Dallas Business Journal articles from September 1996

Dallas Business Journal archives from September 1996

Kodak sells plant. (Eastman Kodak Co.)
September 6, 1996... Film maker lops 100 jobs in consolidation NORTHWEST DALLAS - Eastman Kodak is leaving its distribution and marketing facility at Josey and Forest lanes. The move is expected to cost the area at least 100 jobs, but the 231,000-square-foot...

Team Mouse's tale of success. (computer accessories with logos of college and pro sports teams)
September 6, 1996... $2M startup linking PC, sports additions NORTH DALLAS - Imagine the hard-core passion of the most fervent sports fan wrapped around a mouse pad. Marc Andres and Bradley Schlachter of Team Mouse did, and have created a product line they...

Metroplex income growth healthy, not stellar. (Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area)
September 6, 1996... Rising tide Per-capita personal income growth in Texas 1994 change per-capita from income 1991(*) Austin $20,611 ...

Red Oak small-bank purchase could be group's 'springboard'. (purchase of MainBank by two investors)
September 6, 1996... RED OAK - While major banks continue to consolidate in a race for size, a pair of Austin investors has bucked the wisdom of the day by acquiring the small, independent MainBank in Red Oak for about $24 million. Austin-based banking consultants...

UniView could aid in Curtis Mathes recovery. (Internet access device of Curtis Mathes Holding Corp.)
September 6, 1996... NORTHEAST DALLAS - Curtis Mathes Holding Corp. hopes to earn $40 million from sales of 100,000 units of its new Internet-access device due out this fall. The product, UniView, is a cornerstone in chairman Pat Custer's efforts to rebuild the...

DOE set-asides nixed in wake of Colorado lawsuit. (Dept. of Energy)
September 6, 1996... WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy plans to drop the contracting programs it sets aside for small, disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) and women-owned businesses. In revising the policies that administer its $16 billion in annual...

Consolidation looms for banking regulators.
September 6, 1996... WASHINGTON - The country's biggest and oldest financial regulatory agencies could become the latest victims of federal downsizing. As private and public enterprises target waste and expenses, the country's array of bank regulators are starting...

Minimum-wage hike: a small part of new legislation.
September 6, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - George Alden Jr. is quick to set the record straight concerning the minimum-wage hike approved by President Clinton last month. "One of the biggest confusions about this is that there are really two bills: the Wage Bill and the...

Small businesses should exploit new laws.
September 6, 1996... In recent weeks, new legislation of interest to the business community has been passed. Some of these laws directly impact employment by small businesses, while the others, though less direct, may still impact hiring. A skeptic might say...

Back in the chips: tortilla-maker's funding search was tough. (Rudy's Tortillas)
September 6, 1996... SOUTH DALLAS - Around 4 a.m., Louis Guerra got a telephone call from his father. "Don't hurry getting here," his father, Rudolph Guerra, said. "It's all gone." Rudolph Guerra was talking about the family's tortilla business. An electrical...

Battle on the Net: Netscape, Microsoft pit Web browsers. (Netscape Communications Corp. and Microsoft Corp.)
September 6, 1996... Microsoft and Netscape are waging full-scale war on the Internet, each with a new browser, the device used to view Web sites and perform other functions. The real beneficiary will be the consumer. Here's how the browsers stack up: Microsoft's...

Park Cities buyout bandied. (Bank of Oklahoma to acquire First National Bank of Park Cities)
September 13, 1996... Bank of Oklahoma execs shake on deal to purchase $231M UP bank UNIVERSITY PARK - Bank of Oklahoma has struck a verbal agreement to buy $231 million First National Bank of Park Cities, sources close to First National said. If the two sides...

Nafta can't undo mistakes. (North American Free Trade Agreement; guidelines for doing business in Mexico)
September 13, 1996... Small businesses still find it hard to sell into Mexico, sidestep goofs DOWNTOWN - When a large Dallas homebuilder attempted to cut a deal for a joint venture in Mexico, the plan went stale, leaving a handful of executive vice presidents...

Startup banks post unexpected results. (profile of newly-opened Texas banks)
September 13, 1996... EAST DALLAS - Having been a Texas banker for 38 years, Don Vickery can boast that he has started a new bank, lived through several buyouts and survived a crisis that crippled the industry. At 62, it seems he would be ready to retire. Instead,...

Landmark deal: Pacific USA signs huge office lease. (Pacific USA Holdings Corp. to lease at Champion Partners' Landmark Center)
September 13, 1996... Company will consolidate operations at N. Dallas site FAR NORTH DALLAS - Pacific USA Holdings Corp. has signed a 124,000-square-foot lease for Phase I of Champion Partners' proposed 260,000-square-foot Landmark Center office park. The company...

Wayward market thwarts plans for Seed Co. offspring. (Seed Company Partners delays $30 million investment fund)
September 13, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - Venture capital firm Seed Company Partners has shelved its plans for a second, $30 million investment fund since a shaky stock market warded off its efforts to take an investee company public. Seed Co., one of the Metroplex's few...

Oil industry layoffs fueled entrepreurial spirits.
September 13, 1996... CARROLLTON - John Schoenthaler will attest that getting cut from the corporate payroll can be gut-wrenching. After finishing a long-term project in Africa in September 1993, he got the ax his first day back at the office. Schoenthaler, 57, had...

Threats to set-aside programs spark action by SBA officials. (affirmative action programs and Small Business Administration)
September 13, 1996... WASHINGTON - The U.S. Small Business Administration is developing a plan to ensure that small businesses continue to receive government contracts. Following a Colorado contractor's suit that targeted government race and gender preference...

Students gave furnisher a new assignment. (Contract Network and the University of Dallas's Capstone Project)
September 13, 1996... LAKE HIGHLANDS - When Contract Network entered the office furniture market in 1986, the company signed up for the daunting task of battling multiple competitors in more than one facet of the industry. Ten years later, the figures prove it was...

State targeting agent 'tips.' (title insurance agencies' company-to-company gratuities now against the law)
September 20, 1996... AUSTIN - Title insurance agents say they are confused by the state's crackdown on company-to-company gratuities. The practice, in which a title insurance company splits its premium with or gives another gift to a firm that brings it new...

Her stitches in time save line: NAFTA, soccer fever coincide to build sports-apparel firm. (North American Free Trade Agreement)(Marie Crain; Mari's Soccer Inc.)
September 20, 1996... KELLER - Amateur Hispanic soccer players in the Metroplex are crazy about their favorite Latin American football teams. They're more than willing to pay money - but not a lot - to show off their enthusiastic loyalty. Marie Grain of Keller has...

Investors: top execs overpaid. (Dallas Semiconductor Corp.)(Bob Bagley, stockholder, vs. Vin Protho, CEO)
September 20, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - Dallas Semi-conductor Corp. is being scrutinized by shareholders who feel its directors and chief executive Vin Prothro are overpaid. A group of shareholders led by securities broker and Dallas Semi stockholder Bob Bagley of...

Financing crunch stalls Frisco Jetport project. (Frisco Development Corp.)
September 20, 1996... FRISCO - Plans to develop Frisco's little-used airstrip into a full-service commercial airport are back to square one after the collapse of a deal that might have transformed the strip into a North Texas corporate aircraft thoroughfare. Frisco...

Fees, competition take toll on N. Texas SBA lending volume. (Small Business Administration)
September 20, 1996... FORT WORTH - Heavy banking competition and rising loan fees have stagnated once explosive growth in government-backed loans in North Texas. The U.S. Small Business Administration's fiscal year will end in two weeks and the North Texas district...

Testimony derives dollars: experts cash in at courts, but tort reform brings limits.
September 20, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - The legal industry is felt by numerous business tentacles - recruiters, public relations firms, software companies - the list goes on. But an oft-ignored aspect of the industry are the expert witnesses: professionals from...

Culinary comeback: upscale eateries drawing more diners.(Retail Report)
September 20, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - As part of the overall boom in the restaurant business, fine dining restaurants - which have changed with the times - are experiencing a resurgence in consumer demand, industry experts say. Many new fine dining restaurants - and...

Retailer poised to fill growing void for tobacco buyers.(Retail Report)
September 20, 1996... NORTH DALLAS - In a world where the antismoking lobby increasingly has exercised its muscle, retailer Discount Cigarettes and other stores like it are welcome havens for smokers. The smell of cigarette smoke and tobacco hangs heavy in the air,...

Team effort: for Michelle Lemmons, everyone's the boss. (International Speakers Bureau Inc.)(This Week: Management)
September 20, 1996... LAKEWOOD - As rare as is the success Michelle Lemmons has had since launching her own company four years ago, the firm itself may be even more exceptional. Lemmons has used an uncommonly inclusive, familial management style in growing...

Office work goes into overtime. (MEPC American Properties Inc.'s planned office complex along Dallas North Tollway)
September 27, 1996... Spring should see next phase of growth for the Colonnade complex ADDISON - Work on phase three of the Colonnade, a 500,000-square-foot office complex along the Dallas North Tollway, is scheduled to begin next spring. MEPC American Properties...

Occupancy and rates rise; construction plateau for ritzy hotels helps keep revenue high.(Industry Overview)
September 27, 1996... TURTLE CREEK - Tony hotels are applauding a dearth of new competitors. With fewer high-end hotels being built, managers of ritzier Metroplex hotels are asking higher room rates. Budget hoteliers, on the other hand, are beginning to feel the...

Funding eludes SkyTeam. (SkyTeam Airlines)
September 27, 1996... Latest bid to bring passenger service to Meacham stalled FORT WORTH - A start-up airline set to provide long-awaited passenger service out of Fort Worth's Meacham International Airport continues to hunt for financing. Industry observers said...

Principal revamps brass, expands. (Principal Financial Securities Inc.)
September 27, 1996... New CEO outsources tasks, lays off staff DOWNTOWN - Since 1990, Principal Financial Securities Inc. has doubled its retail business and established itself in markets from Texas to Minnesota. In the face of that growth, Chairman George...

Worker steals DART thunder with renegade Web site launch. (Dallas Rapid Transport authority)
September 27, 1996... DOWNTOWN - Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority's official Internet Web site - scheduled to arrive in cyberspace in January - has been pre-empted by an unofficial Web site. DART employee Darwin Collins got the drop on the official page by...

Groups eye shuttered track. (Trinity Meadows Raceway)
September 27, 1996... Owners asking $5M, but no takers yet in Willow Park WILLOW PARK - The stench of fresh horse manure hasn't penetrated the nostrils of eager bettors at Trinity Meadows Raceway since it closed in early August. But the state of the track may not be...

FW officials may privatize Spinks' operation. (Fort Worth; Spinks Airport)
September 27, 1996... FORT WORTH - Fort Worth officials want to privatize management and operations of city-owned Spinks Airport in hopes of transforming the sleepy airport into a booming corporate and business airstrip. A general aviation airport, the 822-acre...

Basses baited downtown Fort Worth projects. (Sid Bass)
September 27, 1996... FORT WORTH - Among the risks investors often face when putting money into a piece of real estate, one particularly gut-wrenching proposition is always present: When you bet on a property, you're also betting on the neighborhood. If that means...

Meacham outlook promising as city, FAA pump in dollars. (Meacham International Airport; Federal Aviation Administration)
September 27, 1996... MEACHAM AIRPORT - Officials at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport hope to boost by 100,000 the number of flights landing and taking off there in 1997. "We want to maximize the revenues to the city of Fort Worth," said Andy Rivera,...

From pasture to prosperity: Alliance is new growth leader. (Alliance Corridor)
September 27, 1996... ALLIANCE CORRIDOR - Much of the land here has been part of the city of Fort Worth for less than a decade, but the city expects its territory here to become one of the fastest-growing areas not just in the Metroplex, but in the nation. Already...

Dallas, Fort Worth unite for regional economic growth.
September 27, 1996... FORT WORTH - Recent cooperation between Dallas and Fort Worth economic development officials is helping spur regional growth. The relationship forged between the two cities' business development agencies has produced one of the best regional...

Gussoni added a dash of creativity to Culinaire. (Richard Gussoni of Culinanire International)
September 27, 1996... DOWNTOWN - Hospital breakfasts, cafeteria lunches and quick dinners at the airport usually do not evoke thoughts of enticing cuisine. Richard Gussoni knows that, and he's capitalizing on consumers' low expectations of institutional meals to...