Baltimore Business Journal articles from August 1999

Baltimore Business Journal archives from August 1999

Casey in talks to sell firm.(Casey & Associates/ONCOR International)
August 27, 1999... Casey & Associates/ONCOR International, one of Baltimore's oldest and largest commercial real estate companies, is in talks With two potential buyers, the company's president confirmed this week. Robert A. Manekin said that the company,...

Bank will push into Columbia.(Sandy Spring Bancorp)
August 27, 1999... "A Montgomery County bank company that is trying to build market share in Howard and Anne Arundel counties is moving a major part of its operations - and 160 employees - to Columbia. Sandy Spring Bancorp, which is headquartered in Olney,...

Hopkins: CareFirst plan 'a waste of time.'.(Johns Hopkins Health System; CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield)
August 27, 1999... At least one of Baltimore's major health care providers, the Johns Hopkins Health System, is willing to wait out the alternate hospital rate storm currently raging through Maryland's hospital industry. After one meeting with CareFirst...

Lack of parking drives insurer out of town.(HilB, Rogal and Hamilton Co.)
August 27, 1999... Two of the area's larger insurance firms - Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Co. with 89 employees in Towson and American Phoenix Corp. with 29 employees in downtown Baltimore - are combining and moving operations to Hunt Valley. The city's...

Web for the masses: ImageCafe hopes to make Web page design inexpensive and easy.
August 27, 1999... Jim Ligas wanted to get his telecommunications company on the World Wide Web but didn't want to spend a lot of money. Enter ImageCafe, a Web design service that could do for the Internet what McDonald's did for eating out. The Columbia...

A conversion with ... J. Joseph Clarke, president, J.J. Clarke Enterprises.(Real Estate Quarterly)(Interview)
August 27, 1999... president, J.J. Clarke Enterprise No one can accuse Baltimore developer J. Joseph Clarke of lacking persistence or enthusiasm. One Light Street, a signature downtown office tower project that would be the crown jewel on Clarke's long...

Realtor site taps hot market.(Real Estate Quarterly)(Realtor.com)
August 27, 1999... Realtor.com is quickly becoming one of the hottest cyber destinations for home buyers, sellers and real estate professionals. Visitors to the Web site, which is affiliated with National Association of Realtors, have nearly doubled since...

Prime Retail INc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 27, 1999... 100 E. Pratt St. / Suite 1900 / Baltimore, 21202 / (410) 234-0782/www.primeoutlets.com Corporate profile Prime Retail Inc., a leading self-managed real estate investment company, recently announced an agreement with an affiliate of...

Costly casualties.(cost of gunshot victim admission hits $13.5 million)
August 20, 1999... Hospitals, taxpayers hit by gun violence When a bullet strikes a Marylander, it often ricochets and hits hospitals and taxpayers in their wallets. Statistics from the National Study Center for Trauma and the Maryland Institute for...

Howard wooing Amerix.(Howard County Economic Development Authority)
August 20, 1999... Amerix Corp., a fast-growing company that had been considering moving its headquarters out of state, has apparently decided to stay. An official with the Howard County Economic Development Authority said this week that the agency has...

Ad agency plots east side move.(Chesapeake Advertising)
August 20, 1999... A much-anticipated office park on downtown Baltimore's dilapidated east side is getting a boost from a soon-to-be-built 50,000-square-foot office and industrial facility. The single-story building in the 900 block of East Fayette Street...

Firms poised to brave tough IPO market.(initial public offering)
August 20, 1999... The market for Internet initial public offerings may be stalled, but at least three Maryland companies seem to be moving ahead with plans to raise money on the open market. Despite the shaky market, Owings Mills-based AmericasDoctor.com...

Economy good, work force lags, says survey.(Maryland)
August 20, 1999... Maryland's robust, fast-growing economy is showing no signs of slowing down, according to a recent survey. Nearly two-thirds of 250 Maryland companies surveyed by the University of Baltimore reported an increase in revenue in the second...

Training firm to open center in Columbia.(Ameritrain Inc.)
August 20, 1999... A Pennsylvania computer training company, attracted by the growing number of technology companies springing up in the Howard County area, is opening a 10,000-square-foot training center in Columbia. Ameritrain Inc. announced this week...

Mayoral hopefuls pen work force initiatives.
August 20, 1999... Close to half of the Baltimore metropolitan area's unemployed residents, according to state government figures, live in Baltimore City. That's 26,000 ostensibly job-ready people in the city who aren't working. Meanwhile, there's a glut...

General Motors Corp.(proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 20, 1999... 100 Renaissance Center / Detroit, Mich. 48265-1000 / (313) 556-5000/www.gm.com Corporate profile The world's largest vehicle manufacturer announced earlier this year that it will build a $250 million transmission manufacturing plant...

BDC cues tax cuts for tower.(Baltimore Development Corp. mulls tax break for planned office tower)
August 13, 1999... The Baltimore Development Corp. this week endorsed a major tax break for the developer of a proposed $90 million office tower, possibly jump-starting a downtown project that is months behind schedule. Wayne L. Snyder, chairman of Kravco...

Open spaces: a look inside Arthur Andersen's innovative office.
August 13, 1999... Arthur Yonowitz worried that he would not adjust to life without his own office. Days before accounting giant Arthur Andersen LLP moved its local offices to Baltimore's famed Power Plant, the senior tax manager spent hours sifting...

Hospital hit hard by losses.(University of Maryland Medical System)
August 13, 1999... The University of Maryland Medical System - once a model of hospital prosperity - has landed $6.2 million in the hole. Changes in Medicare and Medicaid payment systems over the past couple of years have created some tenuous times for...

Ad shops tapped for utility dereg campaign.(Noble Steed Associates Inc.)
August 13, 1999... Noble Steed Associates Inc., a mid-sized advertising firm in Hunt Valley, is in line to be one of the first local agencies to feed at the trough of electricity deregulation advertising. The Public Service Commission, the state agency...

Aetna taps into Legacy.(Aetna Retirement Services; Legacy Unlimited LLC)
August 13, 1999... Firm banks on retirement planning Three years ago, Legacy Unlimited LLC began holding free financial planning seminars at historically African-American churches, colleges and universities and for groups of municipal employees. ...

Getting ready to accessorize.(InterAct Accessories plans expansion program)
August 13, 1999... Hunt Valley developer of video game equipment to expand A Hunt Valley tech firm is stepping up its year-long effort to expand rapidly in the video game business and take on the industry's giants. InterAct Accessories Inc., which...

The Rouse Co.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 13, 1999... 10275 Little Patuxent Pkwy / Columbia, 21044 / (410) 992-6000 / www.therousecompany.com Corporate Profile The Rouse Co. started 1999 off with an increase in company revenue for the first quarter ended March 31. Although yearly...

Church Hospital for sale.
August 6, 1999... Church Hospital, a 142-year-old East Baltimore landmark, is on the market. MedStar Health, the hospital's owner, recently notified members of the Baltimore Medical System - a large physicians' group with privileges at Church - that the...

U.S. Foodservice builds nonsexy empire.
August 6, 1999... U.S. Foodservice is probably Baltimore's most famous company that you know nothing about. Though a steady stream of deals, including one of the biggest corporate transactions of 1997, have kept U.S. Foodservice's name in the press, the...

Weinberg group out of Hawaii.(Harry Weinberg Family Foundation Inc.'s plan to sell is stake in the Maui Land and Pineapple Co.)
August 6, 1999... Say aloha to "Honolulu Harry's" longtime holdings in the Maui Land & Pineapple Co. A foundation created by the legendary Harry Weinberg is cashing out its controlling stake in the Hawaiian pineapple and real estate company with $142...

Pier V chief reckons with Lasky's legacy.(Kenneth R. Conklin; Pier V Hotel)
August 6, 1999... Kenneth R. Conklin considers himself lucky. For someone who has worked in the trenches of the hotel industry, presiding over two luxury hotels at the Inner Harbor is a far cry from his start as a teen-age front desk clerk at a central...

Local banks' earnings fueled by loan growth.(Baltimore, Maryland)(Industry Overview)
August 6, 1999... Most Baltimore-area banks boosted their earnings in the second quarter, with the larger institutions showing double-digit increases in earnings per share and meeting or beating analysts' expectations. Future expectations are high too,...

Selling Charm City: Greater Baltimore Alliance launches ad campaign to lure tech firms.
August 6, 1999... Greater Baltimore Alliance launches ad campaign to lure tech firms The Greater Baltimore Alliance got a much-needed shot in the arm this week when Ameritrade Holding Corp. announced plans to move a large technology center to Anne Arundel...

Caliber Learning Network Inc.(proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 6, 1999... 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 300/Baltimore 21211/(410) 843-1000 Corporate Profile The news for Caliber Learning Network Inc. is good and bad. The good news is that the Baltimore-based company is well on its way to establishing...