOWNTOWN - William Steitz caught the sailing bug about 10 years ago, and it almost proved terminal. Casting about for a company to build a yacht he fancied, Mr. Steitz not...

Oldest city office building signs new lease of life. (Burke Building, Pittsburgh, PA)
June 5, 1995... Member of prominent Hunt family invests in historical structure DOWNTOWN - Pittsburgh's oldest office building has been purchased by a descendent of one of the city's oldest and most prominent families. Capt. Alfred E. Hunt was a founder...

County's new prison features big brother and the holding cell. (Allegheny County, PA)
June 5, 1995... The new jail's security system, once inconceivable, is now reality DOWNTOWN - Warden Charles Kozakiewicz worked at the county jail's 109-year-old site on Ross Street, Downtown, for 14 years. But it seems more like 200. "I had difficulty...

City of Pittsburgh will be unplugged no more. (upgrading of municipal computer system)(Special Report: Technology Quarterly)
June 5, 1995... New technology is on its way to city hall DOWNTOWN - Computers have come a long way since the 1970s. Unless you work at city hall. That's why a score of city employees will begin training this month for the new and improved City...