Dallas Business Journal articles from October 2000

Dallas Business Journal archives from October 2000

Spire snaps up CBD complex.
October 6, 2000... Houston firm eyes reviving Dallas' vacant Mercantile property DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- Houston-based Spire Realty Co. is aiming to breathe new life into the biggest vacant block of office space in Dallas' central business district, with a...

Hendry plotting bigger facility, additional jobs.
October 6, 2000... EAST PLANO -- Hendry Telephone Products, a California-based manufacturer of phone boxes, is quadrupling its local space with a new manufacturing plant and expanding its work force to 400. The 72-year-old Hendry is building a $13.5 million,...

Blitzkrieg!
October 6, 2000... Airplanes and in-line skates help wage an escalating guerrilla war for D-FW tech workers RICHARDSON -- The battle among Metroplex technology firms for top talent has long been fierce. Now, though, upstart telecom-equipment-maker Marconi...

'The magic of the water'.
October 6, 2000... Hotel proposed on subleased lakefront land LEWISVILLE -- The shore of Lake Lewisville is on course to harbor Lewisville's first full-service hotel by 2002. Mike Geddie and other Texas investors are planning the $30 million, 224-room...

Gifted entrepreneurs.
October 6, 2000... FORT WORTH -- A couple whose children attend Texas Christian University will make a $10.5 million gift for the building that will house the university's M.J. Neeley School of Business' James A. Ryffel Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. ...

Olla's second life.
October 6, 2000... NORTH DALLAS -- Look for changes at the long-shuttered Olla Podrida artists' village on Coit Road just south of LBJ Freeway. The sign on the building still reads "Closed. Thanks for 24 great years." But the quirky old marketplace shut down...

New focus at HOK.
October 6, 2000... DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- St. Louis-based Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum L.P., one of the world's largest architectural design firms, is reorganizing its Dallas office to focus on local and regional work. Its international retail group, which accounted...

More elbow room.
October 6, 2000... IRVING -- Leading regional air-conditioning distributor Texas Trane hopes to relocate its more than 160 employees in Valwood Industrial Park to new digs, according to district manager Jerry Gray. "We're out of space," said Gray, noting that...

Banking on Grapevine.
October 6, 2000... GRAPEVINE -- Horizon Bank plans to break ground Oct. 10 on a 4,200-square-foot bank at the southeast corner of State Highway 121 and Hughes Road in Grapevine. Ken Cummins Jr., a 30-year banking veteran and former president with Mercantile...

Corrections.
October 6, 2000... In the list of Dallas-Fort Worth's fastest-growing midsize private companies in the Sept. 29-Oct. 5 Pacesetters publication, the revenue figures for Pavestone Co. L.L.P. were in advertently transposed No. 17-ranking Pavestone recorded revenue...

Plano bank won't go outside for top exec.
October 6, 2000... Top candidates are all from the Legacy staff PLANO -- Legacy Bank of Texas is making some changes. The independent bank has narrowed down its search for a new president and chief executive to in-house executive candidates. In...

Arena lures entertainment spots.
October 6, 2000... Two tenants sign up for space in Victory DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- A pair of big, bold entertainment concepts will shoulder into the Dallas market with operations in the Victory development surrounding American Airlines Center. The House of...

Study deems Dallas Initiative 'ineffective'.
October 6, 2000... Group charges city failed to provide funds REDBIRD AIRPORT - The outside consultant who recommended five years ago that Dallas create the Business Development Corp. to revive neglected Redbird Airport is now recommending the opposite. ...

Chamber exec sees a high-tech South Dallas.
October 6, 2000... Chairman meeting with groups to gauge interest SOUTH DALLAS -- The chairman of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce is trying to assemble a program to build stronger links between South Dallas and Richardson's Telecom Corridor. ...

Regulatory clouds loom over development.
October 6, 2000... Proposed retail center faces change in rules COLLEYVILLE -- Mayor Donna Arp of Colleyville says new rules are needed to regulate large retail development in the city, but the developer planning Colleyville Town Center doesn't like her...

EEOC lawsuits accuse Metroplex companies.
October 6, 2000... Small percentage of complaints filed with agency reach litigation GREATER METROPLEX -- Four different lawsuits alleging discrimination by Metroplex employers against workers have been filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...

Corridor office sale triggers bidding war.
October 6, 2000... Local investment firm finds N.Y. backing to win RICHARDSON -- For Blue Cross arid Blue Shield of Texas, the necessary unloading of a five-building, 2 12,000-square-foot office portfolio in Richardson couldn't have come at a better time. ...

Franchisees win challenge of online sales.
October 6, 2000... More challenges coming as e-commerce gains GREATER METROPLEX -- A three-judge arbitration panel in Dallas recently made what is said to be a landmark ruling on Internet encroachment. Drug Emporium franchisees from 16 stores in Texas,...

Spanish course for restaurants.
October 6, 2000... DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- El Centro College will offer an intensive Spanish course for restaurant managers and staff. The four session, 16 hour course will provide functional work specific language for restaurant workers No previous knowledge of...

Spa revved for growth.
October 6, 2000... RICHARDSON -- Although retailer Beauty Brands Inc. only entered the Metroplex this summer, the area is rapidly expected to become one of the company's biggest markets. Beauty Brands, which operates salon, spa and retail operations under...

Group's aim is to build spec office campus.
October 6, 2000... 'Golden triangle' area ripe for development FLOWER MOUND -- The Industrial Group plans to build a 300,000-square-foot corporate campus for multiple users in Flower Mound's Lakeside Business District. The Industrial Group has 31 acres...

New VA home to employ 150.
October 6, 2000... BONHAM -- The $10 million construction on North Texas' state veterans home is expected to be completed early next year and the facility could be operating in the spring, said state and federal officials this week. The 160-bed,...

UT's accounting programs are among the nation's best.
October 6, 2000... AUSTIN -- The University of Texas has firmly planted itself as a leader in accounting education, according to the CPA Personnel Report by Strafford Publications Inc. For eight years in a row, UT's undergraduate accounting program has...

Southlake lures Target.
October 6, 2000... Stores within the store SOUTHLAKE -- Target Corp. is taking aim at the city of Southlake and the town of Flower Mound for two new SuperTarget stores. Target has more of a sure shot at Dallas-based Weber & Co.'s planned...

Firm enters crowded field.
October 6, 2000... IRVING -- AuraServ Communications, a Denver supplier of phone and data services to small and medium-sized companies, is launching service in the Metroplex. AuraServ's three-person office in Irving has yet to sign up a customer, but two...

Businesswomen get link to gov't contracts.
October 6, 2000... Few federal projects go to female-owned businesses FORT WORTH--For women business owners, the struggle for a fair share of government contracts has never been easy. Just ask business owner Suzi Hill. When Hill became president of the...

Prison venture's computer sales probed.
October 6, 2000... Feds say recycling of goods is a violation WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The General Services Administration is conducting a criminal investigation of Federal Prison Industries, a government corporation established in 1934 to provide job training and...

Metroplex airports get cash for improvements.
October 6, 2000... The Texas Department of Transportation has allocated airport improvement funding for three North Texas airports. Mesquite Metro Airport will receive $278,889 for engineering and design plans for a $2 million upgrade of the airport's...

Manufacturing pay rates.
October 6, 2000... Pay rates for everyone in the manufacturing sector -- from president to production worker and janitor -- are included in the two-volume, 742-page "Compensation in Manufacturing, 20th Annual Survey," published by Abbott, Langer & Assoc. of...

UT traffic study.
October 6, 2000... The school of urban and public affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington has won a $100,000 grant from TxDOT to conduct a yearlong study of traffic congestion on roads and highways in major metro areas across the state. The study will...

Aviation consultant.
October 6, 2000... Former Galaxy Aerospace executive Michael Wuebbling has launched a new consulting firm in North Texas, MGW Aviation Consulting Inc. According to a statement from the new company, MGW will serve the markets for aviation maintenance, aircraft...

Fort Worth Meacham International Airport.
October 6, 2000... * Controllers at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport have been honored by the Federal Aviation Administration for handling more than two million operations without an error. FAA named the tower "Facility of the Year."

Southwest Aviation Trade Show and Symposium.
October 6, 2000... * The Southwest Aviation Trade Show and Symposium is set for Oct. 27-28 at Austin Bergstrom International Airport in Austin. The two-day event is free and will feature a variety of fixed and rotor-winged aircraft on static display.

TxDOT.
October 6, 2000... * For real-time traffic information on highways around the Metroplex, check out www.dfwtraffic.dot.state.tx.us. Provided by TxDOT, the site is helpful, if not somewhat constrained by the fact TxDot doesn't have cameras everywhere one might want...

Gale Duff-Bloom.
October 6, 2000... * Gale Duff-Bloom, retired former president of company communications and corporate image for J.C. Penney Co. Inc., has been elected chairman of the North Texas Commission by the agency's board. She began her one-year term Oct. 1. She's been...

Tech incubator works different Net angles.
October 6, 2000... The crowded field of technology incubators has quietly been getting a little more crowded. Expansion Unlimited's 25-person staff is currently growing six Internet-related companies at large, round tables at its 8,000-square-foot Dallas...

Venture capital survey.
October 6, 2000... It's time for our third-quarter venture-capital survey. So we want to hear from you if your company either received a private-equity infusion, or made one, between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2000. If you received funding, we need the name of the...

From the police blotter.
October 6, 2000... A Piano woman pleaded guilty recently in the operation of a ring that trafficked in counterfeit Microsoft software. Jing Jing Fan Mou, 40, faces up to 25 years in prison when she's sentenced Dec. 4 on felony convictions of conspiracy and...

Ex-Fults firm reloads staff after acquisition.
October 6, 2000... Kennedy-Wilson Inc. is beefing up its Dallas office. The real estate company has hired John Lanier and Steven Jackson as directors, and Ron Fulton, Scott Gregory, Richard Buford and Donnie Snyder as brokers. Lanier, a former developer in...

New shareholder.
October 6, 2000... Speaking of NAI/Stoneleigh, the company has a new principal -- Nora Hogan, who will be on board later this month. Hogan had spent 14 years with CB Richard Ellis's Dallas office before leaving to join the Wall Street investment firm, Sanford C....

Top lender.
October 6, 2000... Dallas-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has been named the country's No. 1 real estate lender by Commercial Property News. The company did 862 transactions worth $12.3 billion in 1999. Archon Financial, based in Irving, earned the No. 25 spot,...

RREEF.
October 6, 2000... * RREEF, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has acquired Woodcreek Plaza in Richardson for an undisclosed sum. The 85,350-square-foot, four-story office building is located on Renner Road, near the intersection of North Central...

Uniform Information Services Inc.
October 6, 2000... * Uniform Information Services Inc., based in Acton, Mass., has consolidated three local operations into one at a 113,400-square-foot, single-story building at 10341 Plano Road in Dallas. Jay Lorch, Chuck Finney and Lange Allen of CB Richard...

The Child Care Group.
October 6, 2000... * The Child Care Group has signed a 5 1/2-year lease for 28,300 square feet at Twin Towers at 8585 Stemmons Freeway. The nonprofit organization will operate out of the fifth and sixth floors. Ted Headings of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the...

Christian broadcaster hopes to get on cable.
October 6, 2000... FamilyNet is extending its reach. The company, which produces and distributes family friendly radio and television programming, has just launched the new FamilyNet Digital cable Channel. The channel will change the delivery of its...

Stepping up.
October 6, 2000... Dallas-based The Container Store has promoted a trio of employees to new roles with the company, a retailer of storage and organizational products that was selected this year as No. 1 on Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to...

People and places.
October 6, 2000... * Business-to-business agency Burk Advertising & Marketing Inc. of Dallas is expanding its ranks with the addition of Connie Jean Holubar as director of client services. Holubar has 16 years experience in the field and is the former owner of...

Thrill is gone for tech stock, economist says.
October 6, 2000... U.S. markets are headed for a shakedown this week, says Rick Wilson, economist at The University of Arlington and chief analyst at ABC Investments, also in Arlington. "The market will bottom out the first week of October and we're in for a...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development.
October 6, 2000... * The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently said it would commit $597 million to nonprofit groups across the country to create about 6,500 federally subsidized apartments for low-income elderly. According to HUD, the...

Securities and Exchange Commission.
October 6, 2000... * Two Metroplex brokerages were among four firms that recently, agreed to pay civil fines to settle allegations made by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they failed to adequately supervise brokers in remote branch offices. Prospera...

Dearth of family doctors hits the big cities.
October 6, 2000... Demand for physicians, traditionally strong in rural communities, has spilled over into urban areas, according to a just-released survey by Irving-based search firm Merritt, Hawkins and Associates. The company's Year 2000 Review of...

In the vein.
October 6, 2000... San Antonio-based franchise Veintec has expanded into the Metroplex with its first clinic, The Varicose Vein Clinic of Texas on Greenville Avenue in North Dallas. Veintec operates two clinics in San Antonio and plans to open another clinic in...

Eating discussions.
October 6, 2000... World experts and authors on eating disorders will, convene in Dallas Oct. 12-13 for The Elisa Project, an event dedicated to the memory of Elisa McCall, a 20-year-old college student who committed suicide after struggling with bulimia. ...

Mastering the subject.
October 6, 2000... The department of physician assistant studies at The University of Texas Southwestern Allied Health Sciences School will convert from a bachelor's degree program to a master's program next summer. UT Southwestern is the third school in...

Get online or get LEFT BEHIND.
October 6, 2000... Community banks put future at risk if they ignore consumer demand for Internet service GREATER METROPLEX -- Some community banks are using their Web sites to cast a wide net for new customers. Others are going online as a defensive...

OCC hunts for predatory lenders.
October 6, 2000... Banking regulators are on the lookout for signs lenders are engaging in predatory practices aimed at customers with poor credit histories, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a recent letter to the agency's examiners. The...

Community banks hope FDIC will increase limit.
October 6, 2000... $100,000 cap needs inflation adjustment, plus annual indexing, industry claims The U.S. Congress could be a lifesaver for community banks by approving legislation to help hike the banks' deposit levels. There is a big movement among...

Is it worthwhile to be SBA preferred lender?
October 6, 2000... SBA offers lending niche, but some question profitability NORTH DALLAS -- A community bank can streamline its small-business loan applications by qualifying as a preferred lender with the U.S. Small Business Administration. But is going...

How to create winning banking relationships.
October 6, 2000... Success today means helping customers with wise planning, solid connections The Metroplex boasts a multitude of industries that are flourishing, including durable manufacturing, finance, insurance, real estate and retail. Business owners...

Privacy for consumers must be high priority.
October 6, 2000... Bankers should set standards that are tough and professional Public concerns about the privacy of personal information are growing. Each week there are new reports of stolen identities and credit cards, selling of financial data, "cookies"...

Decline in savings may hurt community banks.
October 6, 2000... High returns on stock market attract money from depositors GREATER METROPLEX -- The national personal-saving rate is declining, according to the Federal Reserve Board and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Although experts say the decline...

Three ways to take on the high cost of credit.
October 6, 2000... Hedge your bets on interest rates with same tools as Fortune 500 In a time of climbing interest rates, there's good news for small businesses: You now have access to the same tools Fortune 500 companies have used for the past 15 years to...

Chris Ryan.
October 6, 2000... Ryan, 41, is vice president of finance and human resources for Xtera communications, an optical network company based in Richardson. * Family: My wife, Laura Ryan, is a senior vice president at Chase Bank. Our sons are Ryan, 11, and Dillon,...

People on the move.
October 6, 2000... ADVERTISING Today Brann Worldwide appointed the following at its BrannForbes office in Dallas: Linda Knight, media director; Lisa Melnichek, account services director; and Lou Allison, vice president and creative director. ...

Finding room to expand a company.
October 6, 2000... Larry Dennis needed to grow up his upholstery business without selling inventory to do it HALTOM CITY -- Acquiring the room to store inventory was a chicken and egg problem for Larry Dennis Co. Owner and president Larry Dennis expanded...

My WORST business decision.
October 6, 2000... "My worst business decision was taking the company public too soon. "Airtech is a public company that manufactures indoor purification technology. "I found that being a publicly traded company has both extreme positive and negative...

SohoPros services the Internet.
October 6, 2000... FORT WORTH -- SohoPros Inc. has moved into the Internet age. Sure, the computer consulting firm can still install a client's software and hardware, but the Fort Worth-based company now offers Web page design and hosting and Web programming...

'Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends, and Friends into Customers'.
October 6, 2000... By Seth Godin, Don Peppers Whether it's the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on snatching our attention away from what we...

'Special Blend: Fusion Management from Asia & the West'.
October 6, 2000... By Lynette Lithgow A series of interviews with Asia's leading business people assesses the different Asian ways of managing business and the distinctive management styles that have evolved through each country's varied cultural and...

'Douglas McGregor, Revisited'.
October 6, 2000... By Gary Heil, Warren Bennis, Deborah C. Stephens M.I.T. educator Douglas McGregor developed revolutionary management techniques by being the first to apply behavioral science to the world of business. In this book, the authors apply...

Business Know-How.
October 6, 2000... This small-business guide offers various strategies for successfully managing employees, financial matters, marketing tools and office organization.

Business Law Lounge.
October 6, 2000... A library of articles focusing on legal issues relating to small businesses and their owners.

Disclosure.
October 6, 2000... Contains many SEC filings, including filings from international companies. Also has extensive data on insider trading. Not a free site.

EVERY $1 BILLION IN EXPORTS.
October 6, 2000... * EVERY $1 BILLION IN EXPORTS of manufactured goods creates an estimated 15,000 new jobs, two to three times that number of additional jobs develop to support the new products and personnel (e.g. new restaurants, construction, etc.). ...

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN.
October 6, 2000... * WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN $2.38 TRILLION annually in revenue to the economy, more than the gross domestic product of most countries. Source: National Foundation for Women Business Owners

THE TERM LEGAL NAME.
October 6, 2000... * THE TERM LEGAL NAME means the official name of the person or entity that owns a business. The legal name of a sole proprietorship, for example, is the full name of the owner, If a general partnership has a written agreement naming that,...

The survey says older people vote.
October 6, 2000... Digital Marketing Services Inc., a provider of online marketing research and a subsidiary of America Online, reported that the older a person becomes, the more he or she is likely to vote. In DMS findings, 81% of those surveyed age 50 and over...

Dallas paper plans office in Cuba.
October 6, 2000... The Dallas Morning News has been authorized to establish a news bureau in Havana, Cuba, according to the Belo Corp., its owner. Now that it has permission from the Cuban government, The Morning News plans to open its Havana bureau after the...

Atlanta firm acquires control of Webcat Online.
October 6, 2000... STupidPC Inc., an Atlanta-based company, has completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in Dallas-based Webcat Online Inc. Webcat uses proprietary software to market, build and host Web sites for consumers, small- to medium-sized...

Gas distributor has new treasurer.
October 6, 2000... Atmos Energy Corp. promoted Laurie M. Sherwood to vice president and treasurer effective Oct. 1. Atmos is a distributor of natural gas to more than one million customers. Sherwood worked 17 years at Oryx Energy Co. and most recently held the...

Comstock shareholders convert stock.
October 6, 2000... Comstock Resources Inc. announced that holders of 750,000 shares of Comstock's Series A 1999 convertible preferred stock converted the shares into 1,873,000 shares of common stock. As a result, Comstock's annual preferred stock dividend...

Preferred Voice offers voice dialing.
October 6, 2000... Dallas-based Preferred Voice Inc. will provide its Voice Integrated Platform System (VIPS) to XIT Communications Inc., a division of XIT Rural Telephone Cooperative Inc. With the system, XIT customers can dial numbers simply by saying the name...

VICI sells credit card business.
October 6, 2000... VICI has completed its previously announced sale of substantially all of the noncash assets associated with its United CreditServe credit card business for a cash sales price of approximately $124 million. The assets include its credit card...

Conference focuses on shared services.
October 6, 2000... Business Direct, a division of the International Communications for Management Group, will hold a conference regarding shared services beginning Oct. 16 at Dallas' Fairmont Hotel. A shared-services center consolidates activities that are...