Baltimore Business Journal articles from January 1999

Baltimore Business Journal archives from January 1999

1999: the year ahead.(economic forecasts for the Greater Baltimore area)
January 1, 1999... A LOOK AT BALTIMORE'S FUTURE Greater Baltimore's biggest economic drivers - tourism and technology - continue to each the region's fortunes in 1999, say many followers of the local business climate. But, they warn, Baltimore City's...

Credit firm to remain.(Creditrust to stay at its Baltimore County headquarters for another three years)
January 1, 1999... Rensin's Creditrust to start bank in '99 Joseph K. Rensin, the chairman and CEO of Woodlawn-based Creditrust Corp., said last week that his company plans by the end of this year to start up a bank or thrift and nearly triple its number of...

Columbia's Celsion wins lawsuit.
January 1, 1999... A Chinese firm has lost a year-long legal battle against a Columbia biotechnology firm that arose from the two companies' failed merger. A U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore ruled Dec. 19 that Eastwell Management Services Ltd., a...

Home building boom won't slow this year.(1999: The Year Ahead)(Greater Baltimore area)
January 1, 1999... If interest rates stay low this year, the ongoing boom in home building and home buying will likely continue into the new year, local builders and housing experts say. "As long as we have the extremely favorable interest rate, good...

Hospital rates, closures will take fore again.(1999: The Year Ahead)(Maryland)
January 1, 1999... The Maryland hospital rate debate will likely come to a head this year, but whether anybody will like the solution remains to be seen. The insurance industry wants the state's rate-setting structure scrapped, allowing hospitals to compete...

Hotel uncertainty straps early meeting sales.(1999: The Year Ahead)(Baltimore, MD)
January 1, 1999... Carroll Armstrong and his sales staff at the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association are facing a challenge in 1999. To win significant convention business from meeting planners around the country, association officials have to...

Travel agency turns to UB for help.(Mount Royal Travel Inc.; University of Baltimore)
January 1, 1999... Eric Levin knew he needed help. He needed fresh ideas to help turn Mount Royal Travel Inc. around. He needed an outside perspective, input from someone who could see the Baltimore-based travel agency through very different eyes. Where...

Harbor Federal Bancorp Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 1, 1999... Corporate Profile Harbor Federal's total assets increased by $11.6 million, from $219.5 million on March 31, 1997, to $231.1 million on March 31, 1998. Harbor Federal's steady growth was due in part to the June 1997 formation of Bank...

Senior firm set to grow.(Hallmark Senior Communities LLC)
January 8, 1999... Aetna, Chicago firm invest $25 million Two national financial companies have invested $25 million in Hallmark Senior Communities LLC, a Towson-based owner of assisted-living homes that plans to use the cash to grow seven-fold. Hallmark...

Charles Village home to third Rocky Run.(Rocky Run Tap & Grill opens third restaurant in Baltimore, MD)
January 8, 1999... After finding success with his family-run restaurant chain in Glen Burnie and Columbia, Mike Donnelly returned to a familiar Baltimore neighborhood. The Johns Hopkins University graduate opened his third Rocky Run Tap & Grill restaurant on...

New Jersey REIT buys former Reliable HQ.(Wellsford Commercial Property Trust buys Baltimore office building)
January 8, 1999... By buying the former Columbia headquarters of a now-defunct regional retailer late last month, a New Jersey real estate investment trust made the first move in its plan to have a strong Baltimore-Washington presence. Wellsford Commercial...

UniCare, other insurers move toward PPO model.(UNICARE Life and Health Insurance Co.)
January 8, 1999... Amid a growing backlash against health maintenance organizations, some area insurers are marketing new products that are decidedly un-HMO-like. UniCare Life and Health Insurance Co., a Woodland Hills, Calif., insurance company, decided...

Firm developing STD preventive.(ReProtect of Baltimore developing new antibodies against sexually-transmitted diseases)
January 8, 1999... A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University is spacing infection-fighting human molecules with common crops to find a cheap source of antibodies that combat sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Kevin Whaley, a research scientist who is...

The digital age.(Special Report: Telecommunications)(wireless telephone service providers invade Baltimore, MD)(Industry Overview)
January 8, 1999... Wireless phone wars heat up as technology marches forward If you got a wireless phone for Christmas, you most likely received a digital unit. Call it the digital revolution. While most wireless phones in the hands of U.S. consumers...

A conversation with ...(Sherry Bellamy, CEO of Bell Atlantic-Maryland)(Interview)
January 8, 1999... Since becoming president and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic-Maryland in 1997, Sherry Bellamy has had little time for normal rituals such as Christmas shopping. "I did two-thirds of my holiday shopping over the Internet," said...

Legal eagles.(law firm Brown, Diffenderffer, Wagonheim & Kearney LLP)(Company Profile)
January 8, 1999... Partners want to grow firm slowly The four partners at Brown, Diffenderffer, Wagonheim & Kearney LLP knew they would have to work extra hard when starting up their law firm some 18 months ago. Not only did the young lawyers have to...

The St. Paul Cos. Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 8, 1999... Corporate profile The St. Paul Cos. Inc. became a major player in the Baltimore corporate arena with its merger with USF&G Corp in April. As expected, the Minnesota-based company sliced hundreds of jobs at USF&G's Mount Washington...

Blausteins split empire.(business clan; petroleum industry)
January 15, 1999... The mighty Blaustein clan has split up. The descendants of Louis Blaustein, the founder of Amoco Oil whose grandchildren now control Crown Central Petroleum Corp. and various other businesses, have derided to divvy up the family wealth into...

Michel signals growth; distributor plans national rollout.(Michel Distribution Services Inc.)
January 15, 1999... Michel Distribution Services Inc. is leasing space in Harford County as part of the distributor's plans to expand nationally. Michel Distribution signed a 300,944-square-foot lease for industrial space in Harford last week. "We're...

Abell buys glass firm.(Abell Foundation; Carr Lowrey Glass Co.)
January 15, 1999... The Abell Foundation led a buyout last month of Baltimore's struggling Carr Lowrey Glass Co., a move that sources say kept the 110-year-old company open for business and in the city. The Baltimore-based Abell Foundation is the lead investor...

Chief blames price drop on short sellers.(Chapman Holdings Inc.'s President Nathan A. Chapman, Jr.)
January 15, 1999... The company president is blaming a flurry of short selling of Chapman Holdings Inc.'s stock for the firm's depressed stock price. In early December, the Baltimore-based investment firm's stock fell to a record low of $4.50 per share. The...

Legislature to explore hospital grading.
January 15, 1999... The contentious issue of hospital report cards will make a repeat performance in the General Assembly this year. Officials at the Maryland Health Care Access and Cost Commission said the legislature will propose issuing annual report cards...

Cullen gets ready to take over St. Joseph.(James J. Cullen to become CEO of St Joseph Medical Center)
January 15, 1999... When St. Joseph Medical Center's new CEO, James J. Cullen, arrives on Jan. 18, he will be taking over the helm of a medical center that - although being leaderless for six months - is nowhere near adrift. Overhauling St. Joseph's staff and...

Retailer rises to top of its industry.(Aquarium Center Inc.)
January 15, 1999... The Aquarium Center sells about 1.5 million fish every year. General manager Allen Reed knows that his main job - more important than hiring and firing or payroll or shutting off the lights at night - is to make sure those fish don't die,...

U.S. Foodservice.(Taking Stock)(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 15, 1999... Corporate profile Columbia-based U.S. Foodservice, formerly JP Foodservice, has had a busy year. Since its acquisition of Rykoff-Sexton in December 1997, making it the second-largest food-service distributor in the United States and the...

USi to raise $86M in IPO.(USinternetworking Inc.'s initial public offering)
January 22, 1999... Only a year after its inception, USinternetworking Inc. plans to go public in a $86.25 million stock offering. The Annapolis-based software leasing company, founded by local technology entrepreneur Christopher R. McCleary, is scheduled to...

West side bookends.(merger of Maryland General Hospital and University of Maryland Medical System)
January 22, 1999... The marriage of University of Maryland Medical System and Maryland General Hospital may have been driven by the health care business, but the deal's impact on the real estate business is what politicians and developers are buzzing about. ...

Buyout rumors dog IHS.(Integrated Health Services Inc.)
January 22, 1999... Wall Street's dislike could trigger LBO Integrated Health Services Inc.'s stock price has dropped nearly 66 percent since April, a dramatic fall that industry analysts attribute to major changes in Medicare. The decline in the Owings...

Airport business parks flourish.
January 22, 1999... Developers are searching for land around Baltimore/Washington International Airport to throw up office buildings as companies continue to gobble up the quickly diminishing supply of space there. The three major office parks near BWI Airport...

Sheppard Pratt takes over Howard center.(Sheppard Pratt Health System; Riverwood Mental Health Clinic and Growth Center)
January 22, 1999... The Sheppard Pratt Health System assumes control over Howard County's publicly run mental health clinic next month, furthering the Towson-based mental health provider's goal to expand statewide. Sheppard Pratt's planned Feb. 1 takeover of...

Seizing the opportunity: minority-owned staffing firms well-positioned in age of diversity.(Special Report: Human Resources)
January 22, 1999... In the mid-1960s, Bob Greene got hooked on a goofy science fiction television show. Along with its phasers and transporter beams, the program portrayed a very different world: one where the community leadership was made up of blacks and...

A conversation with ... Richard J. Hafets.(Special Report: Human Resources)(Piper and Marbury LLP Chairman)
January 22, 1999... Chair, Labor and Employment Practice Group Piper & Marbury LLP Given the political activity going on in Washington at the moment, sexual-harassment issues in the workplace are likely to be a major legal concern in the new year. That's...

UMBC welcomes 3 firms.(University of Maryland; Genias Software; Force 3 Inc.; Spatial Associates Inc.)
January 22, 1999... An international software company plans to join the growing list of tenants at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Technology Center. Genias Software, based in Neutraubling, Germany, will open its first office in the United...

EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc.(proxy reports excerpt)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
January 22, 1999... Corporate Profile EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. provides management consulting - which accounts for about 90 percent of revenue - and analytical services to businesses in energy, environmental, health and safety industries....

Venture forth.(Grotech Capital Group's efforts in raising capital for high technology firm USinternetworking Inc.)
January 29, 1999... Frank Adams' Grotech enters VC's top ranks The biggest deal of Frank A. Adams' life nearly passed him by. Last year, when fledgling USinternetworking Inc. began its search for private equity capital, Adams, CEO of Grotech Capital Group,...

Aircraft fuel tank firm sold.(DeCrane Aircraft Holdings Inc.'s acquisition of airplane parts manufacturer Pats Inc. for $41 million)
January 29, 1999... $41 million deal for Pats Inc. to DeCrane A California aviation company paid $41.5 million last week to buy Pats Inc., a Columbia-based airplane parts manufacturer that employs about 355 people. After closing the deal Jan. 22, DeCrane...

Test bill will help Digene.(benefits to Digene Corp. of a legislative proposal seeking the payment of chlamydia tests by insurers)
January 29, 1999... Digene Corp. stands to profit greatly if a General Assembly bill that requires insurers to pay for chlamydia tests for some state residents is enacted. [INCOMPLETE TEXT FROM ORIGINAL PUBLICATION] "If this legislation is passed, it...

Art of the deal.(Who's Who in Commercial Real Estate)(Casey & Associates/Oncor International's brokering of a real estate property ideal for GSE Systems Inc.)
January 29, 1999... GSE transaction hinges on savvy maneuvering Most commercial real estate deals hinge on several variables, and Casey & Associates/Oncor International pulled off one of 1998's most intricate transactions - with some savvy maneuvering and a...

Former CK executive named to Isaacs unit.(recruitment of Calvin Klein Jeans former president Danny Gladstone as president of I.C. Isaacs & Co. Inc.'s Girbaud division in Baltimore, Maryland)
January 29, 1999... Designer sportswear manufacturer I.C. Isaacs & Co. Inc. has hired the former president of Calvin Klein Jeans to head up its newest sportswear line. I.C. Isaacs, which manufactures BOSS, Beverly Hills Polo Club, and Marithe and Francois...

BWI increasing baggage space for Southwest.(Baltimore/Washington International Airport; Southwest Airlines)
January 29, 1999... When Southwest Airlines talks, Baltimore/Washington International Airport officials listen. The Dallas-based airline has put its growing clout at the airport to use in solving a testy baggage claim problem. "We were in a common-use...

Successes continue for Struever Bros.(Who's Who in Commercial Real Estate)(real estate developer and builder Struever Bros. Eccles and Rouse Inc.)
January 29, 1999... Cluttered with a mishmash of paperwork and antiques, C. William Struever's cramped office inside a renovated Mount Vernon townhouse symbolizes everything he loves about urban revitalization - mixing the old with the new. Whether it's a...

European orbit for SkyCache.(expansion into European markets)
January 29, 1999... Seventeen-month old SkyCache Inc. has started offering its services in Europe. Laurel-based SkyCache, a private company founded in August 1997 by Douglas Humphrey, announced this week it that tested its capacity-increasing Internet...