Business First of Buffalo articles from January 1995

Business First of Buffalo archives from January 1995

Lockport Savings undertakes search for headquarters space. (Lockport Savings Bank)
January 30, 1995... Lockport Savings Bank is edging close to doing something it has never done in its 125-year history - moving to the suburbs. Lockport's hometown bank, the only surviving Niagara County-based bank, is scouting for a headquarters location...

Power Funding purchase could be entree for Pennsylvania bank. (Power Funding Group Inc.; Northwest Savings Bank)
January 30, 1995... Northwest Savings Bank's pending acquisition of the area's largest privately owned mortgage banking company could be a sign that the Pennsylvania thrift has designs on Western New York. At the least, the acquisition of Power Funding Group...

Firm considers expansion, layoffs at Falls plants. (Treibacher-Schleifmittel Corp.'s General Abrasive plants; Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
January 30, 1995... Treibacher-Schleifmittel Corp. is raising the possibility of both expansion and layoffs at the General Abrasive plants in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont. Under a restructuring being considered, one of the two plants could see...

Greatbatch program involves retirees in grants to nonprofits. (Wilson Greatbatch Ltd.)
January 30, 1995... Wilson Greatbatch Ltd. has launched a corporate donations program that uses employees and retirees to help channel money and volunteer time to area nonprofit groups. The Direct Community Action Program is unique in Western New York, allowing...

Food companies put money where their mouths are: Nabisco ready to invest $40 million in Falls plant. (Nabisco Biscuit Co.; Niagara Falls, New York)
January 23, 1995... Nabisco Biscuit Co. is preparing to spend up to $40 million to upgrade the Niagara Falls plant. The Nabisco plant on Buffalo Avenue will undergo a complete renovation as it gears up to be the company's lone facility to produce Triscuit...

Employment impact uncertain in General Mills modernization. (General Mills Inc.) (Food Companies Put Money Where Their Mouths Are)
January 23, 1995... General Mills Inc. plans a $14 million modernization of its Buffalo breakfast cereal plant and has begun talks with its union on job cuts that may result from the upgrade, labor sources said. Officials at General Mills declined to comment,...

Clarkson Center sets sail on boat-building program.
January 23, 1995... Come summertime, Kenneth Cowdery expects to see a team of at-risk youth sail the waters of Lake Erie on a quest for self-worth and new adventure outside the inner city. Cowdery, executive director of The Clarkson Center, has accepted...

WNY manufacturing bests U.S. in wages and percentage of jobs. (western New York)
January 23, 1995... Western New Yorkers have become accustomed to reading gloomy stories about the decline of the region's once-vaunted manufacturing sector. Although stories such as this week's closing of the Fisher-Price plant in Medina reinforce those...

Push for smaller facilities spells big cuts at Fisher-Price operation. (Fisher-Price Inc.)
January 23, 1995... When Grady Brown stood before employees at Mattel Inc.'s Fisher-Price plant in Medina, the senior vice president of U.S. and Europe Operations told employees of a new vision: fewer small factories making more large toys. As part of Mattel's...

Plant closing creates shock wave, but rebound is predicted. (Fisher-Price Inc. closes plant in Medina, New York)
January 23, 1995... For Medina and its 7,000 citizens, rising economic promise took a precarious fall, all in the span of one day. "We had a rosy future yesterday. Businesses were expanding, Things looked good. But now, we don't know. We're stunned," said Randi...

Kahl steps aside at Carborundum, leads prospective buyer group. (Carborundum Co. Pres. Luiz Kahl)
January 23, 1995... Carborundum Co. President Luiz Kahl said if his management group is successful in buying the company, it will purchase the entire operation instead of parts of it and keep it based in Niagara Falls. The buyout group's 11th-hour bid is the...

Nursing home operators don't like size of earnings.
January 23, 1995... Western New York nursing home operators say the $6 million they earned collectively in 1993 is not as good as it looks. The amount is about half of what the 33 homes earned the year before and indicates the squeeze that stringent regulations...

SBA loan program finds local supporters. (Small Business Administration)
January 23, 1995... The Small Business Administration is a prime target of the new Republican-controlled Congress, which has promised to slash taxes and spending. While critics say the SBA's loan programs benefit only a minute fraction of companies and are...

What will George Pataki do about energy and the environment? (New York governor)
January 23, 1995... Alexandra Cukan shares a lot with Gov. Pataki. As a legislative director of the state's Sierra Club, she shared her views on environmental issues with him on a regular basis in the late 1980s. These days, the environmentalist with an MBA...

It's time to clean up the air inside your office. (indoor air quality)
January 23, 1995... How good is your I.A.Q. and what is your company doing to improve it? If all goes according to plan - and chances are, it won't - federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials may come knocking on the doors of about 4.5...

Saving energy saves money and that's good business. (use of energy and environmental systems by manufacturers and small businesses in western New York)
January 23, 1995... Across Western New York, manufacturers and small businesses are saving money by looking at environmental and energy systems. "What we have been seeing... is conservation measures in a lot of applications," said Michael Gorman with the state...

EPA: a hazardous environment for business. (Environmental Protection Agency)
January 23, 1995... From asbestos in schools to Alar in apples, the media-driven perception that America is awash in insidious health risks grows daily. Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency have attempted to address many of these concerns with an...

Guide to environmental resources. (New York)
January 23, 1995... Municipal and county governments should be contacted directly for information about local zoning, waste disposal, sewage and water treatment, and related ordinances, and also for assistance and information regarding compliance with state and...

Short-haul firm ready to motor into Tonawanda. (Watkins Motor Lines Inc.; Tonawanda, New York)
January 16, 1995... One of the nation's largest less-than-truckload carriers could soon add Buffalo to its route. Watkins Motor Lines Inc., a privately held carrier based in Lakeland, Fla., is preparing to open a local operation in the former St. Johnsbury...

If you don't believe it, you can look him up.
January 16, 1995... Somebody looked me up the other day. He was in town on business from Pittsburgh or Fitchburg, one or the other, and he was an old friend of either Peter or Bruce, I can't remember which. The truth is that right now I am having a difficult...

Paxon charges snub by Partnership. (Rep. Bill Paxon; Greater Buffalo Partnership)
January 16, 1995... One of the nation's most influential congressmen has taken a swipe at the area's major business advocate, saying it is rarely in contact with him. Rep. Bill Paxon, R-Amherst, said that the Greater Buffalo Partnership seldom articulates its...

Local bankruptcies decline, but not all convinced it's good news.
January 16, 1995... An enthusiastic expansion march helped land Odd's-n-End's Inc. in bankruptcy court last year, but a right-place, right-time scenario helped the Buffalo-based retailer emerge in record time. The company was on the low end of the statistics on...

New York banks face new rules on checking plans.
January 16, 1995... New rules being enacted Jan. 31 in New York will force some banks to adjust requirements on their checking accounts. To offer low-cost or "basic banking" accounts as the rules intend, some state-chartered institutions will have to reduce...

Labor wins lawsuit to hold Roswell to union wages. (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)
January 16, 1995... Work at Roswell Park Cancer Institute's massive renovation and construction project is proceeding after a court found that a nonstrike, union wage agreement there does not violate state competitive bidding laws. The ruling is a victory for...

IRS clamps down on incentives hospitals offer in recruiting doctors. (Internal Revenue Service)
January 16, 1995... Thanks to a Texas hospital's $1 million mistake, nonprofit hospitals in Western New York and nationwide now have definitive rules to follow when recruiting doctors. According to a 1994 Internal Revenue Service ruling, it's fine to promise...

Postal rate hike may crimp credit card solicitations.
January 16, 1995... Higher postal rates won't block the pipeline that seems to lead directly from banks to credit card customers' mail boxes. But the new expense, which befell commercial users of the U.S. Postal Service on Jan. 1, is expected to ebb the flood of...

Tops store in Tonawanda draws debate over IDA bond packages. (Industrial Development Agency; Tops Markets Inc.; Tonawanda, New York)
January 16, 1995... A longstanding debate over whether industrial development agencies should be extending incentive packages to retail was renewed during the Jan. 11 Erie County Industrial Development Agency meeting. At Buffalo's request, the ECIDA has been...

Fire couldn't destroy Fontana's desire to reopen. (Fontana's Spaghetti House)
January 16, 1995... The fire that destroyed Fontana's Spaghetti House last summer didn't quell the owner's desire to keep the family business going. And so during the week of Jan. 16, Richard Fontana Sr. will celebrate the reopening of the Italian restaurant...

Help! I've bent down and I can't get up! (workplace safety) (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
January 16, 1995... or, how workplace safety plays a major role in improving the bottom line When employees at New Era Cap Inc. see a protruding nail or a roll of thread lying on the floor, they immediately pick it up or notify someone of the situation. The...

Group self-insurance gives business owners a safety net. (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
January 16, 1995... A year ago, John Popovich Sr., president of Novatech Machining Corp., decided that the company's workers' compensation premiums were too high. The company, a Buffalo contract manufacturer of metal goods with 15 employees, wasn't large enough...

Company, workers should both consider hidden compensation. (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
January 16, 1995... You've finally justified to management that the workload of your department warrants additional hiring. You've been given the go-ahead to advertise for an administrative position that pays $25,000 annually. That's the amount that the budget...

Disability carriers redesign business to benefit everyone. (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits)
January 16, 1995... This past fall, we witnessed announcements from all of the major individual disability carriers that signaled an end to business as usual. These announcements generally included three areas of concern: * Financial - charges to earnings due...

The Snow Ball. (Studio Arena Theater, Buffalo, New York)
January 16, 1995... Theater: Studio Arena Theater, 710 Main St., Buffalo, through Jan. 29 Playwright: A.R. Gurney Director: Mark Brokaw Starring: Dennis Creaghan, Marion McCorry Business First recommendation: Hold The weekend The Snow Ball opened, Garvey's...

The R and B Box-30 Years of Rhythm and Blues The Sun Records Collection.
January 16, 1995... Artist: various Label: Rhino (R&B)/Sun-BMG-Rhino (Sun) Format: Rhythm & Blues/early rock, country and R&B Running time: 303:09 (R&B-6discs)/187:57 (Sun-3 discs) Overall rating (I-5): ***** Got some extra Christmas cash around the house and...

Click your cleats 3 times, there's no place like home. (National Football Conference) (Column)
January 16, 1995... * So you were disappointed last weekend about the lack of competitive NFL playoff games in the divisional round? The weekend that should be the most fiercely fought of the season: four games over two days involving the eight "best" teams....

Suitor courts Trench Manufacturing. (offer to buy Trench Manufacturing Company Inc.)
January 9, 1995... Trench Manufacturing Co. Inc. executives have told local economic development officials that there is an offer on the table to buy the Buffalo-based sports apparel manufacturer. The disclosure came at a top-level meeting between development...

Fowler brother gets sour news in ruling in chocolate dispute. (Original Fowler's Co.'s trademark infringement suit against Bruce Fowler)
January 9, 1995... The grandson of the founder of Fowler's Chocolate Shoppe Inc. is still in the candy business but is banned from using his famous name. A U.S. District Court ruling has given initial rights to the name to the investment group that bought...

Local optical-care providers eye PPO to battle national plans. (preferred provider organizations)
January 2, 1995... To Buffalo-area eye-care providers, the network they've created means one thing: survival. A group of 23 eye doctors and eye-wear providers from Lockport to Fredonia along with a Cheektowaga lens laboratory have formed a preferred provider...

Parking proves problematic downtown. (Buffalo, New York)
January 2, 1995... Peter Smilanich knows firsthand about the pitfalls of downtown Buffalo retailing. As a partner in George & Co., the 93-year-old novelty and games store, Smilanich was faced with the unpleasant reality of closing the company's longtime Main...

Harrison targets India as next growth region. (Harrison Division of General Motors Corp.)
January 2, 1995... First it was the Far East, now it is India -- the world's second most populous nation -- that has moved into the sights of the Harrison Division of General Motors Corp. Like China a decade ago, India is being viewed as the place to go for...

Subsidiary of Delaware North spreads wings with airport work. (CA One Services Inc.)
January 2, 1995... Jon Luther doesn't believe in captive audiences. Luther is president of CA One Services Inc., the airport food service subsidiary of Delaware North Cos. Inc.. He says just because people are in an airport doesn't mean they'll spend money on...

Praxair receives federal funding for industrial materials research. (Praxair Inc.)
January 2, 1995... Praxair Inc. has been awarded $3.65 million in federal research grants to develop new materials for industry. The competitive grants, awarded through the U.S. Commerce Department Advanced Technology Program, will spur new local research into...

Study says WNY could benefit in move for 'cleaner' industry. (Western New York)
January 2, 1995... A University at Buffalo study says Western New York can benefit from two local liabilities: an aging manufacturing base and a concentration of hazardous waste generators. The study, "Production-Process Enhancement: A New Strategy for...

Jamestown company, UB team up on toxic waste treatment project. (SonicStar International Inc.; State University of New York at Buffalo)
January 2, 1995... A Jamestown manufacturer of ultrasonic cleaning systems hopes to shake up the hazardous waste industry with a new system for breaking down certain pollutants. In hopes of developing new ways to dispose of hazardous waste, SonicStar...

Business incubators give fledglings warm place to grow.
January 2, 1995... When Dine Systems moved to the Western New York Technology Development Center in 1984, it took a giant leap. The company, which had been working to develop a computerized dietary monitoring system at founder Darwin Dennison's home since 1979,...

Economic agencies sweeten pot of what WNY has to offer. (Western New York)
January 2, 1995... When executives at Acme Electric Corp. decided in 1991 to consolidate its Allegany County operations with a Salt Lake City facility, Western New York came close to losing a long-time community member. Though the Acme facility had been in...