Dallas Business Journal articles from June 1996

Dallas Business Journal archives from June 1996

Today's drop may hurt ProNet tomorrow. (ProNet Inc.'s slipping stock price)
June 28, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - ProNet Inc.'s slipping stock price could have the greatest impact on the company's expansion-by-acquisition strategy. ProNet, a Dallas-based paging company that blazed the buyout trail this year, still is reeling from a huge...

Dallas job count mushrooms 8.7%. (employment growth in Dallas, Texas)
June 28, 1996... When it boils down to job growth in Dallas, it's no secret that the city is on the rebound. That point is driven home in a recent study conducted by the Dallas Business Journal, which demonstrates the steady increase in employment...

Would-be buyers angling for NorthPark buildings. (investors express interest in buying office buildings in Dallas, Texas)
June 28, 1996... NORTHPARK - Two investors have contracts to buy two properties at one of the most important commercial intersections in the Metroplex. More than 20 acres, 700,000 square feet of office space, a proposed office building and at least $70...

Hicks brothers thank dad for business upbringing. (entrepreneurs Steve and Tom Hicks)
June 28, 1996... Brothers pursue success with Austin radio venture AUSTIN - Steve Hicks is a lousy disc jockey. But he's also one of the most influential people in the radio industry in this country. Hicks has radio in his blood. From his "lousy"...

Private mail centers rise up to fight U.S. Postal Service.
June 28, 1996... DENVER - Neither steer, snow, hail or rain is supposed to stop the U.S. Postal Service from its appointed rounds. But what if your postman wants to package that box for you and sell you a long-distance calling card while you wait?...

SES rose from newspaper's ashes. (writers Janis Dworkis and Linda Greene form Southwest Editorial Services after closure of 'Dallas Jewish Life')(Growth Strategies: An Information Arsenal for Emerging Companies)
June 28, 1996... PARK CITIES - Janis Dworkis and Linda Greene are writing their own ticket. Like many small-business people today. they started a new business after their jobs vanished. They are a bit different from the typical...

Small banks see on-line banking as part of their future.(Growth Strategies: An Information Arsenal for Emerging Companies)
June 28, 1996... Though on-line banking is largely dominated by the large, multiregional banks such as NationsBank and Bank of America, smaller, independent, neighborhood-oriented financial institutions in Dallas and Fort Worth are also seeking to get on line....

Grayson described as a 'visionary' and a 'dictator.' (7th Level Inc. Chairman and CEO George Grayson)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... RICHARDSON - George Grayson calls himself a benevolent dictator. At any moment, the 40-year-old chairman and chief executive of 7th Level Inc. may be out roaming the halls of the educational and entertainment CD-ROM manufacturer's Collins...

Pipe-fittings focus helped Central Plastics survive slumps. (Central Plastics Co. Pres. Phill Pourchot)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... SHAWNEE - A family-owned business in a small Oklahoma town is one of the world's largest suppliers of pipe fittings made from polyethylene and metal. Central Plastics Co. in Shawnee supplies pipe joints for industries ranging from...

Down-and-out childhood leads to million-dollar firm. (Commercial Financial Services Inc. Pres. William Bartmann)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... TULSA - They say nothing can be gained by throwing good money after bad. But William Bartmann has thrown around a lot of good money. He's not done too badly. His Tulsa-based loan-resolution company, Commercial Financial Services Inc., has...

i2 leaders sparked company's growth, passion from employees. (I2 Technologies Inc. Chairman Sanjiv Sandhu and Vice Chairman Kanna Sharma)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... IRVING - Completing a $38.3 million initial public offering this spring was only one step in a long process for i2 Technologies Inc. Since i2 Chairman Sanjiv Sidhu and Vice Chairman Karma "Ken" Sharma joined forces within the company in 1990,...

'Flying tool' put Benedict owner on success path. (Benedict Optical's Bill Benedict)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... LEWISVILLE - There is a story making the rounds in the Benedict family about how patriarch Bill Benedict stumbled into his first job as a teen-ager. "As the story goes, dad was walking down a street in Dallas, looking for a job, when a tool...

Hartex partners compliment management styles. (Hartex Property Group Inc.'s Adam Weis, Rene Campos and Greg Smith)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - As they enter the room, you would swear they are brothers. Three guys, roughly the same age, moving in unconscious unison. They don't look alike but stand and sit at the same time, use the same hand gestures, even crack the...

Excel builds telecom company via word of mouth. (Excel Communications Inc. Pres. Kenny Troutt)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - His business may be high-tech, but Kenny Troutt is relying on old fashioned word of mouth to help make his company, Excel Communications Inc., a household word. His strategy? Go public. He put this strategy into practice May...

Downsizing was hard job for Optek chief executive. (OPTEK Technology Inc. CEO Thomas Filesi)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... CARROLLTON - When you're down, you sometimes call upon resources you didn't even know you had to help pull you out. That's what happened with Thomas Filesi, chief executive of Carrollton-based Optek Technology Inc. In 1992, Filesi saw his...

Concern for service pays well for Omega Environmental. (Omega Environmental Technologies Pres. Grace Davis)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... STEMMONS SOUTH - Call Omega Environmental Technologies and you may find yourself speaking directly with its president, Grace Davis. She not only communicates personally with each and every customer, she sometimes answers the company's main...

ObjectSpace founders find strength working together. (ObjectSpace Inc.'s David Norris and Graham Glass)(Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 28, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - ObjectSpace Inc. started with two employees less than five years ago and should staff around 140 by year's end. ObjectSpace once had its only office in Dallas, but now has branches in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Austin. The...

More pruning at BofA: Bank of America Texas preparing statewide list of 60 rural branches execs want to cut.
June 21, 1996... Bank of America Texas preparing statewide list of 60 rural branches execs want to cut IRVING - About one year after announcing the sale of 27 rural branches, Bank of America Texas is selling another 60 small-town branches. Sources close...

From Dallas, US ONE to vie for phone biz. (US ONE Communications Corp.)
June 21, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - An early battle in the coming war to offer local phone services could be forming here. US ONE Communications Corp. is moving its headquarters here, in the heart of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. territory. With its...

MESBIC launches private equity fund. (MESBIC Ventures Holding Co.)
June 21, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - After 26 years of investing government-backed funds in minority businesses, Dallas-based MESBIC Ventures Holding Co. is shifting its role to that of a more traditional venture capital company with a new $30 million private...

AMR signs rehabilitation contract with HealthSouth. (AMR Corp.; HealthSouth Rehabilitation Corp.)
June 21, 1996... FORT WORTH - HealthSouth Corp., which operates 34 rehabilitation centers in the Metroplex, has signed a contract with AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines Inc., to provide on-site rehabilitation services for nearly 26,000 employees at the...

Budget airlines stymie effort to revamp federal ticket taxes.
June 21, 1996... DENVER - Opponents of a plan to change the federal tax on airline tickets from a flat 10% charge to a user fee appear to have gained the upper hand. The nation's seven largest airlines asked Congress to change the 10% flat tax on airline...

Partnership offers one-stop shopping for call centers.
June 21, 1996... Four local companies have created an unusual partnership to provide one-stop shopping for businesses that want to set up call centers. Led by the Dallas-based call-management division of Computer Generated Solutions Inc., the group is seeking...

Nursing home owner faced ordeal for loan. (Leona Hawkins of South Dallas Nursing Home)(Growth Strategies)
June 21, 1996... SOUTH DALLAS - Leona Hawkins commonly refers to her business district in South Dallas as "the ghetto." But that has never deterred Hawkins from wanting to build her family-owned nursing home into one of Dallas' finest facilities. It was...

Shelby relishes the banking race. (Plano Bancshares Inc. Chmn. Pat Shelby)
June 14, 1996... Plano Bancshares chairman guarding Collin County turf One day two-summers ago, Pat Shelby's golf club sailed through the air, careened off a rooftop and made its splashdown in the swimming pool of someone's home near the 14th hole of the...

Venture fund planting pair of seedlings on Wall St.
June 14, 1996... VC thinks money will grow on these trees NORTH DALLAS - Local venture capital firm Seed Company Partners is taking two of its investments public in hopes of getting enough cash to start a second, $30 million capital fund. Seed, based in...

More customers, new laws create challenges for Optel. (Optel Communications Inc.)
June 14, 1996... WEST DALLAS - Optel Communications Inc. is on the verge of a tricky threshold. Optel, one of the largest independent cable-TV and telephone carriers in the United States, has seen its subscriber base mushroom over the last year. The company...

id's sales strategy: hook the users with freebies. (id Software Inc.)
June 14, 1996... MESQUITE - Peddling computer games over the Internet brought id Software Inc. three hit games and $7 million in revenue by its third year of existence. The company's chief marketing tool was putting out a shortened version of its games on...

Emerson nabs Coppell tract. (Emerson Partners Inc. acquires 50 acres in Freeport North industrial area in Coppell, Texas)
June 7, 1996... Land deal stokes an already hot real estate market along Highway 121 corridor COPPELL - Emerson Partners Inc., in a joint venture with Fort Worth-based Trademark Capital & Investments L.C., has acquired 50 acres in Coppell's Freeport North...

Hollywood looks south of border. (Hollywood Casino Corp. plans to open gaming facilities in Mexico)
June 7, 1996... If Mexico OKs gambling, Pratt has casino-plan ready to move ahead PRESTONWOOD - Hollywood Casino Corp. of Dallas is engaging in a little Mexican Sweat these days as it tries to get the jump on competitors wanting to cut casino deals in...

Rauscher changes include new CEO, more departures. (Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc. names William Johnstone as new CEO)
June 7, 1996... UPTOWN - Dallas investment firm Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc. is in a shuffle mode - the firm has named a new chief, picked a new leader for its stagnant fixed-income department and made a few layoffs. The latest move by the firm's parent...

One year following acquisition, Service Asset doubles revenue. (Service Asset Management Co.)
June 7, 1996... NORTHEAST DALLAS - In less than a year, investment firm Service Asset Management Co. has nearly doubled revenue and become one of the area's largest clearing houses by taking employees and clients from larger firms. Dallas-based Service...