Business First of Buffalo articles from August 1995

Business First of Buffalo archives from August 1995

50 years later, legacy of the atomic bomb ticks away in WNY. (Western New York)
August 7, 1995... From early 1942 until the day that America dropped the first atomic bomb 50 years ago this month, a team of at least 40 scientists and hundreds of production workers toiled in Western New York to change history. Their legacy includes more than...

WNY hospitals cutting back on overnight stays. (Western New York)
August 7, 1995... At Western New York hospitals, outpatients are in and inpatients are out. The hospitals are continuing to deemphasize care that requires overnight or longer stays in favor of day surgery and short visits to hospital-owned clinics. The...

Jobs swing from manufacturing to service.
August 7, 1995... Tom Fricano worked for General Motors for almost 20 years before taking a job with United Auto Workers. Fricano, director of UAW Region 9, sent his three children to college with the hope that they would have successful careers and achieve...

Mortgage bank on verge of being sold. (Empire of America Realty Credit Corp.)
August 7, 1995... Empire of America Realty Credit Corp., a Buffalo-based mortgage bank with $5 billion in business nationwide, is drawing to a close. Some employees say they were told it could be only days, barring a miracle, before the company is broken up and...

West Valley might be sold. (Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s West Valley radioactive waste-processing center)
August 14, 1995... Westinghouse needs funds to finance CBS merger The Westinghouse Corp. could sell the West Valley radioactive waste-processing center to help finance the company's merger with CBS. Westinghouse and CBS have announced a deal that is expected...

Demise of banks slows flow of charity dollars. (Buffalo, New York)
August 14, 1995... A decade ago, Buffalo was the hometown of four billion-dollar-plus banks. It was relatively easy to raise money for a nonprofit project or a civic cause. "A lot of community organizations came to banks for the same reason (bank robber) Willie...

Tonawanda engine plant is 'world engine' front-runner. (Tonawanda Powertrain Group)
August 14, 1995... Despite official silence from General Motors Corp., industry sources remain confident that the Tonawanda Powertrain Group plant will be chosen to make GM's "world engine" of the future. "The plant is being looked at very favorably and is the...

Tax man plans 'superaudits' to uncover hidden income.
August 14, 1995... There are audits and then there are superaudits. And this year some taxpayers will come to appreciate the difference. The Internal Revenue Service will subject about 153,000 businesses and individuals nationwide - 2,133 of them in Western New...

Door manufacturer blames unions for building delay. (Stix Inc.)
August 14, 1995... The cost of union labor is holding back the manufacturer of custom doors and windows from building in Wheatfield's Inducon Park, the company owner said. Dennis Jakubaszek said plans to build a 23,000-square-foot distribution center are in...

Medical waste transfer site proposed for Tonawanda. (New York)
August 14, 1995... Up to 25 tons of medical waste could be processed at a facility that Browning-Ferris Industries Inc. is proposing for Kenmore Avenue in Tonawanda. In a plan presented to state regulators, BFI wants to construct a medical waste transfer station...

VA realigns services in Buffalo, Batavia, Rochester. (Veterans Affairs Medical Centers)
August 14, 1995... The Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Buffalo and Batavia and an outpatient facility in Rochester are being unified in a government effort to make veterans health services more competitive. Services have been shifted between the three sites...

Air market value. (Western New York companies; emissions credits)(Special Report: Energy & the Environment)
August 14, 1995... WNY companies are not yet delving into emissions credits Robert Albright is trying to sell more than the decks of cards he makes in his Westchester County plant. Kem Plastic Playing Cards has the right to emit 30 tons of ozone-depleting...

Kittinger creditors seek sale of Elmwood Ave. plant. (Kittinger Furniture Co.)
August 21, 1995... Creditors of the Kittinger Furniture Co. have asked a court to give them claim to the furniture maker's dormant Elmwood Avenue plant so it can be sold to pay a $612,000 debt. The move sets up either a conflict or potential merger with similar...

New M. Wile owners plan to consolidate operations. (M. Wile and Company Inc.)
August 21, 1995... A longtime Buffalo clothing manufacturing has a new owner and new plans for local operations. M. Wile, a division of Intercontinental Branded Apparel and the publicly traded Hartmarx Co., is in the process of being sold to a local group headed...

Lockport Savings expands to town of Pendleton. (Lockport Savings Bank)
August 21, 1995... Lockport Savings Bank, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary with special events this year, is giving itself an extra special present a site for a new administrative office building. After a seven-month search, the bank selected a...

Busing company expands, moves to city's east side. (We Care Transportation Inc.)
August 21, 1995... We Care Transportation Inc., one of the area's largest van services for those with disabilities, is about to double its size with the addition of an Erie County busing program for children. And the suburban company is building quarters on...

Batavia Downs betting on rebound from 1994 losses. (racetracks)
August 21, 1995... Batavia Ups maybe? After a disastrous 1994 when a strike wiped out half its season, Batavia Downs racetrack appears to be heading for a better 1995. The track opened Aug. 2 and officials say attendance is running about even with last year,...

Medina hospital proposes home care, renal services. (Medina Memorial Hospital)
August 21, 1995... Medina Memorial Hospital is moving ahead with a five-year plan to expand health-care services on and off its campus. The hospital has applied to state health planners to expand its Medicaid long-term home health-care program, establish a...

Two office supply chains scouting locations in WNY. (Office Depot Inc.; Staples Inc.; Western New York)
August 21, 1995... Office Depot Inc., the nation's largest office supply chain, is the latest retailer to scout Western New York for stores. Office Depot, based in Delray Beach, Fla., is seriously considering entering New York for the first time. The company...

Nonprofits struggle to do more with less.
August 28, 1995... The 1990s have not been the best of times for nonprofit groups in Western New York. And soon, by most accounts, things will get even tighter. "We're entering a major new era, with federal cuts, state cuts and (local) economic conditions being...

Tops' plan could punch vendors in pocketbook. (Tops Markets Inc.)
August 28, 1995... Tops Markets Inc.'s decision to consolidate seven area warehouses could echo longer and louder than any debate over where the warehouse should be built. After a four-month trial, the supermarket chain stands firm with plans to implement...

NFTA hopes Denver pact's success can be repeated here. (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority; Denver airport in Colorado)
August 28, 1995... The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is hoping to rally construction workers around an agreement that, according to observers in Colorado, brought peace to a project at the Denver airport. But officials on both sides of the issue will...

Marine ready to heat up competition in world markets. (Marine Midland Bank N.A.)
August 28, 1995... Marine Midland Bank is looking at part of its past as a guide to the future. Founded in 1850 to finance the Great Lakes grain trade, Buffalo-based Marine is aiming to become an important player in financing a growing share of the...

Forest City, local groups target Crossroads development. (Forest City Enterprises Inc.; Buffalo Crossroads Arena, Buffalo, New York)
August 28, 1995... Development around the downtown Buffalo Crossroads Arena is uniting the City of Buffalo, local developers and Forest City Enterprises. Forest City is close to a joint venture with M.J. Peterson Corp. and Ciminelli Development Co., two of the...

Union contract boosts salaries at 17 Catholic schools. (Diocesan Elementary Teachers' Association)
August 28, 1995... When school bells ring next month, 17 elementary schools in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will operate with a union contract that boosts teacher salaries and benefits. Under the contract, the 225 instructors represented by the Diocesan...

Martin House roof repair kicks off renovation project. (Darwin Martin House, Buffalo, New York)
August 28, 1995... Tucked into the Parkside district of Buffalo, the historic and architecturally significant Darwin Martin House is about to start the first phase of its long-awaited renovation. Within the next few weeks, Gianadda Construction Corp. will begin...

WNY dealership on the high road - and the low road. (automobile dealers iin western New York)(Special Report: Automotive & Transportation)
August 28, 1995... Auto sales in the region are doing better than the nation, but competition is heating up and the area's population is falling off. If it all seems a bit confusing at area automobile dealerships - what with the franchise juggling, shuffling and...

I am woman, watch me buy in numbers too big to deny. (women as car buyers)(Special Report: Automotive & Transportation)
August 28, 1995... Most auto dealers agree that 10 years ago, if a woman walked into a dealership, she wasn't taken seriously unless a man was with her. But times have changed. Women now account for at least half of all new-car purchases and have influence on...

Refrigerated units poised to take shipping to next level. (refrigerating equipment from Pallet Reefer Co.)(Special Report: Automotive & Transportation)
August 28, 1995... Louis Saia considers his Pallet Reefer to be the shipping industry's microwave. Eventually, he contends, every business working with temperature-sensitive products will be using one - or be left behind. "If you remember when the microwave...