Business First of Buffalo articles from December 1995

Business First of Buffalo archives from December 1995

National HMO plans expansion in local market. (U.S. Healthcare to expand in upstate New York)
December 25, 1995... One of the country's largest health maintenance organizations has targeted Buffalo and other upstate New York cities in its expansion plans. If it were to open tomorrow, U.S. Healthcare, based in suburban Philadelphia, would be the first...

National real estate firm size up Buffalo market. (CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc.)
December 25, 1995... One of the nation's top commercial real estate firms may hang its signs in the Western New York market. "It's fair to say that Buffalo is a city we're looking at," said Mark Donahue, senior executive vice president of CB Commercial Real...

Orchard Park auto complex links dealers, franchises. (The Auto Mall in Orchard Park, New York)
December 25, 1995... The idea took shape in 1986: A powerhouse complex in Orchard Park for the sale of cars and trucks that would have few peers in the Northeast United States. It would be unrivaled in Western New York for reasons that include: * The number of...

Loss of contract eliminates 486 jobs at Quebecor plant. (Quebecor Printing Buffalo Inc.)
December 18, 1995... More than a third of the workers at Quebecor Printing Buffalo Inc. will be out of work early next year because of a lost contract to print the Reader's Digest. Layoffs affecting 486 workers are scheduled to begin Jan. 26 and conclude by Feb....

GM shifts into high gear with record production year. (General Motors Corp.)
December 18, 1995... General Motors Corp.'s plant in the Town of Tonawanda turned out more auto, truck and boat engines in 1995 than in any year in its history. The plant, which has 4,350 employees, strengthened its reputation as the most productive of GM's 10...

Tomasi's successor at Roswell will wear many hats. (Dr. Thomas Tomasi, president and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute)
December 18, 1995... There's good news and not-so-good news for the next president and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, according to Dr. Thomas Tomasi, who will retire from the institute's top job next year. First the good: It's a prestigious job to be in...

Fisher-Price uses advice of 'experts' in testing of toys.
December 18, 1995... At Fisher-Price Inc., product research and development is a matter of child's play. The East Aurora toymaker has for more than three decades gone to Western New York children and their parents for help in testing new product concepts and...

Park Lane lands Delaware casino contract. (Park Lane Restaurant)
December 18, 1995... The Park Lane Restaurant has been selected as one of two caterers to be used exclusively for events at the casino in Delaware Park. The designation gives the Gates Circle landmark an enhanced source of money as it reorganizes under Chapter 11...

Financial woes sink Singer Advertising & Marketing. (Singer Advertising and Marketing Inc. ceases operations)
December 11, 1995... Singer Advertising & Marketing Inc. has shut down following financial problems that took root seven years ago. The company closed at the end of September and Larry Singer took eight clients, representing $650,000 in billings, to the Schutte...

Lockport Savings Bank investing in Erie County.
December 11, 1995... Lockport Savings Bank is launching a major two-pronged growth strategy that, for the first time in its 125-year history, includes a plan to acquire other banks in Western New York. At the same time, a scheduled opening of five new branch...

End of Empire creates new opportunity. (former Empire of America Realty Credit Corp. executive Michael Bonito forms Multisource Funding Inc.)
December 11, 1995... Michael Bonito is finding that life without Empire of America Realty Credit Corp. is much the same as with it. Except there's a difference. A huge one. At Buffalo-based Empire, which let him go two months ago as it pared down in...

Akzo fined $240,000 in OSHA crackdown. (Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc.; Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
December 11, 1995... Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc. in Newfane has been assessed $240,000 in fines as part of stepped-up OSHA enforcement aimed at area chemical companies. A total of 23 charges were assessed against the Lockport-Olcott Road plant Dec. 5, stemming...

Nynex may owe refunds for missed appointments. (NYNEX Corp.)
December 11, 1995... Some small-business customers may be due retroactive refunds from Nynex if the phone company did not keep its scheduled installation appointment. The company is in the final phases of negotiating with state officials on how to restart a...

Patrick Fagan brings Shea's to center stage. (Shea's Performing Arts Center Pres. and CEO)
December 11, 1995... Landmark theater rebounds from financial woes to become downtown show piece In its 70-year history, there have been many stars at Shea's Performing Arts Center: George Burns, Jerry Seinfeld, Hal Holbrook, Patrick Fagan. Fagan is the one...

Gillick's move to Baltimore surprises Blue Jay watchers. (former Toronto Blue Jays manager Pat Gillick joins Baltimore Orioles)
December 11, 1995... Tom Cheek, the longtime radio broadcaster of the Toronto Blue Jays, admitted that he too, like everyone else who followed the team, was surprised at the recent news that Pat Gillick was back in baseball full time. Last year, Cheek brought...

Leading WNY accounting firms planning merger. (Western New York)
December 4, 1995... Two of Western New York's top accounting firms will merge Jan. 1. The merger joins Lumsden & McCormick and O'Connell/Martino and produces a firm with 40 certified public accountants, 22 staff accountants and a clerical and support staff of...

Millard Fillmore launches new marketing campaign. (Millard Fillmore Health System)
December 4, 1995... The Millard Fillmore Health System - it's not just hospitals anymore. That's the message of Millard Fillmore's "image and identity" ad campaign designed to position it in the changing health-care environment. "Most people see us as a...

Salamanca radio station throws Stones at listeners. (Salamanca, New York; WQRT-FM; Rolling Stones)
December 4, 1995... Salamanca radio station WQRT-FM did not stand by its format when it rolled into a new rock playlist in October. Anyone who tuned in 98.3 looking for Johnny Cash was probably surprised to find The Who instead. Those expecting to hear a few...

Putting managers on the moon. (Synergy Advantage Inc.)(Special Report: Employment/Education)
December 4, 1995... An Amherst business is sending adults to space camp and teaching them business skills such as communication and team building along the way. Do communication gaps at the office make you want to send your co-workers to the moon? Well, maybe...

Upgrade Corp. of America, known as UCA and L. (computer services firm)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 699 Hertel Ave., Buffalo Jordan Levy and Ron Schreiber, CEOs No. 1 Explosive is about the only word around to describe what's happened to UCA&L - formerly known as the Upgrade Corp. of America - since it came into being five years ago as a...

Santo Tours. (Santo Tours and Travel Inc.)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 354 Cayuga Road, Cheektowaga Maria DeSanto, president No. 4 When Frank Sinatra recorded "Come Fly With Me" in the 1960s, he could have been prophesying the rise of Santo Tours/FunFlight Vacations, which began emerging later in the decade...

Auto Place Mall. (auto franchise chain)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 8129 Main St., Williamsville James Culligan, President No. 2 Borrowing a page from large, suburban retail shopping complexes, the Auto Place Mall at 8129 Main St., just east of Transit Road, has assembled 10 auto franchises on one site....

Kulback's Construction Inc.(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 6363 Transit Road, Depew Theodore Kulbacki, President No. 21 Specializing in commercial construction management, building design, turnkey and fast-track building, Kulback's Construction Inc. of Depew has shown a steady growth curve in...

Buffalo Hospital Supply Co. Inc. (medical supplies firm)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 130 Pineview Drive Amherst, N.Y. 14228 Michael Burke, President No. 12 About 20 years ago when Buffalo area hospitals and nursing homes needed to replenish their supply of disposable medical/surgical supplies or acquire new instruments,...

HealthCarePlan/ChoiceCare. (health maintenance organization)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 900 Guaranty Building, Buffalo Arthur Goshin, M.D., President No. 4 Established in 1978, HealthCarePlan is Western New York's first health maintenance organization and offers medical care through HealthCarePlan Medical Centers and...

MJ Mechanical Services Inc. (heating, ventilating and air conditioning contracting firm)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 2040 Military Road, Tonawanda Michael Poole, President No. 42 In keeping with many other small businesses, MJ Mechanical Services Inc., of Tonawanda, got started when its founding fathers discovered a market niche their own employer wasn't...

TMP Technologies Inc. (shoe polish applicator manufacturer)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 1200 Northland Ave., Buffalo Jeffrey Dorn, president No. 47 Anyone lying awake nights wondering who makes those little in-the-bottle shoe polish applicators or similar foam dispensers can rest easy. The answer is TMP Technologies Inc. of...

Delia Car Corp. (automobile dealer) (The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 535 Main St., East Aurora Frank Delia, President No. 3 Quality service to foster and sustain owner loyalty is the key to growth and success in the highly competitive Western New York automotive marketplace, according to Frank Delia,...

Curbell Inc. (custom machine parts manufacturer)(The Future 50)
December 4, 1995... 7 Cobharn Drive, Orchard Park Thomas Leone, President No. 11 Wars can do strange things to businesses, but few war stories are more unusual than the case of Curbell Inc., now based in Orchard Park's Quaker Center Industrial Park. The...