Dallas Business Journal articles from May 1997

Dallas Business Journal archives from May 1997

Local HMOs will try to stem losses racked up in 1996. (Dallas-area health maintenance organizations)(Industry Overview)
May 9, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - The Dallas-area HMO market continues to suffer from growing pains, with many organizations reporting heavy losses in the battle for market share. Increased competition for new members, through attempts to offer the best prices...

Texas Nameplate builds business on employee loyalty.(Company Profile)
May 9, 1997... SOUTH DALLAS - Ever wonder where the small metal plate on the back of your computer comes from? Most likely, it comes from the Dallas-based Texas Nameplate Co. The leadership skills of Dale Crownover, the company's president, have made Texas...

Big D on MasterCard's short list: Atlanta and St. Louis also vying for firm's technology operations division. (MasterCard International Inc.)
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - Dallas has made the short list of U.S. cities under consideration by MasterCard International Inc. for one of its divisions employing 1,250 people, sources say. The list, sources close to the company say, has been narrowed to...

AG probes KTNT's practices. (Texas attorney general; KTNT Communications Inc.)
May 16, 1997... KENNEDALE - Authorities in five states are trying to figure out ways to deal with a Kennedale long-distance company that does business under names like "I don't know" and "It doesn't matter." The Texas attorney general's office is...

Risky business: promotions firm covers million-dollar contests. (SCA Promotions)
May 16, 1997... Promotions firm covers million-dollar contests NORTH DALLAS - There won't be just one winner this year at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic. On May 15, Wesley Johnson was scheduled to stroke a 60-foot putt that either would make him a millionaire...

Projects promise a mall free-for-all.
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - The face of retailing here is about to change dramatically. The reason: two new malls proposed for North Dallas, plus a massive renovation planned at Prestonwood Town Center and new development going up around NorthPark Centre....

Banks race to open branches in Metroplex supermarkets.
May 16, 1997... IRVING - When a supermarket customer comes in for milk and bread, at least four Metroplex banks want to be there to offer car loans and savings accounts. Wells Fargo Bank has opened seven Tom Thumb banks in Dallas-Fort Worth this year,...

Tight labor market forcing tech firms to look overseas.
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - Raymond Marlow has a "buy local" philosophy. When purchasing supplies, for example, his Dallas-based company, electronic-component manufacturer Marlow Industries, first tries to find the goods in the Metroplex. If they're not...

Firm's software helping banks curb costs, boost bottom lines. (Carreker-Antinori's CashForecaster)
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - Newly available software can predict how much cash a bank should keep on hand, allowing managers to put the excess to work generating profits, a Dallas-based technology company says. CashForecaster, a program from the technology...

Metroplex firms raised near-record capital in first quarter: but IPOs dropped by $478 million as stock market took a breather. (initial public offering)
May 16, 1997... But IPOs dropped $478 million as stock market took a breather DOWNTOWN - The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex recorded its third-highest quarter ever for raising capital during first quarter 1997, according to a Chas. P. Young Co. report....

CareSelect drops management service in favor of core business. (CareSelect Group)
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - CareSelect Group of Dallas is dropping a business line to devote more attention to its core business, managing its affiliated doctors groups. Discontinued is the management services organization (MSO) for doctors' independent...

InovaHealth girds for growth with physician as CEO. (InovaHealth Inc. CEO John Kelley)
May 16, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - With one of its doctors at the helm, InovaHealth Inc. plans this year to step up its growth to better appeal to managed health care companies. The Dallas-based physician practice management company includes 18 doctors, smaller...

The yes woman: 'no-excuse' service keeps tenants satisfied. (Kennedy Corporate Services founder Laura Kennedy)(Growth Strategies)
May 16, 1997... UPTOWN - Don't even mention the word "concierge" to Laura Kennedy - she hates it. Granted, in the broadest sense of the word that's exactly what her almost 2-year-old business is. But the traditional image associated with "concierge" is one of...

Health systems customize facilities.(Health Care Quarterly)
May 16, 1997... LAS COLINAS - The sounds of construction will again echo through the hospital industry as area health systems prepare to accommodate a burgeoning population. Record numbers of people are moving to cities across the Metroplex, prompting health...

Local infertility centers booming with business: insurers required to provide some type of coverage, but employer's contract controls benefits.(Health Care Quarterly)
May 16, 1997... For three years, Kelly(*) knew the routine well: the early morning appointments, daily injections, regular blood draws and other rigors of treating infertile couples. Throughout her early- to mid-30s Kelly's dreams of becoming a mother were...

Sticking together: Perot's Healthcare Solutions Model collaborates with diverse groups to service Integrated Health Networks. (Perot Systems Healthcare Group)(Health Care Quarterly)
May 16, 1997... DALLAS - Perot Systems Healthcare Group has developed an array of Internet-accessible health care services to help general practitioners, hospitals, employers and payers work together to stay competitive and gain the patient loyalty they need to...

Winning combinations: well-rounded corporate wellness programs are benefiting employees' health and the bottom line.(Health Care Quarterly)
May 16, 1997... DALLAS - Corporate wellness is extending beyond the boundaries of weight lifting and working out. These days a healthy employee - mentally, physically and emotionally - translates into a win-win situation for companies. Integrating a...

Another degree of learning for medical professionals: University of Dallas offers long-distance learning MBA in health services, graduates first class this spring. (master of business administration degree)(Health Care Quarterly)
May 16, 1997... IRVING - A growing number of medical professionals are adding another skill to their curriculum vitae - business education. A swift change in the health care industry is driving more professionals to hit the books, said Paula Ann Hughes, dean...

Dallas area codes to split again: 214,972 codes will be exhausted early due to increased demand for phone numbers.
May 23, 1997... 214,972 codes will be exhausted early due to increased demand for phone numbers Noryt Dallas - Dallas and surrounding communities could have at least two new area codes by June 1998 - or sooner. The 214 area code and its 972 counterpart,...

Failure of electric deregulation disappoints Nye. (Texas Utilities Co Pres and CEO Erle Nye)
May 23, 1997... Downtown - Erle Nye sounded disappointed. On Tuesday, in his 41st-floor Office in Energy Plaza, Nye professed sorrow at the death of the Texas Consumer Power Act of 1997. "We were prepared to go forward with the bill as it was laid out,"...

Union Pacific to locate atop Bank One tower.
May 23, 1997... Downtown - Dallas' most prestigious corporate newcomer in years will relocate to the top two floors of Bank One Center, real estate sources say. Union Pacific Corp. reportedly is near a deal to move its corporate headquarters into the 59th and...

Dad's dream leads to hot kid's character - the next Barney? (Jay Jay the Jet Plane TV show)
May 23, 1997... North Dallas - A locally produced children's video series soon may spread its wings and fly into the national spotlight. Jay Jay the Jet Plane will hit the television airwaves within 18 months, said David Michel, producer of the video series....

Fore profit: businesses used 'the Byron' as major marketing event. (golfing event)
May 23, 1997... Corporate sellout brought record revenues, but tournament 'could have sold twice that much' IRVING - Let's say you're the marketing director for a decent-sized Dallas firm. You're looking for a pleasant way to entertain your clients, to give...

Local financial stocks lag despite bull market's pace. (Portland, OR)
May 23, 1997... Downtown - When the Federal Reserve Board decided May 20 to leave short-term interest rates alone, the stock markets jumped at the news. Major bank stocks, which had been hurt in recent weeks as the market anticipated a .25% rate hike, roared....

Firm a hit with ideas - and action. (Dralco Inc)
May 23, 1997... "Innovation is as much a matter of will-power as imagination." - Steven F. Hayward "Churchill on Leadership" Weatherford - One day in the early 1990s, David Lang of Dralco Inc. was watching a TV news show about Somalia that described the...

Exports thrive despite dollar. (Texas exports)(Special Quarterly Report: Financial Quarterly)
May 23, 1997... Downtown - The dollar continues to gain strength on the world currency market. yet Texas exports are helping to fuel a surging Metroplex economy. What gives? in a word: Mexico. "As a rough rule of thumb, Mexico is four times as important to...

McDavid selling auto empire. (McDavid Automotive Group to be acquired by Asbury Automotive Group)
May 30, 1997... Asbury to pay $380 million for Texas dealerships IRVING - David McDavid will sell his auto dealership empire to Asbury Automotive Group for $380 million, sources say. McDavid, a longtime Texas auto magnate, reportedly has just signed the...

TNP to fight for N.M. customers. (Texas New Mexico Power Co.)
May 30, 1997... Training for retail competition FORT WORTH - The boxing gloves hanging on his office wall are a present from a previous job, but Kevern Joyce knows he is still involved in a prizefight of epic proportions. Joyce, the president and chairman...

Kemper to consolidate at Lakeside. (Kemper Insurance Co.)
May 30, 1997... PARK CENTRAL - Kemper Insurance Cos. has signed a lease for 76,000 square feet at Lakeside Square as the first step in consolidating most of its Texas operations in Dallas. Over the next year, Kemper will move all of its Texas marketing...

Cleburne booms with new industries and jobs.
May 30, 1997... CLEBURNE - Former Cleburne City Manager Lloyd Moss remembers the time when many of the city's 23,000 residents were driving 25 miles north to Fort Worth to find work. Not any more, says Moss, who is now the economic development director of...

Central Freight deal saves 3,800 jobs. (Jerry and Ronald Moyes buy struggling Central Freight Lines Inc.)
May 30, 1997... ARLINGTON - Truck drivers aren't known for being warm, fuzzy types - which is why Tom Morehouse and other executives at Central Freight Lines Inc. were genuinely moved when some of the company's 200 drivers signed a giant-sized card thanking the...

General Wireless postpones initial public offering.
May 30, 1997... Company will go ahead with debt offering as market softens for PCS stocks NORTH DALLAS - General Wireless Inc., which holds federal licenses to supply personal communications services in 14 U.S. markets, has tabled its plans for an initial...

Firm shows banks how to 'factor' in profits. (National Factoring Services Co.)(Company Profile)
May 30, 1997... ARLINGTON - A two-year-old factoring finn has found its niche by showing small banks how to make customers out of commercial-loan applicants they would have turned away. "We discovered that small banks want to compete in the factoring...

Dallas business starts are flat, while Fort Worth's plummet.
May 30, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - Dallas' wild seven-year ride in business startups finally hit ground level in 1996, but Fort Worth's took its third plunge in four years. Starts in Dallas virtually stood still, growing 0.3% from 1,379 in 1995 to 1,383 in 1996,...

IKON snaps up Denton office-equipment company. (IKON Office Solutions acquires Office Equipment Center)
May 30, 1997... FARMERS BRANCH - Last year, IKON Office Solutions Inc. stepped up its Dallas operations in a big way. The Valley Forge, Pa.-based office technology provider created a regional center here, merged its three Dallas companies and embarked on a...

Count on it: Dallas economy will grow.
May 30, 1997... Local gross product should increase by 3.25% annually through 2025 Twice a year, I find myself hunkering down and working with what I call the Texas Econometric Model (known in some remote parts of the state as "The Model.") Analyzing the...

Selective service. (Karlee Co.)(Company Profile)
May 30, 1997... Karlee Co. 'picky' about the customers it keeps GARLAND - Like the newlywed. Karlee Co. puts extra effort into new relationships. The machining and sheet metal fabrication company says it keeps its customer base small in order to spend time...