Business First of Buffalo articles from June 1998

Business First of Buffalo archives from June 1998

Flexovit rises from the ashes. (Flexovit USA Inc's recovery from fire at its grinding wheel factory in New York)
June 1, 1998... After the heartache, despair and loss of seeing his Angola grinding wheel factory demolished by fire, Jacob Iliohan saw opportunity. An electrical malfunction sparked a blaze that devastated manufacturing space at Flexovit USA Inc. on...

Banks size up insurance opportunities.
June 1, 1998... Banks are stepping up their interest in offering property and casualty insurance now that the field is no longer barred to them by law. A prominent Western New York insurance executive says that the next three years will be one of the most...

CSX-Norfolk Southern deal could bring jobs to WNY. (CSX Transportation Inc; Norfolk Southern Corp; Western New York)
June 1, 1998... Western New York is expected to gain jobs from the proposed acquisition of Conrail by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern railways, according to rail officials. The federal Surface Transportation Board in Washington, D.C., will vote on the...

Enrollment grows in health insurance program for kids. (Western New York)
June 1, 1998... Enrollment in government-sponsored health insurance for children of the working poor has been on an upswing across the state and in Western New York since services were expanded seven months ago. Enrollment in Child Health Plus is growing...

State business organization ranks region's school districts. (Business Council of New York State Inc)
June 1, 1998... The Buffalo public school district eaked out a win over suburban Williamsville in a new ranking by a state business group. But it isn't likely the district will brag much about this ranking. The two districts were among the state's largest...

History takes to the streets as Lewiston plans makeover. (village in Niagara County, New York)
June 1, 1998... Lewiston is looking up by looking back. The Niagara County village seeks to enhance tourism and trade through a $2.5 million project to remake Center Street, the main business street in the village, into a colonial era strip. "What we're...

Interest in theater complex encourages city officials. (market arcade cinemas, Buffalo, New York)
June 1, 1998... As General Cinema Corp. prepares to leave the downtown Market Arcade Cinemas, city officials remain confident the eight-screen complex will not go dark. Last weekend was the deadline for proposals regarding use of the theater complex....

Canada may look for deal on flights to Falls airport. (Niagara Falls International Airport)
June 1, 1998... Officials in Canada may support development of the Niagara Falls International Airport as a tourist gateway to Ontario's Niagara Peninsula. "What choice do we have," said Mayor Wayne Thomson of Niagara Falls, Ont. As development in southern...

Stepping boldly. (P.W. Minor & Son Inc)(Company Profile)
June 1, 1998... Family-owned company takes large steps into therapeutic footwear What's going on: The company says it is the world's leading maker of pedorthic - or therapeutic - footwear for people with diabetes, arthritis and various orthopedic foot...

Rising health care costs pressure HMOs. (health maintenance organizations)
June 8, 1998... Modest increases in HMO premiums could be a thing of the past as area health-care experts anticipate double-digit jumps in rates in the coming years. Though HMO executives blame marketplace pressures for the increases, they're likely to get...

All aboard. (Western New York's train ridership)
June 8, 1998... More WNYers riding the rails Flying is fine and road travel OK, but for Robert Lenz, nothing beats riding the rails. As innkeeper and part owner of Asa Ransom House, a country inn in Clarence. he traveled 30,000 miles by train last year....

WNY exporters fall in line with European certification. (Western New York)
June 8, 1998... By mid-June, American health care products and pleasure craft exported to Europe must be certified with the CE mark. The mark ensures products meet certain safety and performance directives issued by the 17-nation European Union. CE is the...

Scarcity of venture capital tough on high-tech startups.
June 8, 1998... Sean Howard is not a bad salesman. Howard, president of Visionary Creative Services, has managed to sell his company's Internet services to Delaware North Cos., Softbank Services Group and Tops Markets. Venture capital firms just aren't...

American Axle goes global with development strategy. (American Axle and Manufacturing Inc)
June 8, 1998... American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. is focusing on forging a global business as it moves to take the company public with a stock offering in the next several weeks. The company, with plants in Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda that employ 2,800...

Lenders find little interest in reverse mortgage market.
June 8, 1998... As the mortgage refinancing boom shows signs of cooling, some lenders are looking at reverse mortgages as a possible new business. Reverse mortgages allow retired, cash-strapped senior citizens to tap the equity from their homes. The concept...

Sabres' marketing strategy designed to build ticket sales.
June 8, 1998... Last year at this time, the Buffalo Sabres were divided and it cost them. The team lost nearly 1,600 season ticket accounts due to front office bickering that resulted in the firing of the general manager and the decision not to rehire the...

Fees linked to SBA loans expected to remain steady. (Small Business Administration)
June 8, 1998... At the minimum, fees associated with small business 7(a) loans are expected to remain steady and may even drop. Aida Alvarez, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said during a national teleconference that fees will not...

SBA says bankruptcy bill hurts business. (Small Business Administration)
June 8, 1998... WASHINGTON - Many small businesses would be forced to liquidate if a bankruptcy bill now before the U.S. House of Representatives is passed, according to the Small Business Administration. SBA officials said the bill would add substantial costs...

Support growing for casinos: poll shows willingness to bet on gambling.
June 15, 1998... What a difference four years make. A new Business First-Goldhaber Research Associates Poll finds that Erie County residents are strongly in favor of legalizing casino gambling. Their emphatic support is markedly different from the ambivalence...

People Inc., Claddagh split defies trend. (Claddagh Commission Inc.)
June 15, 1998... The Claddagh Commission Inc., an Evans-based human services agency, is ending its relationship with People Inc. and going on its own at a time when health service organizations are looking for merger partners. People Inc., a $43 million human...

RV dealers hope economy drives up sales. (recreational vehicles)
June 15, 1998... Nationwide sales of recreational vehicles and motor homes are on track to reach a 10-year high. Dealers and manufacturers credit the growing demand to a strong economy, stable interest rates, low fuel prices, high consumer confidence and a...

Bills won't get rich on name deal, Wilson says. (Buffalo Bills football team owner Ralph Wilson)(includes related article on naming rights of the Rich Stadium)
June 15, 1998... After a 25-year run, Rich Stadium, at least in name, will be no more. The end will likely come quietly. All it will take is the removal of the plain black block lettering on the north and south entrances to the Orchard Park stadium. Removing...

Fort developer wants key building dropped from plan. (W. Kirk Hastings)
June 15, 1998... The developer of a $4.8 million commercial project at Fort Niagara is asking the state to permanently remove from the plan the building that has become a focal point of controversy. At the same time, W. Kirk Hastings of Youngstown says he...

Small contracts add up to big sales for WNY exporters. (Western New York)
June 15, 1998... Thirty percent of Erie County exporters have yearly export sales between $750,000 and $5 million. But almost half accrue export sales from contracts of less than $10,000. The figures come from a recent survey by the Erie County Industrial...

Rydelek turns CVB focus to small-business owners. (Stan Rydelek; Niagara Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau)
June 15, 1998... Stan Rydelek, has a three-pronged approach for the Niagara Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau. As newly appointed bureau president, he expects to focus on small-business members, enhance convention services and upgrade the computer system....

Riding along. (Rick Cycle Shop)(Small Business Handbook)(Company Profile)
June 15, 1998... Century-old business keeps on pedaling What's going on: Main Street in downtown Buffalo, as we know, has undergone a major evolution in the past century. More businesses have gone than come and the street is no longer the center of commerce....

Savings x upgrades2/energy: audit doesn't have to be a scary word if it looks at ways of saving energy and money.
June 15, 1998... In late 1993, Tonawanda lumber distributor R.A. Miller Hardwood Co. underwent a $46,286 project to upgrade its electrical motors and drives. The company recouped its expenses in less than a year, due to an energy bill savings of about $29,088...

Albank deal gives edge to Charter One. (includes related article on the merger deal between Charter One and Albank Financial Corp.)
June 22, 1998... The deal that Charter One Financial Inc. just made for Albank Financial Corp. appears to have given the Ohio-based company a 2-1 lead over M&T Bank in the upstate New York acquisitions game. Officials of Buffalo-based M&T will not discuss...

Auto suppliers feel the pinch from GM strike. (General Motors Inc.)
June 22, 1998... The layoff numbers climbed and the economic impact on Western New York deepened as United Auto Workers strikes against two General Motors parts plants in Michigan rolled toward a third week. With the automotive industry providing the largest...

Milk-Bone plant is Nabisco's pet project. (RJR Nabisco Inc.)
June 22, 1998... In the dog-eat-dog world of pet snacks, none takes as big a bite as Buffalo's Nabisco Milk-Bone plant which makes 140 million pounds of dog treats a year. And Buffalo's plant is the only one in the world that makes the popular Milk-Bones....

Printing plant construction pushed back by acquisition. (Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.'s pending acquisition of Tonawanda News)
June 22, 1998... Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.'s pending acquisition of the Tonawanda News is delaying construction of a central printing plant for the company's four area dailies. No formal agreement has been signed, but a five-acre parcel in the 155-acre...

Senior managers, investors buy Vibratech from Idex.
June 22, 1998... A group of senior managers at Vibratech Inc. have bought out all outstanding stock from its parent company and assumed ownership. Management at the Alden firm bought the company for $23 million from Idex Corp. of Northbrook, Ill., with help...

Buffalo cigar distributor smokes out the competition. (Maxius Cigar Co.)
June 22, 1998... When it comes to his company, John Michael loves to blow smoke. And with good reason. Michael is president of Maxius Cigar Co., a Buffalo distributor of premium brand cigars. Michael recently got a major boost when "Cigar Aficionado"...

Season of opportunity dawns for region's hotels. (Buffalo, New York)
June 22, 1998... Last year, Bradley Paul decided to take an $8.5 million gamble. As general manager of Darien Lake Theme Park, Paul felt one of the pieces missing from his Genesee County amusement park was an on-site hotel. Because Darien Lake sits in the...

Uncertainty remains after merger proposed. (pending merger between NationsBank Corp. and BankAmerica Corp.)
June 29, 1998... The pending merger this fall of NationsBank Corp. and BankAmerica Corp. will create a $212 billion mortgage servicing portfolio - the nation's largest. The impact could bring additional work to NationsBank's mortgage servicing center in...

CGF agrees to recognize seniority in merger talks. (CGF Health System)
June 29, 1998... CGF Health System and three of its unions have reached a tentative agreement regarding how workers will be treated as the merger moves forward. Among the most significant aspects of the 20-page document: * Workers will keep their...

Area tiremaker's newest line boosts production, adds jobs. (Dunlop Tire Corp.)
June 29, 1998... Dunlop Tire Corp. is spending $25 million to introduce a tire line at its Town of Tonawanda plant and raise daily production levels 10 percent by the end of 1999. For a plant now turning out 10,000 tires each day, the percentage translates...

Amherst company depleted by boom in growth. (AP Support Services Inc.)
June 29, 1998... Mergers and acquisitions have left an Amherst database management and telemarketing company that boasted nearly 230 employees two years ago will soon have about 30. AP Support Services laid off more than 100 employees in the last six weeks...

KeyCorp joins rush to acquire securities brokerages.
June 29, 1998... KeyCorp is the latest banking company to acquire a full-service securities brokerage firm. The Cleveland-based KeyCorp - parent of KeyBank, the Buffalo market's No. 3 deposit-taker - is paying $653 million in new stock for the purchase of...

Dunlop rolls out 75th birthday and international reputation. (Dunlop Tire Corp.)(Special Report: Automotive & Transportation)
June 29, 1998... Buffalo is popularly known as a heavy snowfall city, though the actual weather statistics don't jibe with the reputation. Likewise, Buffalo is associated with a dubious Super Bowl contender. But of all the images Buffalo stirs in the...

Selling cars comes easy for auto dealer Bill Vogel.(Special Report: Automotive & Transportation)
June 29, 1998... Bill Vogel can't recall the first of the more than 5,000 vehicles he figures he sold over the last 28 years. "But I'll always remember the first time my uncle and his partner left me alone to run the business. I was only a lot boy and was...

Let's make a deal; brokerage matches the buyer to the business. (VR Business Brokers)(Company Profile)
June 29, 1998... What's going on: VR Business Brokers, owned and operated by Business Resources of WNY Inc., lists and sells businesses of all types. The company also provides valuation services for estate planning and divorce purposes. Who's who: Joseph...

Southern Tier hospitals await impact of Erie merger. (Hamot Medical Center; St. Vincent Health Center)
June 29, 1998... The impact of a merger of two Erie, Pa., hospitals could reach into New York's Southern Tier. Hamot Medical Center and St. Vincent Health Center are waiting for permission to merge from federal regulators after clearing a state review process...