Business First of Buffalo articles from February 1999

Business First of Buffalo archives from February 1999

Lots of rooms at the inns: building boom sweeps Niagara Falls, Ont.
February 22, 1999... Building boom sweeps Niagara Falls, Ont. The number of hotel rooms in Niagara Falls, Ont., will grow by nearly 835 rooms within the next year as a casino-driven construction boom rolls across the city. For example, last year saw the...

Tracks battle for what's left of harness racing.(Buffalo Raceway's plan to maintain Western New York Track and Western Region Off-Track Betting Corp.'s plan to re-open Batavia Downs)
February 22, 1999... Buffalo Raceway and the Western Region Off-Track Betting Corp. are each mobilizing allies as they square off in a harness racing turf battle. They say they want to be partners. They say they want to keep each other afloat in an industry...

Marine spends $50 million to troubleshoot Year-2000 issues.(Marine Midland Bank; Year 2000 date change computer problem)
February 22, 1999... Marine Midland Bank and other major banks playing Beat the Clock to make sure their computer systems are Year-2000 compatible will have a chance in four months to see how they have done. A two-day worldwide weekend test has been scheduled...

Dropping eye care services brings savings to HMO.(health maintenance organization HealthCare Plan)
February 22, 1999... HealthCarePlan will lay off nine optometrists when the HMO discontinues eye care services at three of its medical centers beginning April 1. Patients will be sent to a network of 100 optometrists throughout Western New York. The...

Job commitments fall short for low-cost power firms.
February 22, 1999... Two dozen companies across the state, including 12 in Western New York, fell short in job commitments for low-cost power from the New York Power Authority. Of the 12, LeRoy Industries Inc. in Genesee County had its power allocation...

On the road to completion: engineers working to make sure area construction projects are done on time and on budget.(Special Report: Engineers Week)
February 22, 1999... From Buffalo's Delaware Park to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, crews are busy working on one of the most active construction seasons. Among the projects in the offing include: * An expansion of the Walden Galleria that could...

Vistas of engineering includes surveyors.(Special Report: Engineers Week)
February 22, 1999... Across the landscape of Western New York, land surveyors have their sights set on the truth. Truth in the form of fact, accuracy and protecting the integrity of the land. "To them, the truth is paramount," said Margaret Shields,...

Developers finding value in their old building materials.(Special Report: Engineers Week)
February 22, 1999... A still unrevealed source in the Watergate investigation in the 1970s advised Washington Post reporters to "follow the money." That advice seems to hold for, of all things, the re-use of concrete, asphalt, fly ash and other materials, civil...

Ice palace: there's a lot more to this place that just four rinks.(Amherst Pepsi Center)
February 22, 1999... When Amherst Supervisor Susan Grelick describes the town s new Pepsi Center as "not just another ice rink," she isn't kidding. If anything, her comment is an understatement because the $18.3 million facility has literally something for...

Building the Pepsi Center was a fast track project.(Amherst Pepsi Center)
February 22, 1999... The Town of Amherst went through nearly a decade of debate and four or five different administrations before finally deciding how to replace its aging and inefficient ice rinks and what should be built. Once that decision was made, a...

Pepsi Center will prove to be boon to economy.(Amherst Pepsi Center)
February 22, 1999... Amherst's Pepsi Center recreational and entertainment complex should not only provide an economic boost to the already bustling suburb, but the ripple effects should be felt throughout Western New York. And, thanks to the creative way...

Manufacturing jobs.(includes related articles)(productivity of the manufacturing sector in Western New York)(Industry Overview)
February 15, 1999... Productivity gains offset decline in employment Robert May has seen his company, Pivot Punch Corp., invest millions of dollars in technology upgrades during the last few years. The upgrades were necessary to increase productivity in...

Car sales boom after wintry blast.(Western New York)
February 15, 1999... Winter wears two faces for Western New York auto dealers. At worst, it drives sales down. For example, in January the record five-foot snowfall and cold in the first two weeks depressed new vehicle sales at some dealerships anywhere from...

Showdown: union vs. non-union.(construction trade unions in Buffalo, New York)
February 15, 1999... When the construction trade unions picketed last month near Ralph Wilson Stadium, it kicked off another year of troubled relations with non-union counterparts. But unlike actions in past years, January's protests were aggressive and...

Ticket to ride: Rides Unlimited of Niagara helps people get from here to there.
February 15, 1999... What's going on: Rides Unlimited of Niagara provides non-emergency bus and van transportation for elderly, disabled and the poor through contracts with human service and government agencies in Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties. Typically,...

Sears proposes store for expanded Boulevard Mall.(planned store construction of Sears Roebuck and Co.)
February 15, 1999... Sears Roebuck and Co. plans to build a store at the Boulevard Mall. The Amherst Planning Board, at its Feb. 18 meeting, will hear a proposal to add a two-story, 128,000-square-foot Sears to the mall's south end. Sears would like to open...

Three years later, Quebecor optimistic about future.(Quebecor Printing Buffalo Inc.)(Company Profile)
February 15, 1999... Dark economic clouds have given way to sunny skies at Quebecor Printing Buffalo Inc. The Depew company has rebounded from the 1996 loss of a Reader's Digest printing contract that resulted in laying off 440 employees. "There really...

WNY medical companies lobby venture capitalists.(Western New York)
February 15, 1999... The Western New York health-care industry is hoping to entice investors from Chicago to Boston to put their money into local medical companies and research institutions. Venture capitalists and investment bankers are being invited to the...

WNY builders upbeat over plans for 300 new homes.(Western New York)
February 15, 1999... Marrano/Marc Equity Corp., the area's largest home builder, has plans for 300 new units this year and that's welcome news to others in Western New York's sluggish home building industry. "I take it as a great sign," said Richard Bergman,...

Fit for business.(profile on Nora Sullivan, executive vice president of Rand Capital Corp.)
February 15, 1999... Rand Capital VP finds that success at sports helps in business Sports was always her first love. And Nora Sullivan has excelled: 42 trophies and 15 medals and plaques prove it. "I played every varsity sport I could in high school:...

Business on the edge.(corporate profile of Louis Povinelli Inc.)(Company Profile)
February 15, 1999... Family knife-sharpening business serves region's food industry Louis Povinelli Inc. 3231 Harlem Road Cheektowaga, NY 14225 Phone/fax: 891-8116 800-836-7890 What's going on: For four generations, the Povinelli family has kept a sharp...

Doctors back Children's move.(Kaleida Health's proposed children's hospital)
February 8, 1999... The Kaleida Health proposals that would establish a children's hospital next to Buffalo General Hospital have the enthusiastic backing of area obstetricians and gynecologists. The doctors say centralized pediatric and adult tertiary...

Partnership's philosophy, effectiveness at center of debate.(Buffalo Niagara Partnership)
February 8, 1999... The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is a lightning rod in the region's business and economic development community. And, depending on who is talking, the Partnership's lightning has rarely struck while others believe the group, the region's...

WNY economy pushes index to new high.(Western New York)
February 8, 1999... Western New York couldn't keep up with the blistering economic pace set by Las Vegas and Phoenix in 1998, but it didn't do badly, either. The Business First Economic Index registered an average score of 1,247 points last year, putting it...

Trucks cross border in record numbers.(trucks crossing Niagara River between Western New York and southern Ontario)
February 8, 1999... Commercial traffic crossing the Niagara River between Western New York and southern Ontario hit an all-time high in 1998. Trucks crossing the Peace, Lewiston-Queenston, Rainbow and Whirlpool Rapids bridges totaled 2,267,136 last year, an...

Delphi poised for leap into world auto parts market.(Delphi Automotive Systems)
February 8, 1999... With Delphi Automotive Systems set to launch its takeoff from the General Motors corporate family, forecasts about its success as an independent company are flying. Few are more optimistic than David Cole, one of the U.S. auto industry's...

International tire deal shifts Dunlop ownership.(contract between Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.; Dunlop Tire Corp.)
February 8, 1999... When it came, the announcement was later, smaller and structured differently than what had been widely anticipated. But Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. of Akron, Ohio, and Dunlop Tire Corp.'s Japanese parent, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.,...

Psychiatric health services targeted for redefined OLV.(Our Lady of Victory)
February 8, 1999... Psychiatric and behavioral health services for children, adolescents and adults in Western New York will be expanded as Our Lady of Victory and Mercy hospitals redistribute health care services during the next 18 months. Plans are to...

New reimbursement rates draw criticism from HMOs.(health maintenance organizations)
February 8, 1999... Managed-care HMOs serving Western New York's Medicare recipients say unnecessary hospitalizations could result from the new reimbursement rates to be introduced in March by the federal government. Area officials argue that because the...

Tonawanda News plant will print 3 daily newspapers.
February 8, 1999... The owner of Niagara County's three daily newspapers is about to take a major step toward creating a centralized production facility in North Tonawanda. A contract was close to being signed as of Feb. 2 between Community Newspaper...

Women business owners learn secrets of financing.
February 8, 1999... Women of all colors, economic backgrounds and interests came together last week to learn the mysteries of financing and secrets to business growth. Among the 150 participants at the free, one-day seminar sponsored by and held at the...

Portrait of success: George Palmer turns artistic talent into a business.(Small Business)(owner of George Palmer Studio)
February 8, 1999... Who's who: George Palmer is a self-employed artist and portraitist. What's going on: Palmer specializes in painting oil or pastel portraits on commission. He also produces figures, landscapes or abstracts lot sale at art shows,...

Storm-related claims piling up.(New York State)
February 1, 1999... January's two-week onslaught of snow and ice is generating a blizzard of insurance damage claims that, when totaled for the state, could equal the $95 million cost of last year's devastating ice storm in the Adirondack and St. Lawrence...

Buffalo reaches sports capacity, study shows.(Buffalo, New York)
February 1, 1999... Buffalo is out of room. That's according to Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, a national publication of Business First's parent company, American City Business Journals Inc. A new SportsBusiness Journal study lists Buffalo...

WNY health care economy blamed for hospitals' losses.(Western New York)(Industry Overview)
February 1, 1999... Though hospitals in every other region of the state posted record profits in 1997, Western New York facilities collectively finished that year $7.3 million in the red, according to an annual report by the state Department of Health. ...

Milstein's new interests raising concern in Falls.(Niagara Falls Redevelopment Managing Partner Howard Milstein bids for Washington Redskins and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium)
February 1, 1999... Principals of Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC are moving to buy the National Football League's Washington Redskins and Toronto SkyDome. But will the high-profile investments detract from redevelopment in Niagara Falls? Officials with the...

NFTA in holding pattern on privatization of airport.(Niagara Falls International Airport)
February 1, 1999... Big plans for Niagara Falls International Airport have yet to take off. While operations at the facility (landings and takeoffs) rose slightly last year, actions to privatize the facility remain visionary. "What we want to do is work...

Parent company of Castile bank makes out-of-market acquisition.(Letchworth Independent Bancshares Corp)
February 1, 1999... Letchworth Independent Bancshares Corp. is making its first foray into out-of-market banking. The $283 million-asset parent company of the Bank of Castile said it has agreed to buy a majority of the shares of common stock in $146.1...

Signs of the times showing up outside more often now.(growing sophistication of outdoor advertising)
February 1, 1999... From the Marlboro man to McDonald's and Holiday Inn, billboards represent a part of Americana as they greet motorists along winding country roads and busy interstates alike. The signboards are changing with the times, however. Outdoor...

Growth is carved in stone for Southside Precast.(Southside Precast Products)(Company Profile)
February 1, 1999... Southside Precast Products has been adding character and longevity to Western New York buildings for 75 years. The privately owned manufacturer of precast concrete products looks forward to expanding market share without compromising its high...

Safety on the job: Lehigh Construction earns excellence award for construction safety.
February 1, 1999... Richard Potts considers himself the new sheriff in town, but he doesn't wear a badge. He wears a hard hat. As safety director of Lehigh Construction Group Inc. in Orchard Park, it's up to Potts to go to company job sites and make sure workers...

Home builders predict a great year for business.(New York real estate and home building industry)(Industry Overview)
February 1, 1999... Ed Negron has never been busier. And for the local real estate and home building industry that's good news. Negron, an M&T Bank loan officer, looks into his crystal ball and predicts that 1999 is going to be a good year for local home...