San Francisco Business Times articles from May 1997

San Francisco Business Times archives from May 1997

Kaiser cuts put staff on critical list. (restructuring at Kaiser Permanente)
May 2, 1997... Kaiser Permanente, under fire in Northern California and Texas over quality of care and staffing issues, is proceeding on several fronts to chop its work force and centralize its management. Directly in the crosshairs: marketers, lawyers and...

Adding up. (opening of ad agencies in San Francisco, CA)
May 2, 1997... Ad world is now flocking to S.F. Advertising agencies from across the country and around the world are making their presence felt in San Francisco. Last week, London-based Leagas Delaney lured a key creative team to its fledgling San...

To drug market, Vivus' glass is half full; to stock market, its half empty. (Vivus Inc.'s increased sales and declining stock prices)
May 2, 1997... Since Vivus Inc. launched its treatment for male impotence in January, it's heard good news on Main Street but bad news on Wall Street. Sales and earnings have soared, but the stock has done a swan dive, losing more than half its value....

Killing time until it's your turn. (entrepreneur Andrzej Hadas)
May 2, 1997... In the past seven years, Andrzej Hadas has launched two successful entrepreneurial ventures. He has also learned some lessons about timing and juggling business resources. Hadas, born in Poland, earned a master's degree in engineering and...

World without wires: AirTouch takes 21st-century cellular technology to developing countries. (AirTouch Communications Inc.)
May 9, 1997... The closest phone line is 200 miles away, but in a small town in Africa, a merchant picks up a hand phone, calls a truck driver and gets a rush delivery on a new sewing machine for the village tailor. That technology may seem implausible to...

Lawyers, marketers profit from telecom competition. (telecommunications industry)
May 9, 1997... Fifteen months after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 heralded a new age of competition among local and long-distance telephone companies, the main beneficiaries of the early battles are lawyers and consultants, not consumers. The...

Build using a firm's backing. (Preservation Arts)
May 9, 1997... Ten years after launching Preservation Arts, a masonry preservation and restoration business, Lauri Kibby ran into a common entrepreneurial problem: How do you fund growth when you've exhausted conventional sources of credit? In Kibby's case,...

Top female exec hangs up on PacTel. (Pacific Telesis President and CEO Betsy Bernard's resignation)
May 23, 1997... Texas barbecue? SBC may like its California managers rare Pacific Telesis' highest-ranking woman, Betsy Bernard, is the first major casualty of the merged SBC Communications Corp. Bernard was named president and chief executive officer of...

Women's World Cup. (bidding for the 1999 tournament)
May 23, 1997... A team of local organizers is rushing to put the final touches on a bid for the 1999 Women's World Cup. Hoping to reverse the Bay Area's ill-fated grab for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the group has until May 30 to present a package to host...

What's ailing CHW: its doctors. (Catholic Healthcare West)
May 23, 1997... Medical chief brought in to prescribe remedy Catholic Healthcare West, the giant San Francisco-based hospital system, has finally found a new head for its money-losing medical-group unit, but the short-term prognosis for its physician component...

Bogus resume sinks exec at Transamerica. (Bill Simms, president of newly created insurance products division)
May 23, 1997... San Francisco-based Transamerica Corp.'s highest-ranking African-American executive has resigned after disclosing he fabricated key portions of his resume. The resignation of Bill Simms, president of the newly created insurance products...

California couple find caviar business is no cocktail party. (Mats and Dafine Engstrom, owners of California Sunshine Fine Foods Inc.)(Company Profile)
May 23, 1997... Trekking through Manchuria, China, in subzero temperatures, wheeling and dealing with the Russian mafia and chasing after stolen plane cargo may sound like dangerous living, but it could be just another day at work for caviar exporters, Mats &...

With British airport client, ASI took direct flight to overseas market. (British Airport Authority; ASI International)
May 23, 1997... For PSI International, jumping into the global marketplace was much like putting the cart before the horse. CEO Mark Lambourne knew his Lafayette real estate technology company had great potential as an international player, but he thought he...

Benefits lose something in translation. (international business enterprises' difficulties in giving benefits to employees)
May 23, 1997... Bank of America CEO David Coulter had a grand plan: to nourish customer service by making every employee a shareholder. The only problem was that BofA is global. While the bank rolled out its stock option plan last November to about 90 percent...

Giants' heavy hitters swinging for luxury seats. (San Francisco Giants)
May 23, 1997... The San Francisco Giants are putting the big brass to bat and initiating a targeted mailing campaign to bring home untapped corporate buyers of the remaining China Basin ballpark luxury suites. To date, 42 of 65 total suites have been sold,...

Moving stock. (FACS Facilities Services Co.)(Company Profile)
May 23, 1997... Big refurbishment contract with Schwab puts FACS on fast track The chore of redecorating 60 floors of San Francisco office space has turned Charles Schwab & Co. into a dream date for a startup corporate facilities company. San...

Big investor's maneuvers buffet Wells Fargo's stock. (Warren Buffett; Wells Fargo Bank N.A.)(Talk of the Town)(Column)
May 23, 1997... Legendary investor Warren Buffett has been both a big investor and big cheerleader for Wells Fargo Bank the last few years, so that since word came down that the billionaire trimmed his holding by 300,000 shares, the stock has tumbled nearly 8...

Women stress balance, not bucks, as measure of success.(1997 Greater Bay Area Women in Business)
May 23, 1997... As Bay Area businesswomen reach for the heights of corporate, civic and small business leadership, they are redefining for themselves what it means to be successful. The women in this story, as well as the eight influential women profiled...

Bay Area companies tune in to Latin American markets. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes related article on telecommunications industry)
May 23, 1997... Every new market has its canaries, companies that head into perilous territory and prove it is safe by returning alive. In emerging nations, express courier services and road builders frequently serve as such indicators. While rarely the first...

George Still Jr. (Norwest Venture Capital Management Inc. Managing Partner)(Executive Profile)
May 23, 1997... Name: George Still Jr. Title: Managing Partner. Company: Norwest Venture Capital Management Inc., in Pale Alto. Education: Bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University. M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Residence: Pale Alto....

By air and by sea, freight companies move forward fast.
May 23, 1997... No industry has been as affected by the Bay Area's recent double-digit trade growth as the region's freight forwarders and shipping logistics companies. (See page 9A.) Although they generally lack name recognition, those companies are the ones...

Bay businesses break mold of traditional women's roles. (San Francisco Bay Area)(1997 Greater Bay Area Women in Business)
May 23, 1997... There's no such thing as women's work. In today's business world, women are making it big in every possible industry. Among the 100 largest women-owned businesses in the Bay Area, high-tech companies get top billing. No. 1 Asia Source Inc.,...

Major Bay Area players hit jackpot with overseas sales. (San Francisco Bay Area)
May 23, 1997... As nations worldwide raced to adopt the computers, cell phones, highways and shopping malls of modern life, the Bay Area was in line to profit from the ventures. This year's List of the 25 Bay Area companies with the largest international...

Sitting solid: mixing past business with the present. (Gardenside Ltd.)(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
May 23, 1997... Sometimes it takes two tries - at the same thing to make a business work. Gardenside Ltd. in San Rafael is Pamela Hawken's second family-run business - and her second stint in the garden furniture industry. Until 1991, Hawken worked with her...

Developing her career piece by piece. (Leslie Sayoko Parks, director of San Jose, California Office of Economic Development)(1997 Greater Bay Area Women in Business)
May 23, 1997... From her first job out of college as a pathology lab assistant to her current position as director of San Jose's Office of Economic Development, Leslie Sayoko Parks has carved a unique career from a series of jobs that on the surface seem...

Female rainmakers helping business bloom at law firms.(1997 Greater Bay Area Women in Business)
May 23, 1997... Women have become an increasing presence in the legal industry in the last 20 years, but the number of "rainmakers" - the attorneys who bring their firms the big-dollar clients - has remained modest. Women numbered only 15 on California Law...

Women in the board room. (tabular data only)(1997 Greater Bay Area Women in Business)(Directory)
May 23, 1997... Women are making their presence felt in the upper ranks of the business world, but there's a long way to go before they break through the barrier of the board-room door. The San Francisco Business Times and the San Jose Business Journal...

Economy puts business, colleges in same class.(Guest Opinion)(Column)
May 23, 1997... As president and CEO of the San Francisco Fed, I've long been a supporter of our partnership with City College, San Francisco State, and UC-Berkeley in offering a program for employees called "Corporate College." Like other institutions and...

Swig family shuffles billion-dollar empire; shift touches kin, partners and real estate on both coasts.
May 30, 1997... San Francisco's $1 billion Swig real estate empire is undergoing a turbulent transformation as it passes into the hands of a new generation. The effects already include the bitter dissolution of the family's six-decade partnership with New...

Bechtel's fair play: builder has inside track on Oakland's Pan Pacific Expo. (Bechtel Group)
May 30, 1997... Bechtel Group is poised to take a leading role in plans for the 2001 Pan Pacific Exposition in Oakland, rolling out its experienced world's fairs consulting team as it lays the groundwork to build the $600 million project. The San Francisco...

State PUC may tell telecom cops to beat it. (layoff of California Public Utilities Commission's telecommunications police)
May 30, 1997... The California Public Utilities Commission's "slamming" unit is in danger of losing its top telecommunications cops to layoffs. The slamming unit investigates long-distance phone companies that switch customers' phone service without their...

Columbia/HCA discovers $26M hole in revenue.
May 30, 1997... Columbia Bay Area Healthcare Network, which operates seven hospitals in the Bay Area, has discovered it took in $26 million less than it thought in 1996 and the first four months of 1997. Blaming a computer glitch that overestimated its...

Retailers cashing in on consumers' need for quick money.(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... Going to the bank to cash checks was once as much a part of traditional banking as the tellers who knew you by name. As the banking sector has become increasingly driven by technology and the bottom line, and customers find themselves on the...

Business park deal brings international flavor to Hayward. (Invesco Realty Advisors' purchase of Hayward's Gateway Center Industrial park)
May 30, 1997... Invesco Realty Advisors is negotiating a deal estimated at more than $40 million for Hayward's Gateway Center industrial park, the company confirmed. The cash purchase of the nearly 1.2 million-square-foot park would more than triple the size...

Banks target boomers by offering help for the elderly.(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... For the first time, financial institutions are packaging traditional financial services together with elder-care and retirement services to target aging baby boomers, senior citizens and their children. On May 1, Merrill Lynch & Co. introduced...

Past due? Expect a quick collect call from your creditors.(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... With consumer debt and bankruptcies at an all-time high, creditors are becoming more vigilant in tracking receivables and taking action more quickly on overdue accounts. The reaction is most forceful on the consumer side, but...

Federal Realty takes over Terranomics. (Federal Realty Investment Trust; Terranomics Retail Services Inc.)
May 30, 1997... Terranomics Retail Services Inc., the San Francisco-based retail brokerage and management firm, has been acquired by a Maryland real estate investment trust. Federal Realty Investment Trust paid $2 million for Terranomics, which will be...

Class B space gets high marks in rental crunch.
May 30, 1997... The rent for Class B office space is riding high on the coattails of pricier Class A buildings in the I-680 market. With smaller businesses getting priced out of Class A space, less-opulent Class B digs outside the amenity-rich business parks...

David vs. Goliath: BofA's Coulter aims to turn lumbering bureaucracy into nimble giant. (Bank of America Chmn. David Coulter)(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... In just over a year, BankAmerica Chairman David Coulter has done what few thought possible: He's shaken up the nation's third-largest bank, turning the notoriously bureaucratic behemoth into a leaner financial institution focused on profitability...

Executive profile. (Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. Executive VP Dawn Lepore)
May 30, 1997... Name: Dawn Lepore. Title: Executive vice president, chief information officer. Company: Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. Education: B.A. from Smith College, major in music. Residence: San Mateo. BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY Essential business philosophy:...

In banking, the big get bigger and the small get swallowed.(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... The stability of the major names on The List of the Bay Area's 25 largest banks masks the furious pace of activity in the banking and financial services industry. (See page 13A.) Several of the region's largest banks are still digesting major...

Venture firms have a capital year in high tech, health care.(Banking & Finance Quarterly)
May 30, 1997... These may be the best of times for venture capitalists as venture firms invested a record $10 billion last year, much of it in the burgeoning technology sector. (See page 15A) The money pouting into young entrepreneurial companies also helped...

Building an interest into a business. (Lark in the Morning)(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
May 30, 1997... When Lark in the Morning opened its third store last month, in San Francisco's Cannery, owner Mickie Zekley had come full circle. Before launching the Mendocino-based musical instrument retailer, Zekley was a street musician who played for his...

Unsportsmanlike Niners still deserve to win. (San Franciso Forty-Niners)(Editorial)
May 30, 1997... After months of having their intelligence insulted and loyalty abused by the 49ers' brass and city's political powers in pursuit of a new stadium, San Francisco voters get to take their revenge at the polls on Tuesday. Don't do it. Grit...

Export executive of the year. (Port of Oakland Executive Dir. Charles Foster)
May 30, 1997... Charles Foster Executive Director Port of Oakland Chuck Foster, chief executive of the Port of Oakland since March 1995, is a mild-spoken man on a mission to expand the Bay Area's trading clout by revamping its infrastructure. Foster takes a...

Export achievement award. (Advanced Fibre Communications CEO Donald Green)
May 30, 1997... Donald Green CEO, Advanced Fibre Communications In the past few years AFC has seized on a growing international market niche - the telephone. Fast-growing nations such as China. Mexico. India and Brazil are striving to make telephone...

Export promoter of the year. (Multimedia Development Group Executive Dir. Susan Worthman)
May 30, 1997... Susan Worthman Executive director Multimedia Development Group When she took the helm of the San Francisco-based Multimedia Development Group two years ago, Susan Worthman realized that interactive media was on the verge of a global explosion -...