Baltimore Business Journal articles from January 1995

Baltimore Business Journal archives from January 1995

NationsBank plans move: state headquarters may be headed to Va.
January 6, 1995... NationsBank Corp. is once again seeking permission to move the main office of its Maryland bank to Richmond, Va. But this time Maryland's bank commissioner, who successfully blocked the move last April, says she's powerless to fight it....

Bankers: open up the gates. (interstate branching) (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1995... Maryland's top banking officer will ask the 1995 General Assembly to open the state's borders to complete interstate branching by year's end. Commissioner Margie H. Muller said the majority of the state's bankers want to get in early on the...

Tax system could be scrapped. (bank taxes) (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1995... Maryland's bankers want the state to do away with its current tax system, a move designed to allow them to prepare for nationwide changes in banking laws. The Maryland Bankers Association plans to seek the elimination of the state franchise...

Plastics firm eyes region for big plant. (Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd.)
January 6, 1995... A growing Canadian manufacturer looking to build a massive plant somewhere in the northeastern United States has its eyes on Maryland. Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited of Bolton, Ontario, is keeping its long-term expansion plans under...

Sterling returns fire in Provident court fight. (Sterling Bancorp.; Provident Bank)
January 6, 1995... Sterling Bancorp has lobbed another grenade in its battle with Provident Bank, issuing new charges that Provident lied about its financial condition. The charges, detailed in a document filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court last week, continue...

International division maps out new future: Glendening plans to shake up state's foreign trade efforts. (Maryland Governor Parris Glendening)
January 6, 1995... Maryland's foreign trade programs will undergo a major shakeup as the likely new governor expands private-sector management of the state's economic development agency. Under Parris Glendening, the Maryland International Division can expect to...

Spending cuts may force city to seek less. (Baltimore, Maryland)
January 6, 1995... Pressure to cut state spending and lower taxes dims Baltimore's chances of winning General Assembly support for a proposed $60 million performing arts center. Some of Baltimore's most influential boosters agree that the timing is not good for...

Contractors seeking limits on BGE growth. (Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.)
January 6, 1995... After winning one battle in a two-year fight with the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., independent contractors hope to convince the General Assembly to further their cause by limiting the utility's ability to enter new businesses. Last week, a...

Coca Cola taps Cal to endorse its new classic contour bottles. (Baltimore Orioles All-Star shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr.)
January 6, 1995... Hoping to cash in on Cal Ripken's all-American image, Coca Cola plans to feature the Baltimore Orioles's All-Star shortstop in an advertising campaign to promote its new line of "classic contour" bottles. The deal calls for the baseball star...

Merchants try to even odds: tired of being blamed, retailers considering new false alarm laws. (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1995... Maryland retailers say they are willing to pay higher state fines for false alarms - but only if they can avoid the wildly varying fines levied by counties and share responsibility for bogus calls with installers and manufacturers. Retailers...

Check bouncers soon could be paying for their own prosecution. (Merchants Try to Even Odds)
January 6, 1995... Bad check writers could be forced to fork over more than the value of their bounced checks. Under a plan by Maryland retailers, shoppers whose checks are returned to merchants could wind up helping to pay for their own prosecution. The...

'Richer-poorer' plan would force counties to share tax revenue. (property tax)
January 6, 1995... 'Confusing' bill went nowhere last year, but city legislator prepares new version A failed property tax bill that would force wealthier counties to share tax revenue with poorer jurisdictions is expected to make a comeback during the 1995...

New export center bringing in leads. (U.S. Export Assistance Center in Baltimore's World Trade Center)
January 6, 1995... Coming up on its one-year anniversary, the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Baltimore's World Trade Center is, from all appearances, a success. "A lot of other cities have shown interest in our office," said Stephen B. Hall, senior...

Biotechnology companies applaud new patent rules. (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1995... Area biotechnology companies are breathing easier since the federal government made patents for drugs and therapeutics easier to get. The recent changes should help them get financing more easily and bring new products to market sooner, industry...

White House listens while small firms talk. (White House Conference on Small Business)
January 6, 1995... Baltimore conference to draw hundreds of small business people Nearly 300 Maryland business people are expected to show up at the Baltimore Convention Center next week to let the Clinton administration know what is important to their companies....

Working in the spotlight: folksinger makes business part of his act. (Eddie Brooks)
January 6, 1995... His first audiotape may be titled, "Ten Nights in a Barroom and What I Saw There," but folksinger Eddie Brooks has spent considerably more than 10 nights performing in bars and restaurants. Brooks, who also lists playing at the glitzy Kennedy...

McCormick bids begin: Pa., Md. battle for new distribution site. (McCormick and Company Inc.; Pennsylvania; Maryland)
January 13, 1995... Pennsylvania is expected to offer McCormick & Co. Inc. a multi-million dollar incentive deal Monday to move its Hunt Valley distribution operations over the northern border, setting up a challenge for Maryland's new governor to pull off a quick...

Builder places money on rush to warehouses. (Constellation Real Estate Inc.)
January 13, 1995... Without lining up a single tenant, Constellation Real Estate Inc. will build a $10.5 million industrial warehouse in Anne Arundel County this year. Company President Randall M. Griffin said this week that falling vacancy rates and the...

Plant to add space, jobs in Harford. (Constar International Inc.)
January 13, 1995... Harford County's largest manufacturing employer is about to get bigger. Constar International, an Atlanta-based plastics manufacturer that operates two plants in Havre de Grace, will break ground soon on a 250,000-square-foot addition at 1801...

Health firm plans stock offering to raise $20 million. (HCIA Inc.)
January 13, 1995... A fast-growing Baltimore-based health care information company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public and raise about $20 million, using part of the money to expand. HCIA Inc. filed an application in Washington,...

Bell Atlantic wants to learn about profit incentives.
January 13, 1995... If the Maryland legislature can be convinced to follow the telecommunications model set by its neighbors, Bell Atlantic Corp. will ask the Public Service Commission for a major change in the way it is regulated. The current system penalizes...

Environmental Elements Corp. (proxy report excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 13, 1995... Corporate Profile: Environmental Elements Corp., which designs and supplies air pollution control systems, restructured again in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1994, in an attempt to compensate for a sluggish market and disappointing sales....

Drug store shakeup good prescription for Giant. (Giant Food Inc.) (Industry Overview)
January 13, 1995... The shakeup of the Washington drug store industry continues with the Michigan parent company of F&M drugs filing for bankruptcy protection and Drug Emporium closing most of its Washington stores. Industry observers are calling it a victory and...

Molding an Anne Arundel firm from scratch. (PVM Plastics) (Company Profile)
January 13, 1995... Paul Mooty decided he could do the job best himself. And, as with many solo entrepreneurs striking out on their own, Mooty decided hard work and persistence would have to take the place of hard capital. Those investments have paid off. In just...

First Fidelity looks good to Wall Street. (First Fidelity Bancorp.)(includes related article)
January 20, 1995... Even as First Fidelity Bancorp this weekend hiked its estimate of layoffs at the Bank of Baltimore from 300 up to 500, investors were betting that First Fidelity itself could become prey for a takeover move. The $36.2 billion New Jersey bank...

BWI growth leveling off. (Baltimore-Washington International Airport)
January 20, 1995... After more than a year of radical growth, the boom in discount travel at Baltimore/Washington International Airport shows signs of slowing down. Two discount airlines pulled service from BWI this month and Continental Airlines recently...

DEED job still awaits right name. (post of secretary of Maryland's Department of Economic and Employment Development still vacant)
January 20, 1995... Doesn't anyone want to be Maryland's economic czar? That's the question swirling around state and local government circles as Gov. Parris N. Glendening looks for a private sector executive to the cabinet post of economic secretary. He denied...

Blattman stirs pot. (H. Eugene Blattman, chief executive officer of McCormick and Company Inc.)(includes related article)
January 20, 1995... New chief puts McCormick on a leaner diet McCormick & Co. Inc. may not be known for catchy advertising slogans or jingles, but the giant spice company hopes to implant its brand name in the minds of consumers this year. The $1.7 billion...

Small phone company says Md. has its number. (American Communications Services Inc. to move headquarters to Anne Arundel County, MD)
January 20, 1995... A fledgling long-distance telephone company, backed by $50 million in capital, will move its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Anne Arundel County. American Communications Services Inc. signed a seven-year lease at 131 National Business...

Unemployment tax cut may survive the duels. (Maryland's unemployment insurance surtax)
January 20, 1995... As politicians prepare to launch a war over cutting the state income tax, Maryland's business community is pushing for a narrower, perhaps more ambitious agenda. Dueling General Assembly bills would lower the income tax anywhere from 3 to 6...

Local firm nears Campbell Soup deal. (InterMedia Inc.)
January 20, 1995... Timonium start-up pitching interactive kiosks to food giant The mammoth Campbell Soup Co. plans to use technology developed by a home-based Timonium firm to change the way America shops for soup. Pending final approval of a contract, expected...

Changing sides on health care. (Martin Wasserman, Secretary of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)(includes related article) (Special Report: Health Care) (Interview)
January 20, 1995... New health secretary knows he's become the enemy Editor's Note: The following is a compilation of excerpts of a recent interview with the new state Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, Martin Wasserman. On his first day on the job as...

Youth Services International Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 20, 1995... Corporate Profile: It's been a year of ups and downs for 4-year-old Youth Services International Inc., an Owings Mills-based operator of centers for troubled youth. Headed by former Jiffy Lube International Inc. Chairman W. James Hindman, the...

Mortgage jobs headed for Pa. (transfer of Bank of Baltimore's mortgage servicing division to Pennsylvania)
January 27, 1995... First Fidelity Bancorp will move the former Bank of Baltimore's mortgage servicing division to Pennsylvania, despite pleas from state and city officials to keep that business here. The 56 jobs expected to be lost in the move to Allentown, Pa.,...

Loyola cashing in as rivals fall to mergers. (Loyola Federal Savings Bank)
January 27, 1995... Loyola Federal Savings Bank is selling itself as one of the last hometown banks in Baltimore. Customers seem to be buying it. The $2.5 billion thrift reported a net gain of 8,300 new checking accounts in 1994. That's almost four times the...

Firm dreams of helping legal world go video. (JCSI Communications Ltd.)
January 27, 1995... Kevin Dolan looks at courts and jails and sees his future there. He won't be practicing law, or policing corridors. The Frederick man wants to help link the courts and jails, both to each other and the outside world, through video and...

USF&G says it won't need broker to fill space. (USF and G Corp.)
January 27, 1995... Last year, the largest new deal signed in a Class A office building in downtown Baltimore was W.F. Corroon's 18,318-square-foot lease at Commerce Place. Now USF&G Corp. is trying to fill nearly 20 times that amount in the middle of one of the...

For sale: space, fully equipped. (former Grumman Corp. machine and tool plant) (Real Estate Monthly)
January 27, 1995... With defense cuts, selling Grumman buildings a challenge Stuart Rienhoff hasn't always known the difference between a spindle and a gantry. But as the broker in charge of selling the former Grumman Corp. machine and tool plant in Glen Arm,...