Baltimore Business Journal articles from December 1996

Baltimore Business Journal archives from December 1996

Westin plans harbor hotel. (Westin Hotel Co. to build new hotel in Baltimore, MD)
December 6, 1996... Chain to announce 800-room inn on former News American site The race to build a showcase hotel in the Inner Harbor should move one step closer to the finish line next week, when officials from Westin Hotels and Resorts and from Schulweis Realty...

Blues to buy 16 percent stake in PHN. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland Inc.; Preferred Health Network Inc.)
December 6, 1996... Insurer invests $3M Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland has agreed to buy an equity stake in the Preferred Health Network, a small managed care insurance company owned by a group of Baltimore-Washington area hospitals. Blues officials...

Hopkins lab slated for D.C. suburbs. (Johns Hopkins University to build new research park in Montgomery County, MD)
December 6, 1996... Johns Hopkins University plans to build a massive research park in Montgomery County that eventually could encompass almost two million square feet of labs and offices. The development would be built on a 138-acre tract between Great Seneca...

Trahan wins national computer ad account. (advertising agency Trahan, Burden and Charles Inc.; Micron Electronics Inc.)
December 6, 1996... A Baltimore advertising agency has won the first-ever advertising account for Micron Electronics, an Idaho-based computer business whose sales have boomed to nearly $1.8 billion in the past year. Trahan, Burden & Charles, a local advertising...

Maryland surging, but still behind the nation. (economic forecast for 1997)
December 6, 1996... Economists weigh in with new projections Maryland's economy may pick up in 1997, but it's still likely to lag behind the rest of the nation. That's the view of several economic experts who are unveiling their new year forecasts this month....

Enterprise zone gets state's OK. (Baltimore County, MD)
December 6, 1996... Baltimore County hopes tax breaks will boost area Baltimore County will get an early holiday present today - a second enterprise zone, which county officials hope will breathe new life into an economically depressed region. State-sponsored...

Atlanta says goodbye to Rouse Co. (termination of contract as manager of Atlanta Underground)
December 6, 1996... Both sides agree to part ways over Underground The Rouse Co.'s seven-year tenure as manager of Underground Atlanta is ending. By early next year, the city of Atlanta hopes to have a new management company on board to replace Rouse, which is...

Home builders group ready for new battles. (Home Builders Association of Maryland)
December 6, 1996... Changes are in store for the Home Builders Association of Maryland as it prepares to face off with a start-up association that will compete for members and for the coming legislative session. John Bowers, assistant vice president at Nottingham...

FTC slaps bond on area firm. (Federal Trade Commission)
December 6, 1996... Defunct telemarketing firm accused of scam operation Without admitting wrongdoing, a Baltimore telemarketing company has agreed to change its sales practices if it ever goes back into business. Commercial Electrical Supply Inc., a Baltimore...

Thrifts cough up S&L charge, with no rancor. (special assessments charged on savings banks to recapitalize the Savings Association Insurance Fund)
December 6, 1996... After one-time hit to beef up insurance fund, premium rates are set to decrease in future Except for a one-time assessment imposed by Congress, American National Savings Bank would have enjoyed a profit of $675,000 for the quarter ended Oct....

Changing fashions put crimp in ethnic beauty business. (includes related article on North American Beauty Services)(Industry Overview)
December 6, 1996... North American Beauty Services of Baltimore was one of the top five ethnic beauty product distributors in the 1980s, with nearly $40 million in sales each year. How times change. Now, a decade later, the company owes about $24 million to...

Banks to pounce on insurance.(Special Report: Finance)
December 6, 1996... Local institutions preparing to go after new market Two recent federal decisions have given banks permission to sell something they've wanted to peddle in their branches for years: Insurance. While many banks already sell some insurance...

Nonprofits regain access to 401(k) plans. (employees of nonprofit organizations to be allowed access to salary-reduction savings plans)(Special Report: Finance)
December 6, 1996... Hardly any of the National Aquarium's 275 workers participate in the nonprofit's current retirement plan option, a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity plan. But that may change next year, when the federal government will allow nonprofits such as the...

Advocates for blind push private contracts. (Blind Industries and Services of Maryland)
December 6, 1996... For many years, helping the blind population find work in Maryland has meant government granting special preferences in contracts, or setting up workshops where blind workers could make a limited number of goods. However, as government budgets...

State on right track with trade strategy. (Maryland)(Editorial)
December 6, 1996... It's easy to appear extravagant and perhaps even naive when crafting an international trade strategy. Just ask former Gov. William Donald Schaefer. Detractors sneered at his trips abroad to drum up business in Maryland - "junkets," they...

First Union Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
December 13, 1996... Corporate profile This was the year First Union Corp. really arrived on the Baltimore scene. The Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant - not to be confused with its crosstown rival NationsBank - had ventured into Maryland in a small way before....

Area lacks high-tech employees. (Baltimore, MD)
December 20, 1996... Problem growing High-tech companies in the Baltimore area are starting to feel the effects of a nationwide shortage of qualified technology workers, industry insiders say. "We're definitely hearing about a shortage from companies here,"...

Brokerages weave their web. (Baltimore-based securities firms to allow customers computer access to their accounts)
December 20, 1996... All three of Baltimore's biggest investment companies will take major steps next year to give customers computer access to their accounts - but each in its own inimitable style. During 1997: * Alex. Brown, a traditionally conservative...

A place to go when banks say no. (Maryland state loans made available to small businesses)
December 20, 1996... Some entrepreneurs have found that banks are not the only places to look for financing Pauline Spiliadis knows well the three "Ps" of small-business financing - patience, paperwork and payoff. It took a year, but she finally landed the state...

Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
December 20, 1996... Corporate profile Last year was a challenging year for Noise Cancellation Technologies, and it experienced a lot of growing pains with the transition from researching and developing noise reduction products to commercializing its products....

Catering to the current craze. (RTKL Associates Inc. creates ID8 division to focus mainly on designing shopping malls)(Special Report: Real Estate/Construction)
December 20, 1996... RTKL creates new group to focus on the trendiest in entertainment Listening to executives from RTKL Associates Inc. talk about the projects being developed by their new thematic imaging and entertainment design division, you hear about cartoon...

All in the family. (Baltimore, MD, real estate industry)
December 27, 1996... Next generation steps up to reshape Baltimore Take a long look at the Baltimore skyline, the high-rise office buildings and the attractions that dot the Inner Harbor. What you're really seeing are the handprints of some of Baltimore's most...

At dinner tables, talk of the business. (family businesses)
December 27, 1996... About five years ago, corporate downsizing was fast becoming the norm. Michael Howie figured his employer someday might hand him a pink slip as well. Howie, then a pharmaceutical representative at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., liked to tinker with...

Md.'s image takes a blow. (Maryland's new collective bargaining policy)
December 27, 1996... Site selectors say policy could hurt National corporate location specialists agree with Maryland business leaders who charge that the state's new collective bargaining policy for state employees could damage economic development efforts. "It...

Firms over 100, and counting. (Baltimore, MD, firms 100 years or more in existence)
December 27, 1996... Survivors: Flexibility is the key When Gen. George Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, Baltimore's John Glauber and John Dittmar may have been too busy to notice. As founder of Glauber's Candy, John Glauber had...

Private 'family values' craft public firms' direction. (family-controlled corporations)
December 27, 1996... Charles "Buzz" McCormick seems a little surprised when he's asked whether his management style is different because his family's name graces spice bottles across the world. "I do feel a sense of responsibility and respect for this company and...

Charity begins at home, then spawns foundations. (private foundations)
December 27, 1996... Younger generations ready to take over family legacies As control of many of Baltimore's family businesses passes to younger generations, so does control of local major private foundations established by wealthy family patriarchs. And just...

Outsiders find pitfalls, pleasures in their roles. (family-owned businesses)
December 27, 1996... 'You try to stay as unbiased as possible' The colossal challenge to outsiders in family businesses seems simple enough to beat. Just don't dabble in family politics. But to do their jobs, outsiders in key positions must gingerly filter...

Taking over: generations bridge the gap. (family-owned businesses)
December 27, 1996... When Larry Sarubin opened his dental practice in Westview Mall, he never imagined that nearly 40 years later he would be working side by side with his brother, his son and his nephew. "We all have to go by our first names," said Dr. Todd...

The families that do business together. (family-owned or controlled businesses)
December 27, 1996... During 1996, as in most previous years, American business was whiplashed by its critics for everything from so-called "corporate welfare" to the size of executive paychecks, topped off by the $90 million kiss goodbye to departing Disney executive...