Business First of Buffalo articles from September 1996

Business First of Buffalo archives from September 1996

Curtain closing on state's run at Artpark.
September 2, 1996... Decision due by October on private sector operator The show will go on at Artpark, but who will run the show is about to change. New York state is spinning off the programming arm of the Lewiston facility to a private entity beginning with...

Marine Midland takes aggressive role. (Marine Midland Bank)
September 2, 1996... Marine Midland Bank, which for decades used a ship as its emblem, has fired a cannon across its competitors' bows. Nowhere was interest probably keener than at M&T Bank, Marine's Buffalo-based rival. The shot, Marine's Aug. 22 announcement of a...

WNY income levels attractive to business. (Western New York)
September 2, 1996... College graduates and working professionals take many factors into account when considering where they should look for a job. The standard of living in a particular city, as well as the average income, often top the list of factors. The...

Catholic schools saving millions, educators say.
September 2, 1996... When Western New York's Catholic grade schools and high schools open Sept. 4, they'll be offering more than an alternative to public education. They'll be saving taxpayers at least $241 million annually, according to the Buffalo Catholic...

Tops/Finast combination elevates chain's influence. (Tops Markets Inc.; First National Supermarkets Inc.)
September 2, 1996... Plans by Royal Ahold to merge its Finast supermarket division into the Tops Markets Inc. corporate family is being touted as a move that will strengthen the Amherst-based chain's presence in the Northeast. "At the very least, it gives Tops...

Occidental office building marketed as upscale hotel. (Occidental Chemical Corp.)
September 2, 1996... Occidental Chemical Corp. is taking a new approach to selling its namesake building in downtown Niagara Falls. That approach could ultimately result in at least a portion of the building being convened into an upscale hotel. Occidental, in...

Decade-long losing streak may be ending at Dunlop. (Dunlop Tire Corp.)
September 2, 1996... After nearly a full decade of red ink, Amherst-based Dunlop Tire Corp. may finally be poised to post a profit for the year, President P. David Campbell said. In fact, from a year-to-date standpoint, that milestone already has been reached. But...

Acquisition may continue for Columbus McKinnon. (plans to acquire Spreckels Industries Inc.)
September 2, 1996... In what would be its biggest but not last acquisition, Amherst-based Columbus McKinnon Corp. said it plans to acquire Spreckels Industries Inc., also known as Yale International Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of material handling and...

Bills 'coach' hones interviewing skills. (Buffalo Bills hires media coaching expert Andrea Kirby)
September 2, 1996... Mary Levy maintains that one of the elements of a successful coach is the ability to pick a coaching staff. This off-season, Levy quietly added a part-timer to his roster, someone who had been trying to crack the National Football League for...

For some entrepreneurs 1 is not enough. (Jud Beattie's numerous small businesses)
September 2, 1996... To find Jud Beattie, visitors must search among orderly stacks of packaged firewood arranged in the Salamanca entrepreneur's warehouse. Southern Tier Forest Products is one of Beattie's enterprises, but this day it is his latest business - a...

Roll up your sleeves. (Ineeda T-Shirt Inc.)(Small Business Handbook)(Company Profile)
September 2, 1996... Barcy family lives in T-shirts What's going on: Ineeda T-Shirt uses a special screening process to imprint shirts, sweatshirts, caps, tote bags and other items. Who's who: Rebecca Braun-Barcy, president; Daniel Barcy, vice president The...

You can archive material with recordable CD-ROMs.(Savvy Business Shopper)(Column)
September 2, 1996... To delete or not to delete. Almost every computer user eventually needs to wrestle with this question, as hard drives eventually fill up with applications and files. The easy way is certainly to buy another hard drive. However, this may only...

Technology turns the pages in lives of printers.(Special Report: Printing & Graphics)
September 2, 1996... In every print shop there's a guy a little bit like Larry Licata. While he doesn't have the proverbial ink in his veins, he lives for the day a product goes to press. He can't wait to set up the machine and tinker with the right color mix,...

Tapecon helps firms by any name get noticed. (Tapecon Inc.)(Special Report: Printing & Graphics)
September 2, 1996... Tapecon Inc. uses other firms' names to make a name for itself. The Seneca Street company produces a variety of decals, overlays and faceplates for other companies' products using state-of-the-art flat bed and continuous web screen printing,...

Effective ads are designed to quickly catch attention. (print advertising)(Special Report: Printing & Graphics)
September 2, 1996... Business owners and officers looking to strengthen their advertising budget should remember that print ads need to be built on a strong foundation of marketing basics and the right message. Start by picking those specific publications your...

Direct-to-plate printing is seen as wave of the future.(Special Report: Printing & Graphics)
September 2, 1996... Conventional printing involves convening digital information - text and graphics - into film from which printing plates are made. But a new era may be dawning in the printing trade. Emerging technology known as computer-to-plate printing (CTP)...

3 CEOs in hunt for top hospital job. (CEO candidates for the proposed merger of Buffalo General, Millard Fillmore health systems and Children's Hospital of Buffalo)
September 9, 1996... Decision due soon on leader for merged health system A CEO for the proposed merger of Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore health systems and Children's Hospital of Buffalo is expected to be named in the coming months. And the successful...

Bills took giant step to bring NFL to Albany. (Buffalo Bills hires New York Giants to conduct a training camp in Albany, New York)
September 9, 1996... Last Sunday night in the New Jersey Meadowlands, the Bills and Giants battled like any National Football League teams. Off the gridiron though, the two work side-by-side as business partners as they proved earlier this year. Last spring, New...

Bills tackle new strategy in marketing. (Buffalo Bills)
September 9, 1996... Twenty-three years after it opened, Rich Stadium remains one of the Buffalo Bills' biggest marketing tools. Fans filing into the stadium for Sunday's home opener against the New England Patriots will be greeted by a sea of color in a stadium...

WNY hospitals shuffle alliances, brace for deregulation. (Western New York hospitals)
September 9, 1996... Western New York hospitals have lost a chief executive officer, shifted alliances and formed partnerships as the industry prepares for a new marketplace. Timothy Finan, president of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for four years, has...

Small business program dropped by federal agency. (Department of Energy revises its contracting policy for small disadvantaged businesses)
September 9, 1996... WASHINGTON - The Department of Energy plans to drop the contracting programs it sets aside for small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses. In revising the acquisition policies it uses to administer its $16 billion worth of...

Casinos will spur business growth, gaming group says. (Ontario Gaming Corp. opens casino in Maple Leaf Village of Niagara Falls, Ontario)(Directory)
September 9, 1996... Unlike independent restaurant and hotel owners in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Niagara region hospitality businesses will not suffer when the Ontario Gaming Corp. opens its interim casino in December at Maple Leaf Village in Niagara Falls, Ont....

Dates Weiser expansion continues economic roll. (Dates Weiser Furniture Corp. moves to Acme Business Park in Buffalo, New York)
September 9, 1996... A flurry of deals has seen nearly 160,000 square feet of area manufacturing space get leased or purchased in recent weeks. The activity, coupled with recent expansion announcements by companies such as Ingram Micro Inc. and General Motors Corp....

Aud re-use bids leave city unimpressed; proposals would create sports, entertainment center. (Buffalo Memorial Auditorium)
September 16, 1996... Three groups have made formal proposals to redevelop city-owned Memorial Auditorium, but whether any of the bids will be accepted is unclear. The Aud's re-use is one of the key issues facing the city on the eve of the opening of the...

Mortgage division deal could bring jobs to WNY. (NationsBank Corp.'s acquisition of Boatmen's Bancshares of St. Louis; Western New York)
September 16, 1996... NationsBank Corp.'s recent agreement to buy Boatmen's Bancshares of St. Louis could lead to more jobs at the banking company's Amherst mortgage servicing center. Officially, representatives of Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank will not...

Challenges grow for minority business. (includes related article on minority business awards)
September 16, 1996... When Anthony Robinson visited Buffalo 10 years ago, he pinpointed various problems facing minority business owners. Today's minority business owners face the same problems, he said, only the challenges that accompany those problems are greater....

Hog heaven: it's retailer's dream: too much demand and not enough product. (Buffalo Harley-Davidson Inc.)(Small Business Handbook)(Company Profile)
September 16, 1996... What's going on: Long before Marlon Brando and "The Wild Ones" or Peter Fonda and "Easy Rider," Buffalo Harley-Davidson was selling motorcycles. It's been hog heaven for 75 years, making it the eighth-oldest Harley dealership in the world....

Bumper crop: what's in store for car buyers in 1997.(Special Report: 1997 Automotive)
September 16, 1996... A smattering of price reductions, lower than usual increases on others, the disappearance of General Motors' heavyweight rear-wheel drive land cruisers, and expanded use of side-protecting air bags highlight this fall's debut of 1997 model cars,...

NFL and Congress on collision course: expiration of stadium lease heightens local interest in bill. (National Football League)
September 23, 1996... Given the National Football League's monopoly status and a recent flurry of franchise relocations, most observers give the advantage to the Buffalo Bills in stadium lease negotiations with Erie County. But legislation introduced by an Ohio...

Sales growing piece-by-piece at Jamestown furniture maker. (Bush Industries Inc.)
September 23, 1996... Like hosts of a radio talk show, customer service representatives for Bush Industries Inc. wait for the phones to ring. And ring they do. In the wee hours of the morning even. An average of 700 calls every 24 hours. Almost 5,000 each week....

Aud's future dominated by question of viability. (Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY)
September 23, 1996... The same economic conditions that make sense for the development of Marine Midland Arena spell doom for Memorial Auditorium. The fate of the Aud is taking some of the spotlight away from Marine Midland. Arena as Buffalo officials turn their...

Gambling could secure year-round service sector jobs.
September 23, 1996... Local tourism officials are predicting that hospitality workers in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region likely will keep their jobs long after the warm weather ends. Tourist season in Western New York will be extended year-round when the Niagara...

Delaware North ready for homecoming. (Delaware North Cos. Inc.)
September 23, 1996... Imagine General Motors Corp. without a flagship dealership in Detroit. Or Hollywood with no movie theaters. That's the situation for Delaware North Cos. Inc. in its hometown. Delaware North, through its subsidiaries, is an industry leader in...

Banking on opportunity: there's room for artists and number crunchers.(Special Report: Banking & Finance)
September 23, 1996... Like many others in her profession, Sharon Lochocki didn't set out to be a banker. Creative, artistically-inclined, from a musical family where she was encouraged to take piano lessons and learned to love Bach and Mozart, she was leaning...

Hot diggety dog! Quality remains the same for generations of Freys. (Frey's)
September 23, 1996... What's going on: The company manufactures bologna, hot dogs and braunschwieger, a liver sausage, as well as a variety of German specialty items. Who's who: Brian Frey, plant manager The company, now affiliated with Russer Foods, employs 16...

Getting federal business means lots of paperwork. (managing public contracts)(Women in Business)
September 23, 1996... Doing business with the federal government isn't difficult as long as you get past the paperwork, says Gertrude Miller, owner of ASAP Delivery Service Inc. "They are demanding, the way they want billing and work done, but we're not a slipshod...

Government is looking for many good women. (federal contracts with women-owned business)(Women in Business)
September 23, 1996... Only 3 percent of contracts in federal procurement projects went to women-owned businesses When the government buys goods and services, the vast majority of the time the check is made out to a business owned by a man. Last year, only $2.8...