Business First of Buffalo articles from December 1997

Business First of Buffalo archives from December 1997

Mergers boost First Empire stock. (First Empire Stock Corp.)
December 8, 1997... Investor belief that bank mergers will continue helped propel First Empire State Corp. stock to new heights in a year of record highs for the Buffalo-based banking company. At $434 a share - the record set Dec. 1 - the parent of M&T Bank still...

Power to burn: era of deregulation fuels competition for Somerset plant.
December 8, 1997... For sale: one heck of a big power plant. The Kintigh Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant at 7725 Lake Road in the Town of Somerset, will likely be auctioned as part of ongoing deregulation in the electricity industry. Kintigh is one...

NationsBank seeking location for new center.
December 8, 1997... NationsBank Corp. has begun looking for alternative Buffalo-area sites for the national mortgage processing center it has run in Amherst since 1995. The operation, which employs about 700 people, occupies the former Bishop Neumann High School...

Growing prescription costs increase HMO premiums. (health maintenance organization)
December 8, 1997... Health maintenance organizations serving Western New Yorkers have announced 1998 premium adjustments to go into effect Jan. I. HMOs are governed by the state's file and use legislation that allows HMOs to institute new rates without a public...

Service sector still on top despite employment slump.
December 8, 1997... Reform and changes in the health care industry and a shift in control of a summer youth program are the main culprits behind a slight drop in service sector employment on the Niagara Frontier. Jobs in the service sector declined by 0.5 percent...

Officials appointed by merging hospitals.
December 8, 1997... A third round of appointments to administrative positions has been made in the CGF Health System. The eight vice presidents and 11 assistant vice presidents and administrators were announced at the end of November as part of an evolving...

William Kinkel: always a medical maverick.
December 8, 1997... The person who brought one of the country's first CT scans to Buffalo 25 years ago is spending what should be his retirement years spearheading more cutting-edge technology. Today 70-year-old William Kinkel, M.D., director of Buffalo's Dent...

Screening for ovarian cancer may be legislative issue of 1998. (in the state of New York)
December 8, 1997... Ovarian cancer detection could be in the next round of health issues taken up by the state Legislature. Albany considered the issue last year in bills sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Pillittere, D-Lewiston, and Sen. Anthony Nanula, D-Buffalo....

Fla. company ends search with Niagara County move.
December 8, 1997... Sunny Florida was no place for Richard Ellwood to do business. His company, Custom Pack Reliability, had difficulty finding qualified, dedicated employees. So he searched the nation to relocate to an area with a reliable work force. He chose...

Clean air: clogged-up ducts are causing problems inside. (IndoorAir Professionals Inc.)
December 8, 1997... What's going on: Indoor Air Professionals today have a growing business maintaining and cleaning air ducts thanks primarily to the energy conservation efforts of the 1970s. That's when folks sealed off outdoor air dampers so they wouldn't...

Benderson, Baltimore firm complete deal for outlet mall. (Benderson Development Co. Inc.; Prime Retail Inc.)
December 8, 1997... Niagara International Factory Outlets, the flagship retail shopping center in the Benderson Development Co. Inc. portfolio, has been sold. As was initially reported in Business First two months ago, Benderson sold the Town of Niagara mall to...

Firm targets property taxes in Buffalo, Niagara Falls. (Tax Reduction Plus)
December 8, 1997... A company specializing in assessment reduction for commercial properties is targeting Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Tax Reductions Plus has petitioned hundreds of commercial property owners in Buffalo and dozens in Niagara Falls in a bid to...

Woodwork: handmade furniture is tailored to customized need. (Hulley Woodworking Co.)
December 8, 1997... Whats going on: Tucked away on the second floor at 190 Oliver St. behind Krug's Glazing Services Inc., Hulley Woodworking Co. is a growing business that offers custom-made furniture, antique restoration, furniture repair and refinishing. Hulley...

Area company has formula to update, double revenue. (Harper International Inc.)
December 8, 1997... When Jeet Bhatia first joined Harper International Corp. in 1994, the Lancaster company was in trouble. Revenues had dropped and the company quickly began losing market share. "Marketing was just one of their problems. They were being left...

Area business is working to help others wire their business. (Cybernetic Communications Systems Inc.)
December 8, 1997... Stephen Adorian remembers the optimism of the early 1960s. The country's economic strength and world power were unsurpassed; American families and communities were close; and John Kennedy was in the White House. A young Adorian was...

The shrinking city: Buffalo's wild ride through the 20th century will end with the city as nation's 57th largest.
December 15, 1997... Albert Shaw could see the future. Or at least he thought he could. Shaw was among 74 prominent Americans who were recruited as prognosticators by the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Each was asked to predict what America would be...

Rink investors, Ontario league line up support.
December 15, 1997... A team of area investors has a tentative plan to build the long debated four-rink facility in downtown Buffalo. The consortium, headed by banking executive Robert Amico and commercial real estate broker Sam Gurney, came to the forefront as...

Arcade agency adds workers after collecting U.S. client. (Pioneer Credit Recovery Inc.)
December 15, 1997... Bad credit is good business for a growing Wyoming County company. Pioneer Credit Recovery in Arcade was recently awarded a U.S. Department of Education contract to recoup millions of dollars in delinquent student loans. As a result, the...

ECMC entering race for share of maternity market. (Erie County Medical Center)
December 15, 1997... Erie County Medical Center is expecting a maternity unit to help strengthen its competitive position among area hospitals. The $2.7 million project, which would put a nine-bed unit in the medical center's Grider Street complex, has cleared...

Smart card test shows up in WNY's laundry rooms. (Western New York)
December 15, 1997... The laundry room has become a major avenue of entry into Western New York for smart cards anti debit cards. The company that operates laundry machines at Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority properties and on four college campuses in the area...

Area Wendy's restaurants bought at bankruptcy sale.
December 15, 1997... Buffalo-area Wendy's Restaurants have been bought in-a bankruptcy sale by a Wendy's franchise owner with stores from Rochester to Indiana. Richard Fox of Wendy's of Rochester Inc., placed the high bid of $3.95 million for the Western New York...

Old Sorrento cheese plant could be WBEN's new home. (WBEN-AM)
December 15, 1997... WBEN-AM, a longtime fixture on Elmwood Avenue, is headed for a new home. Sinclair Radio of Buffalo Inc. is negotiating with Sorrento Cheese Co. to buy its vacant Clinton Street plant. Sinclair owns six area radio stations, including WBEN and...

Presses will roll in Wheatfield for 3 daily newspapers.
December 15, 1997... Wheatfield has been picked as the site for a new central printing plant for daily newspapers in Niagara Falls, Lockport and Medina. Three locations - all in Wheatfield - have been selected, including the preferred one, but a final decision has...

Credit unions, banks await court decision. (includes related article on Western New York credit unions)
December 15, 1997... With their conflict reduced to a war of words and shunted off to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress for a solution, banks and credit unions have settled into an uneasy holiday truce. But it might not last long. The issue behind the...

Venture capital investors fund WNY companies. (Western New York)
December 15, 1997... ARS Inc. received $12 million in venture capital to continue efforts in the production of heat transfer products for the automotive after-market. The company was among three in Western New York receiving venture capital in the third quarter of...

Benefits packages are the key to recruiting top grads.
December 15, 1997... In an effort to attract and retain information technology professionals, CTG has enhanced the retirement plan in its employee benefits package. The enhanced benefits include increasing company matches to 401(k) and the introduction of two new...

WNY firms seeking profit through China connection. (Western New York)
December 15, 1997... Exporting to China may become easier for Western New York companies. Small Business Development Centers across New York, including those at Buffalo State College, Niagara County Community College and Jamestown Community College, are promoting...

Losses cuts Bill's drawing power. (Buffalo Bills)
December 22, 1997... Last summer, not long after protracted lease negotiations culminated with a new stadium lease, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. was asked what he had done to market his product. Wilson returned the volley by asking the inquisitor what he...

Stock pays off for employees at First Empire. (First Empire State Corp.)
December 22, 1997... First Empire State Corp. stock has more than quadrupled in price over the last five years, making some rank-and-file employees at M&T Bank wealthy - millionaires, even. With the price now topping $440 a share, 100 of the banking company's...

High-tech firm develop R & D success stories. (research and development)
December 22, 1997... Buffalo area high-tech companies received more than $6 million from federal agencies for research and development last year. Fifteen companies in Western New York participated in the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, which...

Declining reimbursements force hospitals to make cuts.
December 22, 1997... Workers at Mercy Hospital: You're not alone. The circumstances threatening a massive layoff of nurses and other personnel at the South Buffalo facility have taken a similar toll at other local health facilities and are contributing to a slip in...

Demand for skilled workers feed ECC training program. (Eerie Community College)
December 22, 1997... Manufacturing machine parts for the space shuttle takes precision and skill, qualities that are essential for workers at Now-Tech Industries Inc. Finding such workers can be difficult, said Charles Gardner, engineering services manager at the...

Millard is 13th hospital to designate hospice bed. (Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital)
December 22, 1997... Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital has become the 13th hospital to designate a bed for patient care by Hospice Buffalo. The 188-bed Millard Fillmore facility in Amherst made the bed available Dec. 17 for Hospice Buffalo to provide pain...

Unemployment tax savings come with early payment.
December 22, 1997... Business leaders are asking their colleagues to cough up part of next year's unemployment insurance tax to cut the rates for 1998. For AAA of Western and Central New York, making a first-quarter payment before Dec. 31 could result in a savings...

CBC hires Niagara coach for Olympic TV broadcasts. (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.)
December 22, 1997... Move over Harry Neale. The Hockey Night In Canada broadcaster who resides in Amherst won't be the only locally connected analyst calling the action from the Winter Olympics in Japan next February. Margot Page, hired earlier this year by Niagara...

Sofa bed time. (Bogdan's upholstery-drapery and furniture gallery)
December 22, 1997... Brothers lift family upholstery to new heights What's going on: The story reads like something from the early part of the century when America was known as the melting pot. It's about a family that came to the United States from Europe and...

Empire acquisition bringing 200 new jobs to Buffalo. (First Empire State Corp.)
December 22, 1997... First Empire State Corp.'s pending deal to acquire Syracuse-based Onbancorp will bring 200 new jobs to the Buffalo holding company's M&T Bank in Western New York. In addition, another 100 to 200 area jobs will be created in 1998 as core...

GM gears up for world engine. (General Motors Corp.)
December 29, 1997... General Motors Corp.'s engine plant in the Town of Tonawanda enters the final stage of a two-year, multimillion-dollar expansion and retooling program in 1998. At midyear, when the retrofit is completed, the plant will be in position to start...

Ontario investors to establish plant and stores here.
December 29, 1997... Proximity to Canada helped an Ontario office furniture maker select Buffalo for its first U.S. site. Investors based in Toronto are using Western New York as the U.S. starting point for their retail operations and manufacturing/distribution...

Olympic Towers deal near for bankruptcy court move.
December 29, 1997... The federal government has found a solution to the space crunch in downtown Buffalo's U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The answer is about two blocks away from the court's current home. The bankruptcy court has signed a lease to occupy about 23,500...

Erie, Niagara country sites in running for chip plants.
December 29, 1997... Three Niagara County sites and at least two in Erie County will be submitted for consideration as potential locations for semiconductor manufacturing plants. Gov. George Pataki recently announced an initiative to identify 10 sites across New...

Daily, Sunday circulation declines at WNY papers. (newspaper industry)
December 29, 1997... Slumping sales are eroding circulation at several area daily newspapers. Statistics compiled by the Audit Bureau of Circulation show daily circulation is down slightly at the Niagara Gazette, Jamestown Post-Journal and Olean Times Herald while...

Friend raising. (software firm SofTrek)(Company Profile)
December 29, 1997... Software company finds many fans among nonprofits What's going on: "One thing, we have a product called PledgeMaker," said David Spacone, company president. A software package for nonprofit and fund-raising organizations, PledgeMaker is a...

Expanding Toronto airport formidable foe for Buffalo.
December 29, 1997... As the Buffalo Niagara International Airport grows by leaps, Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport grows by bounds. Nearly $2.5 billion in improvements under way at Pearson could make the facility the busiest in North America....

Ex-Spaulding plant targeted for redevelopment. (Spaulding Composites Company Inc.)
December 29, 1997... The owners of the former Spaulding Composites Plant in Tonawanda are hoping to redevelop the 46-acre site and find a new use for an 860,000-square-foot building on the property. First, however, the company must clean up hazardous waste at 10...