Dallas Business Journal articles from March 1998

Dallas Business Journal archives from March 1998

Bank of Commerce targets Texas. (bank to open office in Dallas, Texas)
March 20, 1998... Top SBA lender will open loan-production office here next quarter SAN DIEGO - The nation's No. 1 bank among SBA lenders says it will open a Metroplex office sometime during the second quarter. No site has been chosen for the Dallas office...

'Rolling up' casings industry. (Chatham Technologies Inc. makes several acquisitions)
March 20, 1998... NORTH DALLAS - Backed by $400 million in financing, a new Dallas company is quietly building a monolith in the unsexy but profitable business of "electronics enclosures." Chatham Technologies Inc. is a consolidator of companies that make...

Tax exemption draws Precision Wood Products to Cedar Hill. (Texas)
March 20, 1998... GRAND PRAIRIE - Precision Wood Products Inc. of Grand Prairie will relocate to Cedar Hill in southwest Dallas County to take advantage of that city's railroad access and its recently approved triple Freeport tax exemption. At its new...

PageNet moving, downsizing corporate headquarters. (Paging Network Inc.)
March 20, 1998... PLANO - A troubled telecommunications firm that once rode at the top of its industry and talked of ambitious plans for a $33 million corporate campus is downsizing both its work force and the size of its corporate headquarters. Paging...

Timberlawn loses court fight with Tenet Healthcare Corp. (Timberlawn Psychiatric Hospital)
March 20, 1998... EAST DALLAS - Timberlawn Psychiatric Hospital. has lost its bid to collect damages from a now-defunct psychiatric chain it claims stole its business. A jury in the 191st District Court in Dallas found March 9 that Timberlawn's dearth of...

Halliburton, Dresser deal tops list of mergers. (Halliburton Co., Dresser Industries Inc.)
March 20, 1998... The deal between two Dallas energy companies far outpaced other activity in February DOWNTOWN - A $7.7 billion offer from energy-services giant Halliburton Co. to merge with another Dallas firm, Dresser Industries Inc., topped all other...

Fort Worth cup maker wins judgement in Virginia court. (Texas-based Pescor Plastics Inc.'s case against Berry Sterling Corp.)
March 20, 1998... FORT WORTH - Fort Worth-based Pescor Plastics Inc. won a $150,000 judgment in a long-standing court battle when a Virginia court decided to invalidate a competitor's patent. Virginia-based Berry Sterling Corp. - the company filing suit...

J.P. Morgan opens office to pursue region's millionaires. (J.P. Morgan and Company Inc.'s office in Dallas, Texas)
March 20, 1998... UPTOWN - The most famous name in private banking has quietly opened a Metroplex outpost in The Crescent, targeting the Sun Belt's ever-expanding pool of multimillionaires. "It was a logical step to come to Dallas," said Scott Nycum...

Fixing famous brands: former Lucchese president puts Western-wear firm in high gear. (John Tillotson manages Arena Brands Inc.)
March 13, 1998... Former Lucchese president puts Western-wear firm in high gear GARLAND - In 1996, Hat Brands Inc. was a Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc. subsidiary that was losing its footing in the Western-wear industry. The market for Western wear had been...

Beal Aerospace ready for launch: rocket firm building plant in Frisco. (Beal Aerospace Technologies Inc. to build rocket construction plant)
March 13, 1998... Rocket firm building plant in Frisco DOWNTOWN - A Dallas company headed by the majority stakeholder in Beal Financial Corp. is quietly assembling what it says is a $250 million program to build and launch commercial rockets into space....

BankAmerica likely to carve up Texas branches. (BankAmerica Corp. to sell Bank of America Texas N.A. branches)
March 13, 1998... DOWNTOWN - As the nation's No. 4 bank prepares to sell off its Texas retail network, two key questions are emerging. First, what holding company has the ability and the desire to buy. Bank of America Texas N.A.'s remaining 166 branches?...

A second chance for 2nd Home Suites hotel chain. (2nd Home Suites LLC)
March 13, 1998... LAS COLINAS - John Q. Hammons, one of the nation's largest developers of upscale hotels, is pulling out of 2nd Home Suites L.L.C. in Las Colinas and selling its only Metroplex property. Hammons had originally teamed with Robert L. Brock,...

Noodle Kidoodle shoots for toy buyer, kit and kaboodle. (Noodle Kidoodle Inc. to open Southwestern stores)(Company Profile)
March 13, 1998... PLANO - An "edutainment" toy chain is making a play for the pint-sized market with plans to open its first Southwestern stores in the Metroplex. Noodle Kidoodle Inc. (Nasdaq: NKID) plans to open two $600,000 Noodle Kidoodle stores in Plano...

Wordware growth booms with computing manuals. (Wordware Publishing Inc.)(Company Profile)
March 13, 1998... PLANO - The seemingly insatiable demand for technical computing manuals has created a business boom for Plano-based Wordware Publishing Inc. Jim Hill, Wordware publisher, says the company recorded a 270% increase in sales from 1996 to 1997...

Major gas find in Argentina could put Reef at new level. (Reef Exploration Inc. completes drilling of gas well in Argentina)
March 13, 1998... RICHARDSON - Reef Exploration Inc., an independent oil and gas company based in Richardson, says it has completed drilling one of South America's largest producing gas wells. The well, called Valle Morado X-1001, is also said to be the...

Carleton plotting $9 million, 170-unit multifamily project. (Carleton Residential)
March 13, 1998... CITYPLACE - Dallas-based Carleton Residential is requesting a change of zoning in order to build a 170-unit apartment project in a neighborhood just east of North Central Expressway. The project on Carroll Avenue will cost $9 million to build...

Interest in police work spurs software concept. (Groupware Concepts Inc. creates police-related software system)
March 13, 1998... Groupware's Lotus application improves tracking, communication between police officers and community IRVING - Not every company would want to help make cops' jobs easier. But then, not every company has a president who has a ponytail and...

Shoe Carnival plans to make Metroplex first Texas market. (Shoe Carnival Inc.)(Company Profile)
March 13, 1998... GREATER DALLAS AREA - Shoe Carnival Inc. wants to step into Texas next year. The Evansville, Ind.-based retail chain (Nasdaq: SCVL) is scouting for sites in Dallas-Fort Worth with Staubach Retail Services, said Mark Lemond, Shoe Carnival...

Perot Systems plans move north. (Perot Systems Corp.)
March 6, 1998... PARK CENTRAL - Perot Systems Corp. is planning to build a 460,000-square-foot campus north of LBJ Freeway to-consolidate a number of its Dallas offices and data center functions - and possibly serve as the firm's new corporate headquarters....

Gruma Corp. relocating to Metroplex.
March 6, 1998... LAS COLINAS - The Los Angeles-based Mexican food company Gruma Corp. is bringing its whole corporate enchilada to the Metroplex. Gruma Corp. is the parent company of Mission Foods and Azteca, two of the largest manufacturers of tortillas and...

Remodeled, refocused, replaced: developers have poured $6.5 million into historic market district. (West End Marketplace)
March 6, 1998... WEST END - Kellie Lynn Allen laughs when she tells the story of the latest string of tenants to join the West End MarketPlace. It had been a few years since many of them had visited the four-level retail center, she said. Several were...

Landmark to roll out national home-loan campaign. (Landmark Financial Services Inc.)
March 6, 1998... PLANO - Dallas-based Landmark Financial Services Inc. will launch this spring a national campaign to create what its founder describes as "the Home Depot of the home finance industry." The $25 million company's new brand name, 1-800-HOME...

Kaiser finds Texas is tough on HMOs. (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas; health maintenance organizations)
March 6, 1998... Lack of choice hobbled California plan in Lone Star market, top executive says NORTH DALLAS - Texas, with its tradition of rugged individualism, hasn't been an easy market for some of the nation's biggest HMOs to crack. Several have...

Majority of HMOs in D-FW lost money in third quarter. (health maintenance organizations; Dallas-Fort Worth, TX)
March 6, 1998... NORTH DALLAS - Most of the area's HMOs continue to take financial hits in an increasingly heated battle for market share. Membership numbers are up for most HMOs, state figures show, but so are financial losses. Although several HMO plans...

Temerlin McClain transfers public relations to affiliate. (Temerlin McClain Inc.; Temerlin McClain Public Relations; Bozell Sawyer Miller Group)
March 6, 1998... IRVING - The biggest advertising agency in the Metroplex has merged its public relations branch with one of the top public relations firms worldwide. Temerlin McClain Inc. in Irving has transferred 50% ownership of Temerlin McClain Public...

BofA program targets low-income home buyers. (Bank of America Texas N.A.)
March 6, 1998... Bank pledges $500 million for loan plan that lets borrowers avoid making down payments DOWNTOWN - Dallas-based Bank of America Texas N.A. has begun an effort to put low-income families into homes with mortgages that require no down payment....

Soft selling: Hodges keeps pressure out of business. (Don W. Hodges, founder of First Dallas Securities Inc.)(Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
March 6, 1998... UPTOWN - No quotas for brokers, no pressure on clients, no smiling-and-dialing spade work to unearth the Old Money of Dallas or to expose the Metroplex's Nouveau Riche. Do they really sell stocks here? "We get our share of the market, but we...