San Francisco Business Times articles from July 2001

San Francisco Business Times archives from July 2001

Docs brace for Peninsula patient flood.(Stanford University Hospital and Clinics)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Stanford cancels HMO contracts, scatters up to 50,000 enrollees Stanford University Hospital and Clinics' cancellation of six HMO contracts could throw health-care arrangements for thousands of patients into disarray, amid warnings that the...

E-Trade pops for customers.(E-Trade Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Strategy hits financial firm's wallet Less than two months after E-Trade Group Inc. said it would focus its squeezed marketing and sales dollars on cross-selling existing customers, the Menlo Park-based online financial services company...

Smith & Hawken head gardener digs in.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Barry Gilbert, former No. 2 executive at Sharper Image and more recently CEO of defunct online jewelry retailer Miadora.com, has been tapped to head garden specialty retailer Smith & Hawken Ltd. Gilbert is credited with helping restore...

CalPERS seeking an HMO prescription.(California Public Employees Retirement System )(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Frustrated with the performance of the HMOs it contracts with -- and their costs -- the California Public Employees Retirement System is looking for suggestions. Officers for the nation's largest health-care purchasing pool have formally...

Bay Area space commander.(Equity Office Properties Trust's Mark Geisreiter)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 6, 2001... Merger gives Equity Office nearly 10M square feet in region With the ink barely dried on its $7.3 billion purchase of Spieker Properties Inc., Equity Office Properties Trust is moving to put its stamp on its expanded Bay Area operations....

Buyout flows consultants into Chicago.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... San Francisco-based consultant Liquid Thinking, seeking to gain a foothold in the Midwest and expand its product offerings, has agreed to purchase Chicago-based software consulting firm. DaVinci Software Inc. for between $3 million and $6...

Sportvision's pitch puts tech company into ESPN's strike zone.(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 6, 2001... What started out as a glowing hockey puck has morphed into a multimillion-dollar industry for Sportvision Inc., one that is changing technology's place in televised sports. ESPN unveiled Sportvision's computerized strike zone July 1 for...

Deadbeat dot-coms make pizza chain's dough fall.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... Short-changing laid-off workers, cleaning out investors and skipping town on the landlord is bad enough, but-now dying dot-coms have gone too far: They've stuffed the pizza guy. Last year, Extreme Pizza was the leading provider of pie...

Rise & Fall.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... A barometer of the region's movers, shakers and fakers Willie Brown [up arrow] Go on, then: I dare you. That's Brown's basic message to S.F.'s Board of Supervisors, vetoing their ill-judged clampdown on tenancies-in-common, even after...

Study calls linking SFO and Oakland impractical.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Armed with results of a recent state-ordered study, Oakland International Airport officials hope to shoot down a plan to connect the Oakland and San Francisco airports by high-speed rail or ferry service. Oakland aviation director Steve...

Corrections & Amplifications.
July 6, 2001... Software maker Autodesk Inc. was inadvertently excluded from The List of Largest Software Companies in the May 25 issue. It would have ranked No. 5 on The List with $848 million in revenue for fiscal year 2000.

Executive Profile: CHRIS POLAND.(Degenkolb Engineers)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 6, 2001... RESUME Name: Chris Poland. Title: Chairman, President and CEO. Company: Degenkolb Engineers, the San Francisco-based engineering firm with 125 principals. Background: Poland joined Degenkolb in 1974 as an entry-level...

Troubled 333 Grant building hit with default.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... Fremont Investment & Loan, the financial backer for developer Scott Bales, has filed a notice of default on 333 Grant Ave. in San Francisco. Bales is in default of $15.5 million on the property. Payment was due May 31. The notice,...

Tishman: 555 Mission to continue despite manager's exit.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... The project manager for Tishman Speyer Properties' planned 555 Mission St. office tower has left the company, but a spokesman said that's not a sign Tishman is getting cold feet about the massive San Francisco project. The circumstances of...

Huntsman captures low rent at 50 California.(Huntsman Architectural Group )(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Just how cheap has premier space in San Francisco's financial district become? Try $42 a square foot. That's what Huntsman Architectural Group is paying for a floor of space at 50 California St., a Class A Shorenstein Co. building, according to...

PORT CALLS FOR LIGHTER AIRPORT PROPOSAL.(Port of Oakland )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... Several Port of Oakland commissioners are working to keep the Oakland International Airport expansion in a holding pattern, calling the $1.45 billion proposal too heavy to fly. Commissioners such as Phil Tagami wonder whether the port --...

TWO DEVELOPERS GO FOR PIER 70.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Wilson/Equity Office and AMB Property Corp. could both have a role in the redevelopment of the 1.5-acre Pier 70. Both San Francisco companies submitted proposals to rehab the pier, but are interested in different aspects of the...

600 BATTERY SOLD.(M & J Wilkow Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Affiliates of Chicago-based M & J Wilkow Ltd. and the Washington D.C.-based National Electrical Benefit Fund purchased 600 Battery St. from San Francisco's TMG Partners (formerly The Martin Group) on June 5. The three-story, 112,208-square-foot...

NONPROFIT SEEKS DEVELOPER.(Mid-Market Development Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Mid-Market Development Corp., a nonprofit joint venture of Citizens Housing Corp. and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., has issued a "request for expressions of interest" for a 2.2 acre site at 10th and Market streets. The site...

Boston Private eyes Bay Area.(Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. )(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. plans to use its Borel Bank & Trust Co. acquisition as the foundation for its private banking ambitions in the Bay Area. The company, Which last year acquired investment management firm Sand Hill...

Spooked VC firms slash staff rolls, funding commitments.(Redleaf Group)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... As the shakeout of Bay Area venture firms continues, more VCs are trimming their employee rolls and funding commitments. The most vulnerable firms are those that got in the game when the winning looked easy, said Sam Bhaumik, managing...

Marsh nabs Aon's public entity practice team.(Marsh Risk & Insurance Services)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Sixteen members of Aon Risk Services Inc.'s public entity practice in San Francisco have jumped to Marsh Risk & Insurance Services, a move that instantly makes the local Marsh office a larger player in the government insurance and employee...

U.S. TRUST: NO WORRIES.(United States Trust Company of New York)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... U.S. Trust Co.'s 20th biannual survey of affluent Americans (151 of them actually) discovered that 69 percent of them worry that stock market gains will be lower than they have been in recent years. Well, duh, right? Yes and no. "This...

SCHWAB EXEC HEADS TO FED COUNCIL.(Federal Advisory Council)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Steven Schieda, vice chairman and president of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.'s retail group, will replace Linnet Deily as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's representative on the Federal Advisory Council. Deily, the former vice...

BofA promotes former San Francisco exec to head consumer products.(Bank of America )(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Barbara Desoer, one of few women executives from the old Bank of America to survive its merger with Nationsbank, has won another promotion. BofA named Desoer consumer products executive after the woman holding that post, Amy Brinkley, was...

VC ACTIVITY OFF FROM 2000 LEVELS.(Venture capital second-quarter financings)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... The early signals on the venture capital front suggest that second-quarter financings reflect the industry's return to more traditional levels. Preliminary second-quarter figures revealed 737 private companies garnering a total of $8.9...

BANK OF MARIN EXPANDS IN SAN RAFAEL.(Second office opened)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Bank of Marin is opening a second office in San Rafael that it believes will allow the bank to better serve customers in the southern portion of the city. The new office, expected to open in late September, will be the bank's eighth...

Jack Daniels chokes on plans for bottled water.(Brown-Forman Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Water and whiskey just don't mix. Just ask Brown-Forman Corp., the Kentucky-based maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey and other sippable products like Fetzer and Bolla Wines and Korbel California Champagnes. Brown-Forman is suing California...

AD BIZ TELL-ALL.(Fred Goldberg)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Fred Goldberg, retired principal of GMO, has been toiling away on a book about his exploits in the advertising business. Expect a few stingers in the memoir, since Goldberg's years in the business have put him in contact with some of the...

RETAILERS RIDE ON PAPER TIGER.(Gyricon Media Inc. )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 6, 2001... Xerox spin-off Gyricon Media Inc. hopes to write its name in the retail history books with its SmartPaper technology -- a paper-thin reusable electronic medium with 75 patents that could one day replace paper-based signs. The Palo Alto...

DELUXE REDUX.(Gucci Group N.V., Hermes SA)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Even though retail sales are trending downward overall, some of the world's most expensive retailers continue to flock to the city -- some of them moving into ever-larger stores. In recent weeks, this paper reported on Hermes' plans for a...

GOODBY SCORES WITH PAC BELL AD.(Goodby Silverstein & Partners)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Last week's column did not include proper kudos for Goodby Silverstein & Partners, (as if they need more). In addition to the Bronze Lion they- carted home from the recent Cannes advertising awards, Goodby also snagged a Gold Lion for a...

Health plans for seniors vary widely in cost, value.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... A recent study of Medicare + Choice plans offered to California seniors has found big discrepancies in both cost and value. Sponsored by the Oakland-based California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF), the study was conducted county-by-county and...

FOUNDATION GOES TO WASHINGTON.(Kaiser Family Foundation)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation has issued $42 million in bonds to finance a new office in Washington, D.C. The plans are for the new 64,000-square-foot office downtown (four blocks from the White House) and include a television...

Hot deals make NBA draft a slam dunk for San Francisco money manager.(CSI Capital Management)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Nothing's guaranteed in the win-loss record when three of the top four picks in the NBA draft are fresh put of high school. But San Francisco-based CSI Capital Management's financial wins are adding to a strong - lineup of clients. The...

LIQUIDSEATS SCORE MLB DEAL.(MLB Advanced Media LP)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... San Francisco-based LiquidSeats cleared the fence with a one-year deal to run ticket resale web sites for most of Major League Baseball's 30 teams. The value of the deal with MLB Advanced Media LP was not disclosed. But considering that...

Crossing the firewall.(SMRI)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Tech firms struggle to protect assets, outsmart hackers slipping through network security SMRI got caught in the crossfire. On May 4th, the San Leandro-based direct marketing firm's web site fell victim to what the FBI believes was an...

Sprint bounds into Bay Area DSL market fray.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... With the well-publicized problems and failures of competitive carriers offering broadband services, it might seem small businesses have had their faith shaken in DSL (digital subscriber line) providers and are facing fewer choices when it comes...

WHAT WOULD FREUD SAY?(Lawrence Berkeley' National Lab brags about the size of its computer.)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Whether it's how much muscle their cars have or the processing power of their computers, guys like to brag about the size of their things. Not to suggest that the folks over at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have...

CHEAP FIX.(advice for managing tech workers from TechRepublic's Bob Artner)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... If you want to increase the productivity of information technology workers, tell them not to work. That bit of advice comes from Bob Artner, vice president of TechRepublic, a web-based resource for IT professionals. Artner said for...

Tech execs' goals changing, says placement guru.(Scott Gordon of Spencer Stuart Internet)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 6, 2001... Startups are out. The Fortune 500 is in. And after years of playing second fiddle to twentysomething entrepreneurs, seasoned executives are again getting the red-carpet treatment from technology companies. Placing high-level executives at the...

Thinking inside the box.(NetInsurance.com)(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Insurance dot-com builds business model on bones of its predecessors There's no air conditioning, no dogs and no foosball table, and Rob MacKethan is wearing a suit as he darts around NetInsurance.com's sixth-floor Kearny Street offices....

Workers' comp claims still decline as costs soar.(workers' compensation claims in California)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... It's both the best and worst of times for California insurance companies and employers, as workers' compensation claims continue to decline but average claim costs skyrocket. Claims have declined in frequency for nine straight years,...

Area insurance firms get a dose of TV reality.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Two parents sue Sony Pictures for falsely marketing "The Animal" to youths. CBS says Fox's "Boot Camp" infringes on the copyright of the popular "Survivor." A contestant on "Fear Factor" is injured jumping between trucks. Hollywood's not...

Small businesses pay bigger insurance rates.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 6, 2001... Peter Lee is trying to do something about the rising costs of healthcare insurance, but says industry-wide pressures and the extra costs of administering small business plans have tied his hands. The CEO of the Pacific Business Group on...

Largest Bay Area Benefits Consultants.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Still counting down the days when you can snooze on the beaches of Barbados or about wheeling out the Cessna hogging the real estate in the garage? Well, put your hands together for the guys on this week's List of Largest Benefits Consulting...

Largest Bay Area Insurance Brokers.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... After a razor-thin second-place finish last year, Marsh Risk & Insurance Services moved back into familiar territory atop this year's List of the Largest Insurance Brokerages in the Bay Area. The New York-based insurance broker annihilated...

Largest Benefits Consulting Firms in the Bay Area.(raned by number of Bay Area consultants)(Directory)
July 6, 2001... Largest Benefits Consulting Firms in the Bay Area Company name Address No. Bay Phone/Fax Area Rank Prior Web site ...

Largest Insurance Brokerages in the Bay Area.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Largest Insurance Brokerages in the Bay Area Rank Prior 1 2 2 3 3 1 4 NL 5 4 6 5 7 8 8 5 9 7 10 11 11 9 12 14 13 15 14 NL 15 17 16...

BayAreaPeople.
July 6, 2001... BANKING/FINANCE Citigroup Private Bank recruited Roberta Ruddy as vice president and trust and estate specialist of the San Francisco office. She will be responsible for identifying wealth planning opportunities and implementing financial...

Congress, retailers grapple with Internet sales tax issue.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... The Internet tax moratorium expires Oct. 21, leaving Congress only three months to grapple with the related question of whether states should be allowed to require e-commerce sites to collect sales taxes on purchases made over the web. ...

TRAVEL COSTS CUT 28 PERCENT.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... A Business Travel Coalition survey of 62 corporations found that 86 percent are taking steps to reduce travel costs this year. The companies plan to reduce their business travel budgets by 28 percent on average, the survey found. ...

Smooth operation.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... Small Portola Valley vineyard profits from steady hand of its surgeon founder Doctor, professor,, inventor, winemaker: Thomas Fogarty is a true Renaissance man. Characteristic of the Stanford cardiovascular surgeon turned vintner, what...

EntrepreneurProfile: BARBARA BUTLER.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... RESUME Name: Barbara Butler. Title: President and owner. Company: Barbara Butler Artist-Builder Inc., South San Francisco; designs and constructs custom play structures for residential and public spaces. 2000 revenue: $1.2...

State needs to quit dithering over unpaid vacations.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... You probably had to clear the most urgent items from your in tray before you felt comfortable clocking off for the July 4 holiday. It's a pity that state bureaucrats didn't feel the same way. For when state labor officials punched out on...

Adventures on the Marina Express.(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)
July 6, 2001... I moved to San Francisco's Marina district last month, and boy, does it give me the creeps. In many ways, it's definitely a move up. I've traded a 450-square-foot studio on the edge of the Tenderloin for twice the space near Fort Mason. I...

Microsoft-busters put bug in the system.(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)
July 6, 2001... The good news in the U.S. Court of Appeals decision in the Microsoft case is that it set aside Judge Jackson's silly attempt to break up Microsoft. The bad news is that the court did not reverse the entire judgment of the lower court. ...

No noose is good noose: All choked up over neckties.(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)
July 6, 2001... I've probably wasted two whole months of my life lying a non-functional noose around my neck. It takes about 10 seconds to knot a necktie. Multiply that by about an average of three times a week for more than 30 years, and it adds up to...

Letters To The Editor.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... There goes the neighborhood: 'Arrogant outsiders' wove in on housing debate It is great to see groups forming to advocate more housing in San Francisco. However, the San Francisco Organizing Project seems to have cut a new course in...

WeekInReview.(Brief Article)
July 6, 2001... COMMERCE ONE SNAGS $225M FROM SAP Pleasanton-based Commerce One received a $225 million investment from German software giant. SAP AG on Friday, thus tightening the companies' ongoing joint-product relationship and providing SAP AG with...

CEO's loans forgiven but not forgotten.(Webvan)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Webvan bankruptcy could reverse online grocer's $7M giveaway About $7 million in loans to former Webvan CEO George Shaheen, forgiven during his final days at the company, could be clawed back as part of its bankruptcy case. A...

Maiden beckons retailers.(San Francisco)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Chic suitors restyle historic S.F. district Maiden Lane, San Francisco's charming but faded pedestrian shopping corridor, is poised for a new beginning as a wave of high-profile tenants take up residence. The historic alley was plagued...

Ex-Oracle exec's quarter billion leads pay parade.(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... The Bay Area's tech sector is experiencing the worst downturn in years, but you would never know it from looking at tech executives' paychecks. The top end of The List of the Highest Paid Executives in the Bay Area (see The List, page 35)...

KRON suits up for whole new ball game.(May broadcast Oakland As games)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... KRON is beefing up its local sports programming, part of the television station's playbook for off-setting the loss of its NBC affiliation next January. But onlookers say San Francisco's Channel 4 must put more points on the ratings board to...

BofA still banking on California.(Growing)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... With merger chaos behind it, big bank posting gains across state Bank of America is still growing in California despite the downturn, a result of such efforts as the creation of 22 "market presidents" in the state to bring the bank closer...

Oakland goes Uptown and makes a U-turn.(Real estate development)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Oakland city officials have dropped a demand that Forest City include 200,000 square feet of office space in its proposed Uptown development, and have given the developer more time to pack in denser housing and additional retail. The city...

Schwab & Co. raising price of freedom.(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Avoiding fees at Charles Schwab & Co. is about to get more than twice as expensive for its customers. Facing a continued slump in trading commissions, the nation's leading discount and online brokerage will raise the minimum balance...

Warnings grow hazardous to investors' wealth.(technology and telecommunications sector)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 13, 2001... Although investor enthusiasm in April may have led beleaguered technology companies to hope the worst was over, a string of second-quarter earnings, warnings has renewed fears about the health of the sector. A spate of Bay Area firms have...

Firm says 'none of above' to bank's multiple choice.(Wells Fargo and Co., Zions Bancorp.)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Customers who sign up for Wells Fargo's online banking service but refuse to give their email address get noted in the bank's database as "none@available.com." That seems harmless enough -- unless you are Elaine Cole at Available...

Rise & Fall.(AMB Property Corp., Oracle Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... A barometer of the region's movers, shakers and fakers [up arrow] Ray Lane As F. Scott Fitzgerald noted, living well is the best revenge -- and $234 million qualifies. Squeezed out by Oracle boss Larry Ellison, ex-sidekick Lane can...

Webvan landlords shop around for new tenants.(AMB Property Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... The demise of online grocer Webvan Group Inc. costs landlord AMB Property Corp. its third-largest customer -- one that occupies 843,970 square feet at four warehouses across the nation. How quickly AMB can get that space back for re-leasing...

New Oakland director set to lead a double life.(Rosie Rios selected as joint director of Oakland's economic development and redevelopment departments)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Two hats may be better than one for Rosie Rios, who takes on a newly established position as joint director of Oakland's economic development and redevelopment departments. The city created the new post in an effort to streamline its...

Corrections&Amplifications.(Kristina Barrett was promoted to branch manager of the South San Francisco office of Robert Half International)(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
July 13, 2001... A Bay Area People item in the June 22-28 issue misstated the location of a Robert Half International branch. Kristina Barrett was promoted to branch manager of the South San Francisco office.

ExecutiveProfile: SUSAN BLACK.(CEO, Mid-Peninsula Bank)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... RESUME Name: Susan Black. Title: President and CEO. Company: Mid-Peninsula Bank, a $1.2 billion community bank based in Palo Alto that's owned by Greater Bay Bancorp. She is also executive vice president of Greater Bay, a $6...

Cushman & Wakefield digests acquisition.(acquires Cushman Realty Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Cushman & Wakefield completed its purchase of Cushman Realty Corp. on July 10, adding 15 employees and several top corporate clients to its Bay Area operations. Joe Cook will continue to serve as senior managing director for Northern...

250 Brannan goes off market after big price tag and biz services label spook tenants.(Lennar Corp. says building no longer for sale)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Lennar Corp. has pulled San Francisco business services building 250 Brannan St. off the market. Grubb & Ellis Managing Director Dan Cressman confirmed that the 122,230-square-foot building was no longer for sale. He referred all questions...

Best Buy offers best plan to eager Oakland.(design proposal for a 45,000-square-foot Best Buy between the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center and the new Extended Stay Hotel)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Oakland, moving another step closer to getting the retail it desperately needs, is set to hear a design proposal for a 45,000-square-foot Best Buy between the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center and the new Extended Stay Hotel on the Nelson Mandela...

SAN LEANDRO'S FIRST 'A'.(TriNet Group Inc. leases space in class A building)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... One East Bay city is swimming against the tide of an economic downturn by welcoming its first-ever Class A office complex while other cities are posting a flood of open commercial space. San Leandro, which recently held a groundbreaking...

CONSTRUCTION GIANT DIES.(Don Warmby, chairman of Hathaway-Dinwiddie)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Don Warmby, who built Hathaway-Dinwiddie to one of the Bay Area's largest general contractors, died June 30 after a long battle with cancer. He was 56. The chairman of Hathaway-Dinwiddie, Warmby joined Dinwiddie Construction in 1963 as a...

MORE OFFICES, LESS HOUSING.(in San Francisco Bay Area construction starts)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 13, 2001... The California Construction Review's June 29 report shows a giant increase in Bay Area office construction this year, but drops in San Francisco and Oakland housing starts. In San Francisco, single-family units increased 2.3 percent from...

BayPackets, formerly of Menlo Park.(moves to new space in Fremont, CA)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... BayPackets, formerly of Menlo Park, has taken 16,674 square feet in Fremont in a move to get closer to its employee base and get a better bargain in the deal, according to Colliers International Senior Vice President Martin Morici. The...

Jackson Square.(said to be worst performing submarket in San Francisco)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Jackson Square has the dubious honor of being named the worst performing submarket in San Francisco, by industry newsletter ReisCast. According to the June 26 newsletter, vacancy increased 181 percent in the first quarter from year's end.

Students quick to learn new loan rates.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 13, 2001... Bankers are bracing for a big increase in student lending after this month's rate cut to historically low levels, spurring more borrowers to consolidate their student loans. Wells Fargo saw the volume of its student loan consolidations jump...

Visa beefs up its online security.(sets new standards along with other companies)(Brief Article)
July 13, 2001... Visa International plans to replace a set of online security standards that many U.S. merchants call expensive and unwieldy with a new method that could make Internet shopping easier and save e-merchants millions of dollars in fraud-related...