Baltimore Business Journal articles from August 1997

Baltimore Business Journal archives from August 1997

Hopkins lost PR battle. (Johns Hopkins University)
August 1, 1997... It was a story almost too good to be true. Their leader doomed by a rare form of cancer, researchers at tiny CellPro Inc. invent a procedure that saves his life. Then the tanned, mustachioed boss returns to work, helping the company fight...

Lowe's plots region rollout.
August 1, 1997... The nation's second-largest home improvement retailer is preparing to infiltrate the Baltimore-Washington market. Lowe's Co. is scouting for possible locations here as part of a nationwide expansion plan to battle the country's top chain, Home...

Banks primed to pounce.
August 1, 1997... As if clairvoyant, First Mariner Bancorp Chairman Edwin F. Hale Sr. began slapping up the signs a month before First Union Corp. and Signet Banking Corp. announced their merger. "Has your bank been bought or merged out of existence?" the signs...

'Death Valley' shows signs of resurrection. (Hunt Valley Mall)
August 1, 1997... If the mark of a good business person is the ability to see things that aren't there, Fred Paine has a promising future. Paine is the general manager of Hunt Valley Mall, jokingly known as Death Valley because it is largely tenantless. Around...

Legg reconsiders tennis sponsorship in District. (Legg Mason Inc.; Washington D.C.)
August 1, 1997... Will Legg Mason yank its sponsorship of a prominent Washington tennis tournament? Legg Mason Inc. officials said while they've been satisfied with their investment in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic they are deciding whether to continue as title...

Unions trying to move into Md.'s hotel industry.(Special Report: Hospitality)
August 1, 1997... Labor's efforts thwarted so far This summer's unionization effort at the Sheraton Baltimore North in Towson may be a harbinger for the hotel industry in Maryland. Although workers voted against unionization, this latest effort by local...

Competitors mining for Hard Rock customers. (Hard Rock Cafe)(Special Report: Hospitality)
August 1, 1997... Restaurant owners hope the crowds for theme eatery will roll their way It's not often that a business welcomes a wealthy new competitor with open arms, but downtown restaurant owners are doing just that to the Hard Rock Cafe. Their hope is...

Carrollton Bancorp. (Proxy Reports Excerpt)(Company Profile)
August 1, 1997... Corporate profile Many of the people who bank through Carrollton Bancorp probably have never been inside one of the bank's 11 branches. This small financial company has used the power of automated teller machines to leverage its business. Last...

Rising up from the ashes: a devastating fire two years ago didn't destroy the spirit of these entrepreneurs.(Workshop)
August 1, 1997... A devastating fire two years ago didn't destroy the spirit of these entrepreneurs Norma Wallis was watching the Baltimore Orioles trounce the New York Yankees 8-1 on television two years ago when the game was interrupted by a special news...

HMOs sue over fee fight. (health maintenance organizations)
August 8, 1997... Hospitals say move threatens negotiations Maryland's managed care insurers have filed suit against the state, inflaming an already contentious debate about hospital rate cuts that has pitted the state's caregivers against the companies that...

Howard Street project eyed: apartments, shops planned. (real estate development in Baltimore, Maryland)
August 8, 1997... A local property owner and a Washington, D.C., developer are teaming to build new apartments and shops on Baltimore's once-grand Howard Street. Mendel Friedman, who owns the Johnston Building just south of the City Crescent office complex,...

Mid-Atlantic hits moment of reckoning. (failing magazine Mid-Atlantic Country)
August 8, 1997... Owners of Mid-Atlantic Country, the ailing regional magazine that has been on the auction block since the end of July, say they could unload the publication within a week. Three potential buyers have shown interest, according to co-owner...

AT&T loses market share to smaller firms.
August 8, 1997... With more than $60 billion in revenue at stake, the nation's largest long-distance telephone service providers are apparently losing customers to hundreds of smaller upstarts. In Maryland, for example, AT&T Corp.'s share of the market fell...

Banks have love affair with fees. (steep consumer deposit fees among Baltimore banks)
August 8, 1997... Provident Bank of Maryland was one of the few banks singled out for praise in a recent report criticizing skyrocketing consumer deposit fees. But while Provident might have been lauded by the consumer advocacy group for its no-fee checking...

Hopkins seeks Southern Maryland ties. (Johns Hopkins Medicine pursuing partnership with Physicians Memorial Hospital)
August 8, 1997... Johns Hopkins Medicine is one of four medical centers competing to partner with a 131-bed hospital in Charles County. A relationship with Physicians Memorial Hospital in La Plata would give Johns Hopkins access to patients in Southern Maryland,...

Annapolis brewer taking growth to Delaware. (Fordham Brewing Co.)
August 8, 1997... Maryland rules forced Fordham out, officials say The Fordham Brewing Co. of Annapolis, frustrated in efforts to open a brewery in Maryland, found a site in Delaware and is seeking private investors to help launch the $9 million project. The...

MIE Properties owner keeping options open. (real estate developer Ed St. Johns)
August 8, 1997... Is Ed St. John taking offers for his extensive flex-space real estate portfolio? Yes, but it's no big deal, according to the developer. It happens all the time. It doesn't mean he accepts them. That was his answer to inquiries about the many...

Reeves to develop new image for Venable. (advertising firm Reeves Agency Inc. selected by law firm Venable, Baetjer and Howard LLP)
August 8, 1997... Local law firm Venable, Baetjer and Howard LLP will unveil a new image this fall, with the help of the Reeves Agency. The Reeves Agency was chosen as the agency of record from a pool of 13 competitors, after a more than five-month-long...

Asking to be taxed: benefits districts pop up from Baltimore to D.C. (business improvement districts)(Special Report: Real Estate/Construction)
August 8, 1997... In order to compete, businesses sometimes must cooperate. That's the premise behind business improvement districts - geographic areas in which business and property owners agree to pay a surcharge on top of their regular property taxes to cover...

Details are what matters for local firm. (building maintenance firm WoodCare Plus)(Special Report: Real Estate/Construction)
August 8, 1997... It's the emergency situations that give the folks at WoodCare Plus the biggest rush. After one weekend last winter, employees at accounting firm Ernst & Young returned to work to find a pipe had burst on the ninth floor of their downtown...

Angelos weighs value of a name. (Oriole Park at Camden Yards owner Peter G. Angelos)
August 15, 1997... Team watches Ravens deal for parity issues Peter G. Angelos said he expects to get the right to sell the name of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles owner said his contract with the state guarantees lease terms on par with those of the...

More than 100 workers cut by Aon. (employees of Alexander and Alexander Services Inc laid off by owner Aon Group Inc)
August 15, 1997... More than 100 people have been laid off from the Owings Mills office of Alexander & Alexander Services Inc. since that company was acquired by Aon Group Inc. in December, according to former employees. The Owings Mills office, which had about...

Sinai bristles at treatment in ER review memo. (state review of emergency room system in Baltimore questioned by Sinai Hospital)
August 15, 1997... A state review of Maryland's emergency care system could cause some high blood pressure for officials at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Of the four Baltimore-area trauma centers affected by the review, Sinai has had the strongest reaction and...

Searching for vital signs: St. Joseph's could save $600,000 a year with new monitoring device. (St. Joseph's Medical Center)
August 15, 1997... In a bid to save money and improve care, St. Joseph's Medical Center installed a high-tech system for tracking patients' vital signs. Officials at the Towson hospital claim it's the first hospital in Maryland to set up a computerized network...

Integrated heads home for gains. (Integrated Health Services Inc.)
August 15, 1997... To Robert N. Elkins, the founder of Integrated Health Services Inc., the key to success in a competitive health care industry is a no-brainer: Ask questions and listen to the answers. In 1986, leaders of the young company asked everyone in the...

Making neighborly gestures: state lends money to small companies to help revitalize neighborhoods. (Maryland)
August 15, 1997... For Henry Holloway, "smart growth isn't just jargon that state politicians use to describe efforts to stop suburban sprawl. The Bel Air feed store owner is participating in a 2-year-old program run by the Maryland Department of Housing and...

Women's baseball teams may step up to the plate.
August 22, 1997... Is Maryland ready for a women's professional baseball league? Peter Kirk, the head of Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership, wants to find out. Currently running three minor league teams in the state - and seeking a fourth - Kirk is trying to...

Pioneering Internet site malfunctions.
August 22, 1997... A company that made headlines last year for turning a former Canton broom factory into a first-of-its-kind Internet business center is being evicted. But tenants say the building's owner plans to maintain it as an "incubator" for Internet...

Doctor group in talks: Premier eyes Flagship. (Flagship Health; Premiere Medical Associates)
August 22, 1997... Two prominent Baltimore-area doctor groups are considering joining forces. A link between Flagship Health and Premier Medical Associates would create one of the area's largest networks of doctors, an organization with access to approximately...

New Bell to keep engineering hub here. (Bell Atlantic Corp)
August 22, 1997... The new Bell Atlantic Corp. plans to use its landmark downtown Baltimore building as one of two regional "engineering hubs," keeping about 850 high-paying jobs in the city. Ivan Seidenberg, the new Bell Atlantic's second-in-command, said this...

Angelos decries 'stupid' parking plan.
August 22, 1997... Peter G. Angelos is opening another front in his ongoing war with the Maryland Stadium Authority, this one on land between the city's baseball and football stadiums. Staff at the Stadium Authority, a quasi-public body which owns the Camden...

Firms assess strike damage. (United Parcel Service strike)
August 22, 1997... Though over, the United Parcel Service left local business owners unnerved at the power the world's largest parcel delivery company has over their livelihoods. "For the first time, people's mindset has been altered," said Richard Hess,...

Antenna maker Nurad eyes London Fog digs.
August 22, 1997... A Baltimore-based defense contractor has agreed to occupy the former London Fog plant in Northwest Baltimore. Nurad Technologies Inc., an antenna component maker, will lease the building from the city and spend more than $1 million to upgrade...

First Union acquiring Wheat First.
August 22, 1997... First Union Corp.'s roll through the Mid-Atlantic picked up steam this week, as the North Carolina giant agreed to buy Wheat First Butcher Singer Inc., an investment banking firm based in Richmond, Va. The $471 million transaction allows...

September hearings set for Blues merger.
August 22, 1997... The proposed operational merger between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of the National Capital Area takes another step toward completion next month with hearings slated by the insurance commissioners in...

Rouse plugging away at Harborplace renovations. (Rouse Co; Harborplace, Baltimore, MD)
August 22, 1997... Remember that request the Rouse Co. made to the city and state about a year and a half ago to share equally in the $20 million cost of fixing up Harborplace? It lit up the switchboard lights in all the city's talk radio stations and was...

Moving upstairs meant climbing the ladder. (Baltimore Foods Inc)
August 22, 1997... For the past two years, Abraham McCauley's Baltimore Foods Inc. has had its world headquarters in McCauley's basement. While the basement is nice, the location also kept his sales from climbing the stairs. Most of his business, he said, has...

SBA overhauls contracts program. (Small Business Administration)(Small Business Workshop)
August 22, 1997... The U.S. Small Business Administration is revamping its popular 8(a) program for economically or socially disadvantaged firms by limiting federal contract amounts to businesses that participate, and by bringing in white-owned companies for added...

Profitable comforts of home. (Barbara Brabec's book 'Homemade Money')(Small Business Workshop)
August 22, 1997... Have you always wanted to start your own company in the comforts of your own home? "Don't even think of starting a home-based business without getting Barbara Brabec's book, 'Homemade Money,' "said Myra Hopkins, a Sykesville dollmaker....

Montgomery bank springs east for growth.
August 22, 1997... Sandy Springs Bancorp. is looking eastward for growth. With most of Sandy Springs' 19 branches located in its home county of Montgomery, the bank is planning on steady expansion in Howard and Anne Arundel counties. Right now the Olney-based...

Fishing for answers: local researches are spawning a new industry.(Special Report: Technology)
August 22, 1997... Dr. Yonathan Zohar stays in close contact with the cutting edge of marine biotechnology. In this case, it means getting splashed by a hungry rockfish in pursuit of a brown food pellet. "They're happy," says a smiling Zohar, the aquaculture...

Developer floats idea for new piers. (Eastern Floatation Systems' developer Dr. Selvin Passen)(Special Report: Technology)
August 22, 1997... Using a principle discovered by the Greek mathematician Archimedes that explains why things float, a retired pathologist and two partners have come up with a new lightweight floating pier they hope will revolutionize waterfront development....

Business leaders seek help filling tech jobs.(Special Report: Technology)
August 22, 1997... Local business leaders are turning to the federal government to address the technology work force crisis that's hampering growth in the region. On Aug. 8, area executives, legislators and technology industry representatives submitted a plan to...

Northrop Grumman to fill site: speculative development would be helped by deal.
August 29, 1997... Defense giant Northrop Grumman is expected to lease a massive, vacant warehouse at the Troy Hill-Corporate Center in Elkridge, according to industry sources. If the deal to occupy most of the 275,000-square-foot building goes through, it would...

Valley of the games: how an industry was born out of MicroProse's woes. (Baltimore-area entertainment software industry)
August 29, 1997... Firaxis Games Inc. made local headlines last year when its big-name founders decided to set up shop in Hunt Valley instead of Silicon Valley. But the world-renowned computer game company was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. A thriving...

Marylanders sick of slams. (switching of telephone service to another carrier through deception or forgery)
August 29, 1997... Lisa Goldman knew something was wrong when she picked up her company's June telephone bill. "It's usually about 10 pages," said the controller for Harvey & Daughters, a Cockeysville graphic design firm. "This thing was about 100 pages."...

The pen may be mightier than the scalpel. (Dr. Bill Howard's The Cutting Edge newsletter)
August 29, 1997... Between performing hernia and gall bladder surgeries at Union Memorial Hospital this summer, Dr. Bill Howard has been taking a stab at publishing. The result is The Cutting Edge, a newsletter for hospital employees that includes a scalpel in...

Judge sends Merrill churning case to arbitration. (Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.)
August 29, 1997... A Baltimore circuit judge this week threw out attempts by former clients of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. to file a class-action lawsuit against the brokerage firm and two of its managers. Joseph H.H. Kaplan, administrative judge...

Woodlawn mall busing them in. (Security Square Mall)
August 29, 1997... Security Square Mall is shopping for a new image - one that will attract crowds from homes and offices in the Woodlawn area. The mall's new owners are coughing up at least $2 million to liven up its colors and theme, create convenient parking...

State, city effort pays off at Aegon. (Maryland; Baltimore; Aegon USA)
August 29, 1997... To Aegon USA executives, the decision was merely a cost-cutting move involving the location of the company's life insurance operations. But to area economic development officials, the insurer's announcement this week that it would keep its...

The home market's hopping - in Vegas; Baltimore construction numbers lag.
August 29, 1997... Viva Las Vegas. Home builders are answering that call, according to a study by American City Business Journals that examined housing market growth in the nation's largest cities. Las Vegas, according to the report, by far has more housing...

Sale may seal fate of once-grand Tower site; several development attempts failed in past. (Allright Corp. may purchase Tower Building site)
August 29, 1997... The fate of a once prominent Baltimore property could be sealed by the end of the year, as the owners of downtown's Tower site inch closer to a sale. Officials at the Manekin Corp. are negotiating a sale of the land at Guilford and Baltimore...

A price on their heads: firms ensure survival by insuring top dogs.(Special Report: Insurance)
August 29, 1997... It's every stockholder's nightmare. The founder and guiding light of a company is killed unexpectedly, perhaps in a plane crash like Harold N. Goldsmith, co-founder of the now-defunct clothing store chain, Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc....

Insurers breathe sigh of relief over this year's mild weather.(Special Report: Insurance)
August 29, 1997... So far, so good. That's what area insurance company executives are saying about 1997, as the fourth and final season begins in what has so far been - by all accounts - a mild year weather-wise. "We've had a handful of calls since January,"...

USF&G. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Special Report: Insurance)(Company Profile)
August 29, 1997... Corporate Profile USF&G Corp. appears to have completed its slow, plodding recovery from financial problems in the early 1990s and is now enjoying some healthy profits. On July 23, USF&G reported a 23 percent increase in operating earnings in...

Getting a shot at making it big: Michael Jackson's new music company may help smaller production firms grow. (Big Play Entertainment)(Workshop)
August 29, 1997... Michael D. Jackson plans to bring the music industry spotlight to Baltimore, and that may just be the major break smaller music production companies here are looking for to make it big. The Baltimore Ravens' wide receiver, who owns Big Play...