Business First of Buffalo articles from May 1996

Business First of Buffalo archives from May 1996

Fisher-Price's Medina plant rebounds from 1995 layoff.
May 27, 1996... One year after Mattel Inc. started to implement massive layoffs at Fisher-Price Inc.'s Medina plant, the company's remaining product line is receiving a vote of confidence from the company and analysts. The plant recently played host to...

Manufacturing sweet things. (Quaker Bonnet Inc.)(Company Profile)
May 27, 1996... Quaker Bonnet's delights include Buffalo Chips, Elephant Ears What's going on: Long before there were chicken wings, there was Quaker Bonnet, a local culinary landmark. Although many remember the company for its long-time Elmwood Avenue tea...

The fall - and rise - of Empire. (Empire Financial Services Inc.)(Special Report: Banking & Finance)(Company Profile)
May 27, 1996... Roger Arnold has built a full-service brokerage firm out of the ashes of the failed financial institution Not every offshoot of Empire of America is a faded memory of fiscal failure. One of them, Empire Financial Services, a...

Fast-food chains find new market in corner stores.(Industry Overview)
May 20, 1996... The term is "quick serve restaurant." And it could be coming to a convenience store near you. Scaled-down fast-food restaurants with brand names such as Pizza Hut are opening takeout, off-the-menu service in convenience stores right there...

Recycling center decision snarled in red tape.
May 20, 1996... It's like that old tale about everybody, somebody, anybody and nobody. Plans for a recycling facility in Niagara County remain at a standstill as virtually everybody involved waits for somebody or anybody to do something. The county has...

Utility's fiber-optic system creates long-distance network. (Telergy Inc.)
May 20, 1996... By summer, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. will have power lines overhead and phone lines underground, laying the groundwork for a new long-distance data network in New York. Telergy Inc., a joint venture of Niagara Mohawk and KCI Network Service...

Licensing deals to extend Fisher-Price's product lines. (Fisher-Price Inc.)
May 20, 1996... To everyone who has a Snoopy-Sniffer or Fido-Zilo in their attic, Fisher-Price Inc. will always be an East-Aurora based toy maker. Yet to a growing number of small manufacturers across the nation, the Mattel Inc. subsidiary offers a chance to...

A matter of convenience: Yellow Goose stores name-brand fast-food market. (M.W.S. Enterprises Inc.)(Small Business Handbook)(Company Profile)
May 20, 1996... What's going on: A private company that owns, operates and franchises 34 Yellow Goose convenient stores in Western New York and the Southern Tier. Who's who: Mark Sidebottom and Patti Sidebottom, a Pendleton husband and wife, are sole...

Region's trade gates open wide. (Buffalo, New York)(includes related article on electricity imports)
May 13, 1996... It's good to be near the border. But it could be even better. The Buffalo customs district remained one of the nation's busiest ports in 1995, according to statistics from the U.S. Customs Service. Although the region's trade volume is...

Olympic Committee flexes its muscle over trademark. (George Bechakas' Olympic Specialty Foods)
May 13, 1996... Greek family forced to change name on specialty food line When Prometheus lost his fight with Zeus in mythology, it was the sharp beak of an eagle pecking at his liver that did him in. Modern Greeks living in Tonawanda find themselves also...

New courthouse likely location of PLA battle. (project labor agreement)(Erie County, New York)
May 13, 1996... The next battleground where construction trade unions clash over project labor agreements may be the site of Erie County's new court facility. Officials of a recently launched coalition against the agreements say their lobbying efforts are...

Depew recycling company strikes oil in filter market. (Advanced Recycling Technology Inc. recycles oil filters)
May 13, 1996... For eight hours each day, Wally Markowski stands in a Depew garage wearing rubber gloves and grabbing oil filters out of a barrel. His right hand slaps a filter on a turntable angled in front of him, and a trickle of brown motor oil joins...

New technology may put squeeze on midsize banks.
May 13, 1996... A potent mix of new technology and competitive pressures is mapping new directions for U.S. banking, says Buffalo banker James Cleave. Among the coming changes that Marine Midland Bank's CEO foresees: * A consumer banking industry with 20...

M&T Bank widens lead as region's top deposit-taker. (Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co.)
May 13, 1996... M&T Bank widened its front-runner's lead over other deposit-takers in Western New York by adding $821 million in deposits during a 12-month period ended June 30. The Buffalo-based bank, which in 1994 had a 25.6 percent market share with...

Niagara's new ice complex fills void, markets college. (Niagara University)
May 13, 1996... Western New York's growth as a hockey and skating center has been delayed by the slow development of new ice rinks and the lack of a major college hockey program. Niagara University is embarking on a mission to fill the void with the opening...

WNY research, marketing company merges with international firm. (CPM Research East Inc. and AP Support Services Inc.)
May 13, 1996... An area research firm expects to double its size after merging with an international marketing and logistics company. CPM Research East Inc. was acquired and merged March 29 with AP Support Services Inc., a subsidiary of Abitibi-Price, based...

HMO losses soar into millions. (health maintenance organizations)(Industry Overview)
May 6, 1996... Like a ship with too many passengers, Western New York's HMOs all had that sinking feeling in 1995. Membership swelled overall, but so did losses at the smallest to the largest health maintenance organizations in the region. Although new...

Marriot Corp. front-runner for 'medical' hotel.
May 6, 1996... Marriott Corp. has emerged as the leader to run a proposed hotel in the city's medical campus. Sources have confirmed that Marriott is the front-runner to operate a 100-room hotel specifically aimed toward serving visitors related to Roswell...

Peek 'N Peak spends millions to expand resort.
May 6, 1996... Peek 'N Peak Resort is embarking on a multimillion-dollar project that will add condominiums, ski slopes and such amenities as a water slide and miniature golf course. The work will be phased in during the next few years at the Chautauqua...

WNY economic indicators reaching new heights.(Western New York)
May 6, 1996... Onward and upward. That was the direction of Western New York's economy in March, as it capped off its strongest quarter so far in the 1990s. The composite version of the Business First Economic Index - a measure of the local economy's...

Buffalo collection agency expands in WNY, Canada. (Western New York)
May 6, 1996... Expansion at Great Lakes Collection Bureau Inc. has led to the opening of offices in Fort Erie and Cheektowaga. In recent weeks, Great Lakes leased all 9,000 square feet of the former Chemical Bank building on Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga, in...

Orchard Park automobile dealer planning used car supercenter. (Towne Automotive Group)
May 6, 1996... A used car supercenter patterned after one of the nation's fastest growing national chains is being proposed by an Orchard Park auto dealer. Towne Automotive Group hopes to develop the $2 million project next to its Towne Ford dealership at...

OSHA initiates strategy targeting high-risk firms.
May 6, 1996... By September, federal officials hope to tap into New York's workers' compensation claim data and use it to target certain companies for OSHA inspections. The program is part of several new "user-friendly" initiatives at the Occupational...

New games center owners add laser tag to portfolio.
May 6, 1996... New owners of two area miniature golf centers and a go-cart track have plans to add a 5,000-square-foot laser-tag arena. Adventure Golf & Games Inc., with headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C., acquired The Track in Wheatfield and Putt-Putt...

Lockport fuel distributor introduces new gas brands.
May 6, 1996... The relatively tiny Reid Petroleum Corp. has joined the likes of giant Getty gasoline at service stations across the region. Although neither owns its refineries, they both now market gas under their own name. Reid, a growing...

Pioneer treatment process tests local firm's mettle. (L.D. McCauley Corp.)
May 6, 1996... A pilot project at L.D. McCauley Corp. hopes to make alchemists out of metal platers, teaching others statewide how to turn wastewater into gold. In its second year of a project to purify wastewater, the Orchard Park manufacturer is one of...

6-year pharmacy degree may be prescribed by state.
May 6, 1996... Tomorrow's entry-level pharmacists should have doctorate degrees to secure a place in the evolution of health care, according to a proposal before the state. The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and the three other pharmacy schools...

Frontier Corp. CEO predicts more growth.
May 6, 1996... Frontier Corp., which has 18,500 long distance subscribers in the Buffalo area, will double its size by 2000, the Rochester-based company's Chairman and CEO predicted. Growth in long distance revenues, strong performance of its local...

SBA, Ex-Im Bank program provides little guys with big clout. (Small Business Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States)
May 6, 1996... The Small Business Administration is working to provide small businesses with the tools they need to succeed in the international marketplace because we understand that small businesses are vital to the health of the U.S. economy. Having...