San Francisco Business Times articles from June 2001

San Francisco Business Times archives from June 2001

City bungles development fee into free.(San francisco real estate taxation)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... Lax collection misses at least $4.7M; S.F. vows to chase it down The city of San Francisco has lost millions of dollars in uncollected fees from developers due to city mismanagement, according to a highly critical audit by a top official....

Biotechs want cure for FDA.(Food and Drug Administration review time challenged)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Longer reviews could have serious side effects Federal drug regulators are taking a lot longer to approve new biotech-based therapies, a trend that has Bay Area biotech executives and analysts worried. After steadily falling for most...

Biz groups seek the power of two.(San Francisco Partnership and Committee on Jobs)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... The San Francisco Partnership and the Committee on Jobs, two of the city's most influential business advocacy groups, may join forces to give business interests more clout in a chillier political climate. Several board members from the...

Ferries fight for cruise control.(rival ferries file lawsuit case)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... With the lucrative Alcatraz Island ferry contract lurking in the fog, the Red and White Fleet has filed a lawsuit claiming that rival Blue & Gold Fleet forces tour operators to buy other cruises if they want tickets for the crowded Alcatraz...

Supes seek power over p1anners.(San Francisco local political activity)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Two supervisors say their board, and not Mayor Willie Brown, should appoint an effective majority to two influential city development bodies. Under amendments to the city charter proposed by supervisors Jake McGoldrick and Matt Gonzalez,...

Pegasus spreads its global wings.(Pegasus Aviation Inc recent funding and contract news)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... High-flying Pegasus Aviation Inc. is landing expansion plans in Asia and Europe, picking up $2.5 billion in financing as well as aircraft leasing customers like China Southern and Air France. The financing deals include a $1.1. billion...

Investors may get stuck with bill from online flop Quokka Sports.(investment relations information)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... Top-tier investors in Quokka Sports, already nursing big losses from the collapse of the sports web-caster, may also be forced to repay $12 million to the firm's creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco. The 34 investors --...

Uptight software firm gets hip, learns to score.(Fair, Isaac & Co)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Fair, Isaac & Co. may have unwittingly come up with the perfect pickup line for these leaner economic times. It's no longer "What's your sign?", but. "What's your score?" Having once been a hardline defender of software secrecy, the San...

STOCKTON: OUTSTANDING IN ITS FIELD.(introduces new airport service)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Tired of the stressful drive to the airport? The fight for parking? Long lines at baggage claim? Is all this really worth a 45-mile, God-knows-how-long drive to Stockton? Hope so, say officials at America West Airlines and Stockton...

HOLDING THEIR WATER.(San Francisco's Holding Company)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... In the latest indicator that it's getting tough out there, a longtime San Francisco restaurant has started charging -- for water. Mike Walsh, owner of the Holding Company at Embarcadero Center, is getting bit hard in these economic times....

Rise & Fall.(local businessmen information)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... A barometer of the region's movers, shakers and fakers [up arrow] Lou Papan Machiavelli had nothing on this dealer. longtime Assembly wheeler dealer. He gets his banking committee to kill a privacy bill opposed by the banks -- while...

Chamber: Move payroll tax hike to back burner.(San Francisco Chamber of Commerce )(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... A payroll tax increase -- a payback considered by San Francisco supervisors angry that big business overturned the city's dual business tax system this spring -- should take a backseat to a long-range look at the implications of tax policy, a...

Gucci signs lease for Boucheron store on Post.(Gucci Group N.V)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Luxury retailer Gucci Group N.V., on a worldwide expansion tear, has just inked a lease for a Post Street shop that will be the first-ever U.S. home for its exclusive Boucheron jewelry and fragrance line. Gucci Group, which purchased the...

Levi zips the world's oldest jeans to market.(marketing campaign information)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... After 100 years moldering in an abandoned Nevada mine, the world's oldest and most expensive jeans are beginning a new life as a limited-edition fashion item. Levi Strauss, which last month purchased back for $46,532 a pair of pants it...

Corrections & Amplifications.(Correction Notice)
June 29, 2001... A headline on the front page of the June 22-28 issue, "Providian shells out another $105 million," was potentially misleading. As described in the story, the payment relates to the settlement of accusations the credit-card company overcharged...

VCs twist in economic winds.
June 29, 2001... The full range of emotions -- from boundless optimism to outright depression -- grips Silicon Valley's venture community these days. Optimism seems to be an inherent trait among VCs, necessary in the business of investing millions in...

Kodak develops its VC arm.
June 29, 2001... Eastman Kodak Co. is stepping up its venture capital activities by committing $100 million annually to the VC team it put in place last fall. The company, once viewed as an old economy Goliath up against the David of digital photography,...

ExecutiveProfile: JOHN MARKS.
June 29, 2001... RESUME Name John Marks Title: President and CEO Organization: San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau Background: President and CEO Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau, Director of Tourism of State of Arizona ...

Boutique hotels bring imagination to South Bay.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 29, 2001... The makers of quirky boutique properties like Phoenix Hotel, Backflip, Costanoa and Acqua Hotel, are on another expansion tear, this time in the South Bay. The tres chic Joie de Vivre Hospitality is expected to open three more hotels in...

HOTEL COMPANY COVERS $1M GAP.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Another extended-stay hotel is poised to open its doors in Oakland in November, but without the $1 million financial push it originally expected from the city. Oakland Hospitality LLC, which: is putting the finishing touches on a new...

Napa's Senior PGA event seeks sub for Transamerica.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... After October, the Transamerica Corp. name will disappear from the Senior PGA event at Silverado Resort in Napa, and organizers continue their efforts to line up a new sponsor. Transamerica last year said that 2001 would be the last for...

PGA TOUR PLAYER FLIPS OFF SUN.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Jesper Parnevik, one of the more colorful characters on the PGA Tour, switched his headgear endorsement deal from Palo Alto-based Sun Microsystems Inc. to Upper Deck, according to Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, an affiliated...

SCHWAB OFFERS GOLF WITH PROS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. will award eight sweepstakes winners a round of golf with Senior PGA Tour players Tom Kite and Lanny Wadkins at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass in Florida. Schwab, the official investment firm of the PGA...

FCB SCORES DEAL FOR AVAYA.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... The sports marketing arm of FCB San Francisco negotiated a six-year agreement for Avaya Inc. with soccer's ruling body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). FCB is the agency of record for Avaya; a New Jersey-based...

Local ad shops let their Lions roar long-distance.
June 29, 2001... Few representatives from Bay Area ad shops actually made the arduous trek to Cannes for this year's prestigious. Lion international advertising awards because of tight budgets. A few will be getting prizes for their work, however. Four...

MAG AIMS FOR RETAIL BONANZA.
June 29, 2001... Diane Silberstein, former New Yorker publisher and since May publisher of Yahoo Internet Life magazine, calls it a "sleeping giant." Ziff Davis licensed the Yahoo title and is aiming to make it a must-read for all things Internet. The...

DESIGN FIRM OPENS CITY OFFICE.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Ohio-based Design Forum, a retail branding and design firm that boasts such clients as Best Buy, Staples and WalMart, has just opened its first San Francisco office. The new outpost is an assault on the flanks of branding institution Landor...

Hill Physicians learn to heal themselves with HMO help.
June 29, 2001... San Ramon-based Hill Physicians Medical Group is seeing the results of its prescription for better financial health: Take more money out of HMOs. The 2,400-physician medical group, the largest independent group in California, posted a...

SINGLE COVERAGE: MISSION IMPROBABLE.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... As purchasing groups get bigger and HMOs get fewer, if you're an individual purchaser of health care things are getting worse, not better. A newly minted study done by the Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown...

Landlords sing the 2nd-quarter blues.
June 29, 2001... Whitney Cressman Ltd. and Grubb & Ellis have released their second-quarter numbers for San Francisco's real estate market. As expected, things only got worse for the city's landlords Whitney Cressman, which tracks of space, reported that...

Serramonte center grinds to a halt.(liens against Dewey Land Co.)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Dewey Land Co. has halted construction on what was to be the second-largest office building in Daly City and three contractors have filed liens for more than $5 million against the property. The liens are against the land for the...

Legacy eyes defunct law firm's Hills Plaza space.(Legacy Partners, Landels, Ripley & Diamond L.L.P., San Francisco, CA)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Legacy Partners is, nearing a deal to take former law firm Landels, Ripley & Diamond LLP's space at Hills Plaza in San Francisco. The law firm ceased operations last year and landlord Shorenstein Co. has been marketing the space since...

BROKER SHUFFLE.(Cushman & Wakefield's Jon Wittemyer joins Insignia/ESG)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Jon Wittemyer has become the latest broker to bolt a firm. Wittemyer, who has done a number of high-profile sales and leasing transactions, is moving from Cushman & Wakefield to Insignia/ESG. "I've grown up at Cushman & Wakefield, and...

LOWER PRICE.(EGL's office building, San Francisco, CA)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... Speaking of Wittemyer, he has lowered the price on 260 Townsend. Freight forwarder EGL is selling the 66,000-square-foot office building because it moved its offices out of the city. Last year, the property was being listed at the...

CHANGING POSTMARK.(Strategic Marketing Resources Inc. relocates to Alameda, CA)
June 29, 2001... An Oakland-based direct marketing firm is poised to fly from the self - proc1aimed Renaissance City to Alameda July 15, once it finishes building its new 36,000 square-foot headquarters. Strategic Marketing Resources Inc., or SMRI, is...

Ellis Partners LLC.(plans office building, Oakland, CA)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... * Ellis Partners LLC recently presented its plans to the Oakland Planning Commission for a 12-story office building in place of the old Bermuda Building. The city's Community and Economic Development Agency had been shopping the 21st and...

QRS Corp.(to sublease office space)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... * In Richmond, QRS Corp., a company that develops e-commerce products, hopes to fill up 95,000 square feet of its 172,000-square-foot campus to a subletter. John Troughton at Cushman & Wakefield has been putting feelers out for the...

Greater Bay fills gap with Marin location.(Greater Bay Bancorp, Marin County, CA)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Greater Bay Bancorp is beefing up its Bay Area franchise by expanding into Marin County, moving its Golden Gate Bank in San Francisco to larger quarters and acquiring the parent of San Jose National Bank. The bank recently opened a...

Silicon Valley Bank branches out.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Silicon Valley Bank will soon announce a reorganization of its Northern California operations into three regional offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose in an effort to get closer to its customers. The move reflects the growing...

A look at selling of shares by Bay Area executives.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... A look at selling of shares by Bay Area executives David Duffield Shares sold 2,500,000 Were shares sold options? No Options exercised price N/A Shares sold price $39.68 Shares...

Wells Fargo Bank cuts private-client positions.
June 29, 2001... Wells Fargo is cutting an undisclosed number of positions in its private client services group to boost efficiency after several mergers expanded that area of the bank. "The decision to eliminate the positions is not the result of the...

CEO SAYS PASSION KEY TO SUCCESS.(Patricia Dunn, CEO of Barclays Global Investors)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Being named Financial Woman of the Year by the Financial Women's Association of San Francisco was an opportunity to pick up some career advice from Patricia Dunn, global chief executive at San Francisco-base Barclays Global Investors. ...

CRIMSON BRINGS IN CASCADE CO-FOUNDER.(Wu-Fu Chen)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Palo Alto-based Crimson Ventures hired successful entrepreneur Wu-Fu Chen to lead its communications investment practice. Chen co-founded 14 communications companies including Cascade Communications. That company was eventually acquired...

PACIFIC GROWTH HIRES SENIOR ANALYST.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... San Francisco's Pacific Growth Equities hired Erik Suppiger as senior networking analyst. Suppiger was previously a senior analyst covering the networking industry at J.P. Morgan H&Q. His decade of experience in financial services also...

Blame game: Stock analysts' credibility tanking.
June 29, 2001... If analysts were the stocks they covered, sell signs would be screaming about now. They've had their credibility eroded by growing investor awareness of the roles they play in their firms investment banking businesses, and the sometimes...

H-P's weakest link: marketing.
June 29, 2001... The tech giant is struggling to promote its offerings in an easy-to-understand campaign With one of the Bay Area's most effective corporate evangelists at its helm, Hewlett-Packard Co. has an ironic problem: weak marketing. H-P is...

Oracle swaps NetLedger tech for its brand name.
June 29, 2001... Oracle launched its small business solution this week. It's NetLedger. The 90-person San Mateo company -- in which Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is the majority investor and chair -- swapped its technology for Oracle's brand name. ...

PARTY TIME.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Ernst & Young can really throw a party -- even if it is in San Jose. Commerce One's Mark Hoffman, Network Appliance's Dan Warmenhoven and BEA Systems' William Coleman were among the 31 area entrepreneurs honored at the company's...

COMMERCE CONNECTION.(CommerceFlow - Commerce One deal)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... San Francisco-based CommerceFlow just penned a partnership deal with Commerce One to potentially expand its customer base. With 55 employees and $8.7 million in venture backing from the likes of Prism Venture Partners and Sagus Ventures,...

Swanson touts tech behind major Office XP campaign.(Interview)
June 29, 2001... Microsoft has spent more to promote its new Office XP product than it has on any other in its corporate history. The billion-dollar campaign, which Intel has also contributed to, is designed to get companies to open their wallets and...

Revenues stay strong at top private companies.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Bechtel Corp. engineered a solid footing at the top of this year's List of 100 Largest Private Companies in the Bay Area despite an economic downturn that pushed down 2000 revenues at the region's three biggest private firms. Bechtel,...

Oldest private firms find that experience pays.
June 29, 2001... With age comes experience. The 50 oldest private companies are venerable institutions whose ranking on this year's Top 100 Largest Private Companies List echoes that sentiment. The Listmakers comprise an impressive who's who of companies...

100 Largest Private Companies in the Bay Area.
June 29, 2001... 100 Largest Private Companies in the Bay Area Company name Address Revenue Phone/fax FY 2000 Rank Prior Web site ...

BayAreaPeople.(Position changes)
June 29, 2001... BANKING/FINANCE Lelia Mozingo was appointed vice president and branch manager of the Geary office of California Bank & Trust in San Francisco. She was previously manager of Citibank's Sunset district office and has more than 12 years of...

Small businesses join GOP to demand energy legislation.
June 29, 2001... The Small Business Survival Committee joined Senate Republicans at a rally outside the Capitol demanding immediate action on energy legislation. Small businesses "are extremely concerned about high energy costs -- and the potential for...

SMALL BUSINESSES REPORT POOR SALES.(Jan.-May 2001)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Energy did not show up as a top problem facing small businesses in the monthly economic survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business. Taxes remained No. 1, availability of labor was still No. 2, and there was a new...

Against the grain.(Dynamic Office Solutions)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... From temp to top: Alamo staffer steps out on her own, sees revenues soar What happens when a staffing company runs out of staff? Tiffany Stuart, president of Dynamic Office Solutions in Alamo, found out five years ago when she was a...

EntrepreneurProfile: EDWARD GOLDSTEIN.
June 29, 2001... RESUME Name: Edward Goldstein. Title: Owner, stylist. Company: Edward's Salon in Mill Valley; hair services including tinting, cuffing and styling. 2000 revenue: $1 million. Number of employees: 18. Year founded:...

Supes rescue city from danger of more housing.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Only in the topsy-turvy, through-the-looking-glass world of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors could the answer to the city's chronic housing shortage be less housing. In a move that would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic, this week...

These hot classes mine the silver lining.(Humor)(Brief Article)(Column)(Editorial)
June 29, 2001... A year ago, we were all going to be rich. Those were the days. Any doofus with a liberal arts degree and the ability to say "a leading provider of online solutions" without cracking up could get a six-figure salary and options with a...

Turning off the lights can turn economy around.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... A recent news article cited opinion poll research showing that most Californians believe the energy crisis was manufactured by energy companies for the purposes of profiteering. Yet, at this point, to debate who's responsible for the problem...

Young women no longer shortchanged in the workplace.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 29, 2001... Women are entering male-dominated fields in unprecedented numbers, according to a recent analysis by the Employment Policy Foundation. Regardless of motherhood status, hours worked per week or other factors, young women entering the work...

JUDGE THROWS OUT HESTOR LAWSUIT.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Superior Court Judge James Robertson threw out a lawsuit that San Franciscans For Reasonable Growth filed against developer Ron Kaufman, Macromedia Inc. and various city and county of San Francisco groups, according to Sue Hestor, the...

GAP TO SLICE 500-700 JOBS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Gap Inc. said it plans to slash between 500 and 700 jobs -- or 5 to 7 percent of its 10,000 employees -- throughout its worldwide offices, the first public acknowledgment of job cuts at the specialty clothing giant. The job cuts, which will...

HOMESTAKE ACQUIRED FOR $2.2 BILLION.(by Barrick Gold)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Walnut Creek-based Homestake Mining Co. is being acquired by Barrick Gold Corp. of Toronto in a $2.2 billion all-stock deal that will create the world's second-largest gold producer. The new company will rank only behind South African mining...

XOMA TO RAISE $43 MILLION.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Berkeley-based biotech firm Xoma said it will sell 3 million common shares of its stock in an offering that will net the company $43.3 million. Underwriters for the offering are US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, CIBC World Markets, Adams, Harkness...

GREATER BAY BUYS SJNB.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Greater Bay Bancorp said it will acquire SJNB Financial Corp., parent company of San Jose National Bank, for $173 million in stock. CEO and President David Kalkbrenner said the merger will give Greater Bay a far greater presence in San Jose....

RAYTEL SETTLES OBSTRUCTION CHARGES.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... San Mateo-based Raytel Cardiac Services Inc., a subsidiary of Raytel Medical Corp., plead guilty to obstructing a criminal investigation in a Hartford, Conn. U.S. District court, and will pay $11.5 million in civil and criminal restitution...

SF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CUTS STAFF.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... In an effort to cut costs, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce recently laid off four employees across several divisions and decided against filling four previously open positions. A spokesperson said the non-profit organization -- which is...

CYTOKINETICS SNAGS $50M DEAL WITH GSK.(GlaxoSmithKline)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... South San Francisco-based Cytokinetics and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have struck a $50 million partnership aimed at identifying cell targets for cancer. The deal calls for GSK to give Cytokinetics a $14 million...

CENTERWHEEL ICES COOLBOARD.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Taking another step away from the consumer market, San Francisco-based Centerwheel Corp., formerly known as CoolBoard.com, said it will discontinue its consumer message board service as of June 29, 2001. The company was initially focused on...

TESCO BACKS SAFEWAY'S GROCERYWORKS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Pleasanton-based Safeway said that UK-based grocery giant Tesco PLC has purchased a 35 percent equity stake in GroceryWorks, Safeway's Texas-based online grocery distribution channel, for $22 million in cash, intellectual property and...

REFUND LEGISLATION INTRODUCED.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... California lawmakers have introduced legislation in Congress to force power generators to refund nearly $9 billion in alleged overcharges for electricity Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is sponsoring the refund version in the House of...

ELOQUENT HOPS ON REBOP MEDIA.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... San Mateo-based Eloquent Inc. said it agreed, in principle, to acquire Rebop Media Inc. for around $5.1 million in stock (as of the June 22 close) and cash Rebop, which provides rich media applications designed to enhance product launches,...

MAXTOR CUTS 1,500 JOBS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Maxtor Corp. said it will cut 1,500 jobs, primarily from its Milpitas head-quarters. The rest of the cuts will come from its plant in Singapore. The company has seen slumping sales during the last several months, and has already cut 500 jobs...

LAYOFFS AT LSI.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Some 225 jobs are being eliminated by Milpitas-based LSI Logic Corp., the world's largest maker of custom semiconductors. The layoffs, which amount to about 3 percent of the company's workforce, were prompted by canceled orders from customers...

SABA SCORES SCOTS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Redwood Shores-based Saba Software sealed a deal with the Scottish University for Industry for an estimated $10 million. The three-year arrangement will be rolled out in phases starting this fall, ultimately providing distance learning to...

SIGNIA VENTURES CANCELS FUNDS.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Signia Ventures ended its latest fundraising efforts, stopped looking for new deals and lost a founder as the tech downturn hits the newest venture firms hardest. The San Mateo venture firm was founded in late 1999, near the height of the...

ELECTRONIC ARTS CFO TO STEP DOWN.(Stan Mckee leaves Electronic Arts Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Redwood City-based game developer Electronic Arts Inc. said that CFO Stan McKee will retire at the close of the company's fiscal year on March 31, 2002. McKee, who has been with the company for 12 years, will assist in the search for his...

UT STARCOM FILES SECONDARY OFFERING.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... UT Starcom Inc., the Alamadea-based maker of telecommunications equipment, said it fled for a secondary offering of 9 million, shares. Of the shares being sold, 2.9 million represent the stock of selling shareholders. Merrill Lynch & Co. will...

ASYST SNAGS $15M CONTRACT.(Contract from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Fremont-based Asyst Technologies Inc., a provider of automation systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, said it received an order from China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. totaling more than $15 million....

COMMERCE ONE HIT WITH SECOND SUIT.(Brief Article)
June 29, 2001... Pleasanton-based Commerce One Inc. and its IPO underwriters have been hit by an investor lawsuit alleging that the parties conspired to drive the stock price up after its IPO, through a practice known as "laddering." It is the second lawsuit,...

Northern California's 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
June 29, 2001... Introduction We are proud to present 3l remarkable entrepreneurs in this year's Entrepreneur of the Year program. For 15 years, Ernst & Young has accomplished the difficult task of selecting award recipients from the vast pool of...

Providian shells out another $105M.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Settlement raises payback to credit card holders to $410M Providian Financial Corp. this fall will pay $105 million to settle a class-action suit that claimed the nation's fifth largest credit card issuer wrongfully charged customers for...