San Francisco Business Times articles from April 2000

San Francisco Business Times archives from April 2000

Online battle for builders brews.(Buzzsaw.com and Bidcom seeks to control electronic construction business market)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Buzzsaw.com snags $75M in bid to cut through the competition Five-month-old Buzzsaw.com Inc. has received the largest single infusion of venture capital among companies rushing to put the building design and construction business online....

Oakland truckers fume.(Oakland trucking companies seeks access to Oakland Army Base)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Companies says they're being driven out, want to park at Army base A group of 17 West Oakland trucking companies is pushing the city to relocate them to the Oakland Army Base, saying they fear impending development in their neighborhood...

NBCi seeks to 'run with the big dogs'.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... William Lansing, who earned a reputation as a turnaround specialist at Prodigy and as an e-commerce maven at the direct marketer Fingerhut, will be put to the test in his new position as CEO of NBC Internet Inc. The San Francisco-based...

Wine seller pops cork on Net venture.(Ambrosia's Winetasting.com)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Investors predict a very good year for boutique vintners Makers of pricey, hard-to-find wines have banded together to jump into the online fray, launching an Internet venture that hopes to feed off the rift fermenting between the larger...

AMB bulks up holdings for e-commerce push.(AMB Property Corp. buys distribution center in Oakland)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... AMB Property Corp., upping the ante in its high-speed distribution gambit, has acquired one of Oakland's largest warehouse and distribution centers along the I-880 corridor. The San Francisco-based real estate investment trust closed April...

Retired gives way to rehired.(many seniors seek to continue working)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Many seniors share a common goal for their sunset years: A job Audrey Strand retired at 62 after nearly 40 years at Wells Fargo a Bank. Three years later, the bank lured the former special agent from its auditing department back with a...

Email company gets message: You've got cash.(Sendmail Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Sendmail Inc., the provider of the software used to run the vast majority of email servers on the Internet, has raised $35 million in a private financing led by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Venture Partners. Separately, the Emeryville-based...

Just In Time eager for bills to pile up.(Just In Time Solutions sells electronic payment software)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Online firm battles rivals for dominance in online payment tussle Since Doug Thompson came aboard as Just In Time Solutions' chief last July, the software firm has inked electronic bill presentment and payment pacts with big-name customers,...

Real estate banker makes withdrawal to San Diego.(Ethan Penner relocates to San Diego)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Rockn' roll banker Ethan Penner, who has a way with making and losing other people's money, has pulled the plug on another San Francisco venture. Penner made a name on Wall Street by securitizing $35 billion in commercial real estate loans...

Pedaling office space.(dot.com companies demand bicycle space in highrises)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The latest bone of contention between dot-com landlords and tenants in San Francisco: bikes. Mark Rosen, whose Rosen Realty Group brokered NBCi's lease of 225 Bush St last year, recalled that two-wheelers threw a wrench into the $80...

Paper cuts.(journalist Warren Hinckle on journalists at the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Warren Hinckle, larger-than-life journalistic gadfly and point man for the new, Fang family-owned Examiner is already woofing at the competition. "Oh, these guys at the Chronicle and the Examiner are all just pipe smokers without the...

Rise & Fall.(influential people in the Bay Area)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... A barometer of the region's movers, shakers and fakers Peter Magowan It's finished, it's open and it's beautiful. PacBell Park became the hottest ticket and hottest story in town as the wraps finally came off Magowan's Miracle on Third...

Office development to sprout in Fremont wetlands.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Developer Carl Berg has purchased 32 acres at the corner of Fremont Boulevard and Cushing Road in Fremont with plans to build 345,000 square feet of office/research and development space. Berg figures he could build about half the project...

Spieker signs new tenant for San Jose plaza.(Spieker Properties Inc. leases space in Skyport Plaza to Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Spieker Properties Inc. has leased space at its ambitious Skyport Plaza in San Jose to Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc., a division of the $75 billion German firm Siemens AG. Siemens will occupy 370,000 square feet in two...

Lights, camera ... Action's new product takes stage.(Action Technologies Inc.; eBRM2000)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Action Technologies Inc., a software company headed by former investment banker Bill Welty, is repositioning itself with a new product that allows businesses and their customers to track projects over the Internet. The Alameda-based...

Inside Traders.(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Inside Traders A look at buying and selling of shares by Bay Area executives Shelby Bonnie Director Cnet Networks Inc. Shares sold: 200,000...

CORRECTIONS.
April 7, 2000... The Entrepreneur Profile on Janet Smith-Heimer (March 31-April 6 issue) contained an incorrect web site address for Bay Area Economics. The correct address is www.bayareaeconomics.com.

Verza.com seeks greener VC pastures in Europe.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... San Francisco Internet startup Verza.com is tapping directly into less crowded European venture capital and labor markets while simultaneously launching its service on a global scale. The company offers credit card payment services for...

ATM fee-ban injunction upheld.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... A San Francisco federal appeals court upheld a preliminary injunction that prohibits enforcement of San Francisco and Santa Monica ATM laws. The laws ban banks from charging noncustomers a fee to use their ATMs. The case, filed Nov. 3 by Bank...

Hearst, Reilly going to trial.(Clint Reilly)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Forgoing a hearing on the preliminary injunction that is pausing Hearst Corp.'s $660 million buy of the San Francisco Chronicle, both parties in an antitrust case chose to proceed directly to a full trial. The trial, to begin May 1, will decide...

Venture fund raises $1.6 billion.(Technology Crossover Ventures)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Technology Crossover Ventures raised $1.6 billion for an Internet investment fund. The Palo Alto firm, which also has offices in Millburn, NJ., will invest between $3 million and $75 million in Internet startups and both private and public...

New 'techie' president for Stanford.(John L. Hennessy)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Stanford University named Provost John L. Hennessy to succeed Gerhard Casper as the school's new president. Hennessy is believed to be the first entrepreneur and computer scientist to lead a major research university.. During a mid-1980s...

$100M funding for Asia Online.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Asia Online, whose American head-quarters are in Walnut Creek, received $100, million in funding. Lead investors include Dell Computer and PaineWebber.

PG&E to form energy site.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... PG&E and 14 other U.S. energy companies announced plans to develop an Internet site to connect buyers and sellers of power equipment.

Stanford loses gender case.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... A jury found that Stanford University retaliated unfairly against a former researcher who complained of gender discrimination, and awarded her $541,000 in damages. Stanford has requested a new trial.

South Bay transit to get $760M.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Gov. Gray Davis has earmarked $760 million to extend BART down through Fremont and into SanJose. The money is apart of a $5 billion statewide fund to improve transit and roads. Silicon Valley got the biggest hunk of that fund -- roughly $1...

Local VCs, consultants form venture.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Consultants Bain & Co., Menlo Park venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Texas Pacific Group are creating a joint venture to invest in business-to-business companies. EVolution Global Partners will be headquartered in London, but...

S.F. auction house subpoenaed.(Butterfield & Butterfield)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... San Francisco's Butterfield & Butterfield, the upscale auction house that eBay Inc. bought last year, received a grand jury subpoena as part of a government investigation into price-fixing in the auction business. The Justice Department's...

Safeway wheels cart into B2B.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. and 11 other huge retailers are emulating the largest automobile manufacturers and forming an Internet consortium for business-to-business transactions. The new exchange is expected to start later this year and...

Pac Bell Park opens.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Pacific Bell Park, the San Francisco Giants' new downtown home, opened its gates to fans for the first time on March 31. More than 40,000 people filled the brand-new stadium to capacity.

PUC considers burning POPCORN.(POPCORN (767-2676) phone number)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... A Public Utilities Commission staff report recommended replacing the POPCORN (767-2676) phone number, which tells callers the current lime, with another. The move would free the '767' prefix for use in Northern and Central California--now, that...

Six HMOs form consortium.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Six major health maintenance organizations have teamed up with Oracle Corp. and IBM to form an online consortium to help doctors and patients deal, with paperwork and administrative issues on the web. The Internet venture -- formed by...

AT&T ups control over ExciteAtHome.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... AT&T has increased its control at Redwood City's Excite At Home. The giant telecom will increase its control from 56 percent of the voting stock to 74 percent.

Ikea moving to East Palo Alto.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... East Palo Alto will soon have an Ikea store to go along with recent retail developments in the area. The 250,000-square-foot store, for the European home-furnishing outlet, include a daycare center and a restaurant It will be the chain's second...

Janitors march at Oracle.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... More than 300 janitors marched across Oracle Corp.'s Redwood City campus, protesting: low pay and demanding an increase in wages. Most of the rally's participants were Hispanic women who earn less than $8 per hour, and many were members of the...

EXECUTIVE PROFILE.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
April 7, 2000... Name: Rod Schrock. Title: President and CEO. Company: Alta Vista, the Palo Alto-based Internet portal. Education: Bachelor of science degree in industrial management from Purdue University; M.B.A. from Harvard University. ...

$2B in office buildings on block in S.F. selling frenzy.
April 7, 2000... It's no secret that San Francisco is one of the world's most prized cities for real estate investment. But the number of major office buildings being dangled to prospective buyers hasn't been this plentiful since before the 1998 financial...

JP Kids.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Oakland-based JP Kids has inked a five-year lease for 16,000 square feet at 989 Market St. in San Francisco, bucking the rush-to-Oakland trend. JP Kids makes educational and entertainment TV shows, films and CD-ROMs for children. The 25-person...

Web Street Securities Inc.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Web Street Securities Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Web Street Inc., has signed a lease for the circular glass and steel building at Market, Sansome and Sutter streets formerly occupied by Sharper Image. The 6,700-square-foot deal in San...

Plexusnet Broadcasting Corp.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Plexusnet Broadcasting Corp., billed as the world's largest pure web-based online trade show and event producer, has signed a 16,000-square-foot lease at 74 New Montgomery St. The six-year deal is valued at more than $4.6 million. Anton Qiu of...

Planet U.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Planet U, an Internet promotions firm, is expanding its presence in San Francisco with a seven-year, 20,000-square-foot lease at 717 Market St. -- the first dot-com in the building. The space will become Planet U's new headquarters. John...

DoubleClick inks deal at Gallo Salame project.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The one-time Gallo Salame meat plant has its first New Economy tenant: DoubleClick Inc. The online advertising company has signed a 10-year deal for 117,000 square feet at 250 Brannan St. between Second and Delancy streets. Terms of the lease...

Landmark not for sale, despite rumors.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Despite information from several sources that the Martin Group is thinking of selling its almost fully leased Landmark renovation project at One Market St., the company said that is categorically not the case. So we'll take the company at its...

Women's financial site spells respect as M-O-N-E-Y.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The mood was downright Oprah-esque: Cool lavender lighting, a panel of women with heart-wrenching tales seated on a comfy couch in front of an attentive audience. Live from San Francisco's Old Federal Reserve Bank building, it was the...

Ragen MacKenzie bagged; Wells to grow securities.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Now that Wells Fargo & Co.'s $240 million purchase of the Seattle-based Ragen MacKenzie Group brokerage is complete (as of March 16), the people following such things believe Wells can move forward with bigger plans. But Wells Chairman...

BofA develops ads aimed at ethnic markets.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Bank of America's latest advertising blitz stresses one general message -- to make banking work in ways it never has before -- but the content is broken down specifically for black, Hispanic and Asian markets. (The Asian ads are even tailored...

Crescent couple tapped to run S.F. resort group.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The investment group controlled by Texas financier Richard Rainwater, which purchased the Sonoma Mission Inn three years ago, is spinning off a new resort group to be based in San Francisco. Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. of Fort Worth...

Hilton fishes for business.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The newly rechristened Hilton Fisherman's Wharf has opened following its $9 million renovation, hoping to take advantage of new services and amenities to build a strong business clientele on top of the location's strong tourist trade. The...

Former Liz Claiborne exec to sew up Levi's fraying edges.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Levi Strauss & Co. is mending its threadbare upper ranks with the hiring of retail-savvy former Liz Claiborne Inc. executive Jim Lewis. Lewis, 49, a former group president at the once-ailing Claiborne, is viewed in the industry as...

Retail rumors avec d'argent.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... High-end luxury retailers are giddy with the riches brought on by the dot-corn bonanza Whitney Cressman Ltd., one of the leading brokerages handling upscale retail clients like Armani and Hermes, says Grant Avenue is going to see big changes as...

Docs demand more clout in haggles with HMOs.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Doctors have long complained about their lack of clout with HMOs and other health plans. Now they may get some help at both the state and federal level. Physicians are backing a federal bill authored by Silicon Valley Republican Tom...

Main Street meets Wall Street for East Bay venture capitalists.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... If you want to see how Oakland's economy is changing, just look at an event sponsored by the city's Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is bringing together representatives of a growing East Bay venture capital community and the growing...

New e-incubator.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Navidec, a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based company specializing in helping traditional businesses transform into e-businesses, has opened an office and incubator in San Francisco. The 580 California St. office is one of eight new regional...

Clinton, Congress agree on employee stock options bill.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman is fighting for the rank-and-file. She is pushing to overturn a previous ruling from her department, and allow overtime pay to he calculated without adding in the value of workers' stock options. The move could...

Bill gives small business tax break for software.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Small businesses could immediately deduct the full cost of software instead of writing it off over three years under legislation introduced by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif. Current law governing software purchases requires businesses to...

More businesses may get interest on checking.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Banks would be allowed to pay interest on business checking accounts under legislation passed by the House Banking Committee. Small business groups and community banks wanted to repeal the prohibition on interest-bearing business checking...

Armey: manufacturing workers should push China.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, says small manufacturers need to enlist their employees in the lobbying effort for permanent normal trading relations with China. It would be particularly helpful to "have your unionized...

Business leaders No. 1 in helpinq urban schools.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Public school officials in the nation's largest urban areas rate business leaders and foundations as the most helpful outside groups. Congress and the news media ranked at the bottom of the survey conducted by the Council of the Great City...

It takes a village.(Government Activity)
April 7, 2000... As traffic exhausts more communities, a solution looms on the horizon: Transit villages There was a time when neighborhoods near a train station were considered to be on the wrong side of the tracks. But those tracks and trains are...

Standard Oil building gets gussied up for dot-coms.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Call it 225bushstreet.com. The old Standard Oil building in San Francisco's financial district, which is being taken over by NBC Internet Inc., is being completely rewired for the Internet age. Renovating an 80-year-old corporate landmark...

Bovis rises to the next level in San Francisco market.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Three years ago, Bovis Construction Corp. was a relatively unknown company in the Bay Area. Now, Bovis -- which merged last year with Australian real estate giant Lend Lease -- offers a full array of services and has built itself into a major...

Anti-growth initiatives threaten homebuilding.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... As congestion has taken root in the East Bay, a growth-control movement has blossomed aimed at slowing the rampant housing development that proponents see as the source of their misery. Measures that would have put a brake on housing...

Largest Environmental Firms in the Bay Area.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Directory)
April 7, 2000... Largest Environmental Firms in the Bay Area Companyname Rank Address last Phone/ Fax Bay Area Rank year Website 1999 billings 1 2...

Small businesses find e-filing too big to download.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Despite the hoopla, filing taxes over the Internet still remains too new to be a preferred option for small businesses. Even the smallest sole proprietorships hesitate, since without a speedy DSL connection, just downloading the forms could...

Break the tax cycle.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... On April 16, frenzied business owners may be tempted to stuff those tax papers into a fat folder and vow to do better next year. Don't be in such a hurry -- put such noble resolutions into practice right away. The State Board of...

Cyber-saviors.(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... DriveSavers resurrects hard drives felled by storms, fires or floods Desperate, Raynor grabbed a screwdriver and cracked open the destroyed computer. His goal: recovering the hard drive holding 16 years of taxes, payroll accounts, design...

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE.(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Stacey Boyd Title: President and CEO. Company: Project ACHIEVE, San Francisco-based company offering an Internet-based system for schools to handle grading, attendance and other administrative tasks. Founded: 1998. Number of...

Internet banking adds up to real convenience and savings.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Last week, I: * Transferred money from my money market account to my checking account. * Sent paycheck information to my payroll service. * Paid two credit-card bills. * Checked my bank balances. Mundane money matters for...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(executive appointments)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... ADVERTISING/PR South San Francisco-based Neihaus Ryan Wong has named two new vice presidents, who will be responsible for heading up major agency business units. They are Aaron Heinrich and Marcie Powers. Heinrich comes to NRW from the...

City officials rattle rusty sabres against ATM fees.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Proving again that it really doesn't know when to quit, the city of San Francisco is carrying on its forlorn battle to ban some ATM fees. City officials have already lost twice in court -- once when banks won a rapid-fire injunction...

Lead me not into valley of temptation.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Dear Maker: I know I don't talk to you very often, but it's time again. I'm living in this strange place called Silicon Valley that's very cool in a lot of ways, but it's got more open manholes than Madonna has exes. The valley...

Leagues won't play hardball with negotiations.(Major League Baseball)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The tip came in on deep background, definitely not for attribution. This owner of a Major League Baseball team was more fearful that his true identity be revealed than Rick Rockwell. He didn't want to arouse the wrath of baseball commissioner...

Revenue-fat state should pump up infrastructure.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 7, 2000... Californians who cast ballots in the March primary election sent a number of messages to policymakers that should bode well for the future of the state's economy and ability to maintain a competitive edge in the business world. One...

$600M fund targets tech space and stock.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Divco West to house and invest in Net startups for equity stake Divco West Properties is preparing to raise up to $600 million to build and buy technology facilities across the region -- and invest in the companies that occupy them. ...

Strike up the bandwidth.(NorthPoint Communications expands service in Bay Area)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Telecom NorthPoint expands in East Bay, pursues new markets NorthPoint Communications, the San Francisco provider of highspeed Internet access through digital subscriber lines, plans to double the size of its presence in Emeryville, a...

Ballpark condos get grand-slam price.(Eikon Investments L.L.C. San Francisco complex)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Dallas firm answers San Francisco housing crunch with $135M buy A Dallas-based real estate investment firm is snapping up one of the largest condominium projects in San Francisco. Eikon Investments LLC is forking over around $135...

Young tech firms pack VC punch.(venture capital)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Fledgling Bay Area companies, barely out of their corporate diapers, are launching their own venture capital funds. E-Trade, Ariba Inc., Commerce One Corp. and others aren't waiting to become profitable before they start plowing money into...

Bishop Ranch to go out with a bang.(Sunset Development Co. plans office space)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Sunset Development Co. has unveiled plans for nearly 700,000 square feet of offices on the last remaining development parcel at its Bishop Ranch business park. The $130 million development, consisting of three five-story buildings of...

Business Times expands web site.(San Francisco Business Times)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... The web site for the San Francisco Business Times is expanding its content and usefulness under a new name, www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco. "This is a new name for our new direction on. the Internet," said Ray Shaw, chairman of American...

Developer tunes into station.(West Oakland, CA, train station sold to developer)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Loft king Holliday buys historic train station for office, housing play Loft developer Rick Holliday has bought the long-abandoned West Oakland train station and plans to transform the derelict 25-acre site into a. housing and office...

Stock Answers.(stocks of Asian high-tech companies)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Fund managers again take stock of Asian technology When an earthquake rocked Taiwan last fall, Mark Headly said it sent out a powerful message about the place Asian technology companies have in today's global economy. "Every technology...

CEO and IPO spell headache for Linux firm.(departure of CEO Fernand Sarrat delays initial public offering)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... In a double-barrelled surprise for the Linux community, Linuxcare Inc. said CEO Fernand Sarrat has left and it has postponed its initial public offering. Linux industry sources blamed a clash of styles between Sarrat's more formal business...

Web firm hopes its navel maneuver will bear fruit.(Ask Jeeves uses oranges for promotion)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... With a herd of Internet companies desperately clamoring for your attention, it's getting ever harder to stand out from the e-crowd.com. Emeryville-based web search engine Ask Jeeves believes it has found a unique vehicle for juicing its...

Hollywood loves local lounge act.(lobbies designed by Huntsman Architectural Group featured in film and TV productions)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Hollywood apparently loves the San Francisco-based Huntsman Architectural Group. The outside of 260 California, where Huntsman created the lobby, appears each week on sitcom "Suddenly Susan." Now actor Keanu Reeves will shoot some scenes for...