San Francisco Business Times articles from October 1998

San Francisco Business Times archives from October 1998

Bechtel shakes off Asian flu: staff shuffle creates force in Singapore. (Bechtel Group concentrating Asian operations in Singapore)
October 2, 1998... Bechtel Group is weathering economic turmoil in Asia by cutting costs and shifting operations from Hong Kong to Singapore. While the San Francisco engineering and construction giant lost at least four projects in Thailand and Indonesia, it...

Unfinished job: Welfare to Work pushes into the unknown.(Welfare - Work, part 3)
October 2, 1998... Keith Jones took his first job at United Parcel Service in 1976, loading trucks at night to pay his way through college. Jones has risen through the ranks, working in Hong Kong, Houston and Washington, D.C., before coming home to head human...

Chronicle heir to Marin: olive you. (Nan McEvoy's ranch produces olive oil)
October 2, 1998... Nan McEvoy goes pioneering into extra virgin territory San Francisco Chronicle heir Nan McEvoy has struck oil in northern Marin County. Olive oil, that is. Green gold. Tuscan Tea. Nan McEvoy's 5-year-old McEvoy Ranch will produce about...

Catellus puts down stakes in giant Sacramento project. (Catellus Development Corp acquires stake at Serrano El Dorado)
October 2, 1998... S.F. developer takes controlling interest in plan to build 6,000 homes on 3,500 acres Catellus Development Corp. has purchased a majority stake in Sacramento's largest new residential development, a sign of its sustained belief in the...

Rolling stone: big success here prompts Boulder to call S.F. home. (Boulder Concepts Inc; San Francisco, California)
October 2, 1998... The restaurant company that owns South of Market hot spot Elroy's is moving its corporate offices to San Francisco from Denver - and it's bringing an appetite for expansion. Boulder Concepts Inc., whose San Francisco eatery became one of last...

J.P. Morgan puts more stock in S.F. (San Francisco, California)
October 2, 1998... J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc. is beefing up its public finance operations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. "We see major growth opportunities throughout the western United States," said John McColloch, managing director and head of the company's...

House arrest: relators wage war on the web to keep a lock on home listings. (National Association of Realtors faces competition on the Internet)
October 2, 1998... A war is raging on the Internet between new and old players in the residential real estate industry. The fight centers on how consumers will use the web to shop for homes and mortgages. The outcome may also determine whether or not traditional...

When will your money-making idea hit you? (Fran Lent's Fran's Healthy Helpings)
October 2, 1998... Fran Lent always knew that once she got a good idea, she'd Start her own business. In preparation for that day, she attended business school and then took a job as a product manager for Del Monte Foods and Specialty Brands. Eventually, she became...

Joel Ritch. (owner of Professional Messenger Courier Systems)(Entrepreneur Profile)
October 2, 1998... Name: Joel Ritch. Company: San Francisco-based Professional Messenger Courier Systems. The $12 million company operates a messenger service; Express Services Overnight, an overnight delivery service; and Taylor Price Attorney Service, a...

Layoffs loom as doctors tackle costs. (Brown and Toland Medical Group)
October 16, 1998... The volatile stock market is forcing fast-growing Brown & Toland Medical Group to take a scalpel to its administrative staff and operations. Layoffs are likely as the San Francisco-based doctors' group reviews its costs, seeking to shed...

Big Kaiser center staffs up. (Kaiser Permanente hiring for new call center in Vallejo, California)
October 16, 1998... HMO to answer customers' call with 700 recruits Kaiser Permanente is planning to hire 500 more people by the middle of next year to staff a new call center in Vallejo. The center, which has just opened with a staff of 260 operators,...

Ad shop joins big leagues. (Leagas Delaney's advertisement for Adidas)
October 16, 1998... Leagas Delaney is at top of its game with Yanks, Adidas In an age when consumers are fed up by sneaker companies using overpaid pro athletes to hawk their wares, Adidas brings us five shirtless schnooks - rabid baseball fans all - known...

Biotech takes harsh medicine for financial ills. (LXR Biotechnology Inc)
October 16, 1998... LXR Biotechnology Inc. is shaking up its beakers in an attempt to create a viable company. In the past two months, the Richmond biotech has had a complete management overhaul, hiring CEO Paul Hastings as a hatchet man and chopping the staff...

Women's league shoots to score during NBA labor war. (American Basketball League's advertisement emphasizing National Basketball League lockout)
October 16, 1998... The NBA lockout has become a target of the American Basketball League's $5 million advertising campaign aimed at enticing fans to take a look at its version of women's professional basketball. The Palo Alto-based league will kick off a print...

Cellular One kicks off retail expansion.
October 16, 1998... Cellular One is putting the finishing touches on a flagship San Francisco store, the first step in a plan to boost its regional retail presence by next year. The South San Francisco-based wireless telephone company is finishing negotiations to...

PacBell exodus led to new connections for top execs. (Pacific Bell executives)
October 16, 1998... Although a traditional local phone company for almost a century, Pacific Bell had in its halls a concentration of cutting-edge talent, After the company's merger with SBC Communications, many dispersed like seeds in the wind, but quickly took...

Is PacBell to blame for AT&T's failed local connection? (role of Pacific Bell in failed entry of AT and T in California telephone market)
October 16, 1998... Stymied in its attempt to enter the California local telephone market last year, AT&T gave up offering local service eight months after it started, and it blames Pacific Bell's parent SBC Communications for its failure to break through. It...

Kaiser faces walloping new financial loss. (Kaiser Permanente)
October 23, 1998... Report pegs deficit near half a billion Kaiser Permanente could face a bigger loss this year than 1997's deficit of $266 million, dashing hopes of a quick turnaround at the Oakland-based health system. Kaiser officials said they have not yet...

At your service. (Ask Jeeves Inc.)
October 23, 1998... Surfers talk, Jeeves listens A Berkeley search engine startup - whose mascot is a jolly English butler - is licensing a unique technology that allows people to navigate the web by asking simple English-language questions. Last week, Ask Jeeves...

Developers, tenants flock to Presidio. (California)
October 23, 1998... Ex-Army base moves to transform Letterman Complex A pack of big developers and would-be tenants are competing to help redevelop the Presidio's Letterman Complex into a thriving mixed-use community. Ten developers - including heavyweights...

Financial firms cut employees, tighten belts.
October 23, 1998... In a move expected to be repeated around Bay Area banks and brokerages, JW Genesis Financial Services Inc. has cut about 20 San Francisco jobs in the face of hostile financial markets. For competitive reasons, financial firms are reluctant to...

Embarcadero buyer set to establish beachhead in S.F. (Boston Properties Inc's plans to open office in San Francisco, California)
October 23, 1998... Boston Properties Inc. is preparing to open a regional office in San Francisco and has tapped local real estate executive Robert Pester to head the operation, sources familiar with the situation say. The apparent selection of Pester, currently...

Executive profile. (Wells Fargo and Co Chmn. and CEO Paul Hazen)
October 23, 1998... Name: Paul Hazen. Title: Chairman and CEO. Company: Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco-based banking company. Education: Bachelor of science degree in finance from University of Arizona; M.B.A. from University of California at Berkeley....

Last frontier. (commercial real estate industry in San Francisco, California)
October 23, 1998... Developers are pumping $700 million into the last prime commercial spots near SFO After years of few or no options for corporate expansion near San Francisco International Airport, a glut of new spaces is coming onto the market. The South...

Oakland gets wired to bring new business online. (California)
October 23, 1998... The swelling wave of high-tech commuters ebbing and flowing to Silicon Valley is beginning to splash in some surprising places, not the least of which is the city of Oakland. After suffering through a period marked by infighting and inertia, a...

Ad shops are best pitchmen for their own neighborhood. (advertising agencies in San Francisco, California)
October 23, 1998... As economic good times roll, San Francisco advertising agencies have started to play musical chairs. Although most still maintain residence in the traditional "advertising ghetto" - an area north of the Financial District centered on Sansome...

Wells sets stage; does Norwest merger offer end to pairings or taste of things to come? (Wells Fargo)
October 30, 1998... With the completion of their merger as early as next week, Wells Fargo and Norwest executives believe the last big chapter will be written in the barking industry's national consolidation binge. "We'll probably see two or three years within the...

Sangstat heart drugs quicken pulse of street.
October 30, 1998... SangStat may be about to make a killing off of heart transplants. With $72 million in cash and a market capitalization of $332 million, the Menlo Park biotech is awaiting federal approval on two key drugs for transplant patients this fall, each...

Politicos spar in real time; firm lets ads fly as fast as accusations.
October 30, 1998... With Election Day less than a week away, candidates across the country are using the high-speed electronic network of a San Francisco advertising services company to sling political mud in record time. Digital Generation Systems Inc. allows...

Cloudy outlook means Sun won't shine on big East Bay site. (Sun Microsystems Inc.)
October 30, 1998... Sun Microsystems Inc., having amassed more land than it needs, has put a large chunk of vacant East Bay property back on the market. The 81-acre parcel, located in Newark off Cherry Street between Mowry Avenue and Stevenson Boulevard, is fully...

Growing hotel chain adopts new Personality; pushes forward with Union Square's first inn for 25 years. (Personality Hotels Inc.)
October 30, 1998... Pushes forward with Union square's first inn for 25 years A new CEO, a new property and plans for Union square's first new hotel in 25 years are putting San Francisco's expanding Personality Hotels Inc. on the map. The recently opened $5...

Dental firm bites into Bay Area. (Bright Now Dental; California)
October 30, 1998... Bright Now Dental is drilling into the Bay Area in its first move to crown the U.S. market for retail dentist offices. The Newport Beach-based dental management company bought up Oakland's Consumer Dental Services Organization last year and is...

Riding it out: VC war chests help startups survive the IPO slump. (venture capital; initial public offering)(Fast Track Quarterly)
October 30, 1998... If this were 1997, or even six months ago, chances are that executives of Release Software would be sitting pretty atop a mountain of IPO cash, happily watching the company's stock gyrate with the rest of the Internet universe. But thanks to...

Mondo's Internet minis set stage for bigger things. (Mondo Media)(Fast Track Quarterly)
October 30, 1998... It has been nearly 10 years coming, but San Francisco's Mondo Media may be on the brink of realizing its multimedia dreams - on the Internet. Founders John Evershed and Deirdre O'Malley, pioneers in the early days of commercialization of CD...

DPR's tools for success don't include the corporate ladder. (DPR Construction, Inc.)(Fast Track Quarterly)
October 30, 1998... Imagine a business with no titles, one where job descriptions vary according to the demands of different projects and the respective strengths of individual employees. It's a far cry from the familiar hierarchical ladder of corporate America,...

Extricity bets on startup vet's winning track record. (Extricity Software Inc.)(Fast Track Quarterly)
October 30, 1998... If the third time is indeed a charm, Extricity Software could be in for quite a future. Founder Ken Ross formed the Internet applications software company in 1996, after successfully starting Ross Systems and PillAr Corp., each of which went...

A family business that benefits the family. (Wilson West Inc.)(Small Business Growth Strategies)
October 30, 1998... Like many working women expecting their first child, Cindy Wilson wanted to continue her career - both for her own satisfaction and for the income it provided. After her son was born in 1992, she figured she had two choices: return to corporate...