Baltimore Business Journal articles from January 2000

Baltimore Business Journal archives from January 2000

TU seeks a stadium sponsor.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Following a national sports trend, Towson University is trying to sell the name for its planned athletic complex to a corporate sponsor -- a move school officials hope-will raise as much as $7 million for the upcoming stadium and field house...

Shark attack.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Greg Norman buys stake in mammoth Golf legend Greg Norman paid an undisclosed amount to buy a "significant" portion of Jessup-based Mammoth Sports Group's online, venture, Mammothgolf.com, according to company officials. The deal...

Task force takes aim.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Credit unions want parity with banks A General Assembly task force wants to change a 70-year-old Maryland law to give state-chartered credit unions more ammunition to compete with federal credit unions and banks. The 15-person...

Doctors cash in on plastic surgery boom.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Baby boomers are running to health clubs en masse, searching for leaner, stronger, and better built physiques. But when the stomach crunches and leg curls don't quite work, Dr. Michael Cohen steps in. Cohen, a Towson plastic surgeon, is...

CareFirst to stay downtown.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The city Board of Estimates approved a parking lease with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Inc. allowing CareFirst to have 400 parking spaces in the Arena garage on Lombard and Howard streets and in the Redwood Street garage. In exchange for the...

RailWorks acquires Dura-Wood.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Baltimore-based RailWorks Corp. has acquired Dura-Wood Treating Co. of Louisiana. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dura-Wood, which provides railroad companies with creosote-treated ties, had annual revenues of $16 million. RailWorks is a...

Plan could transform east side.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Baltimore County executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger announced plans to revitalize areas in the county -- and will ask for $70.6 million from the state to help accomplish the goal. The executive hopes to raze and rebuild rundown businesses and...

Empty that Y2K shelter.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Wondering what to do with all those cans of Spam and boxes of saltines you secretly tucked away in the basement to prepare for Y2K Armageddon? Maryland Food Bank executive president Bill Ewing said that Y2K was such a non-event in...

The 'other' fund firm finds success in 1999.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... In the shadows of household names like Legg Mason and T. Rowe Price, one down-town money management firm, Adams Express Co., quietly, yet steadily, increased its market value in 1999. Shares of Baltimore-based Adams Express, a closed-end...

Small businesses stymied in export financing.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... From a converted chicken barn in the mountains of western Maine, Rachel W. Carignan exports gaskets for snowmobiles, dirt bikes and other small-engine vehicles to more than 40 countries. Exports account for about 45 percent of the revenue...

All-business radio station boosts wattage.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The sound of business news will get stronger in the Mid-Atlantic when radio station 1190 WBIS-AM ups its signal to 50,000 watts - the highest allowed by federal law. Business Radio 1190 WBIS, which bills itself as "Maryland's Business News...

OSHA rule irks Md. Chamber.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The federal government may be backing away from a recent decision to hold businesses liable for health and safety violations in home offices, but the Maryland Chamber of Commerce remains troubled by the controversy. "I don't think...

New stores in Howard, Harford, for grocery.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... In December, Safeway Stores Inc. made moves into Harford and Howard counties with two new locations. The grocery store made its return to the Bel Air area in December with a new 55,164-square-foot supermarket on Brier Hill Drive. Until the...

Bond Distributing Co.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Bond Distributing Co., the Highlandtown-based beverage distributor, was selected by D. G. Yuengling and Son, of Pottsville, Pa., to distribute the company's family of beers, according to Bond officials.

Mamma Ilardo.(opens Louisiana restaurant)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Mamma Ilardo's opened its first pizza place in Louisiana, with its new Express location in the Naval Support Activity Naval Base in New Orleans. The Baltimore company now operates more than 50 pizzeria locations in 15 states, Washington,...

County conservation office hires director.(Mary Harvey)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Mary Harvey, the coordinator of community revitalization efforts in eastern Baltimore County since 1994, will replace P. David Fields as the director of the county's Office of Community Conservation in the spring. Founded in 1995, the...

Maryland developer eyes TIF financing.(Urban Development Group)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... A Bethesda developer has halted plans for a 472-room hotel so that he can see how the Washington, D.C., government handles tax increment financing (TIF) applications from two other hotels. Urban Development Group received zoning approval...

Mayor: CRA office now in the works for city.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Mayor Martin O'Malley has announced that an office especially created to help lure Community Reinvestment Act money into Baltimore City is in the works and could be created by the end of January. O'Malley campaigned on the promise that he...

Chairman resigns from AmericasBank Corp.
January 7, 2000... J. Clarence Jameson III, the man who helped found the two-year-old Americas-Bank Corp., is stepping down. Jameson, 68, said he plans to retire as chairman because he's pleased with what the $15 million-asset startup bank has done so far and...

Largest wireless retailers in the Baltimore area.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Largest wireless retailers in the Baltimore area (Ranked by number of Baltimore-area employees) Name Number of Rank Address ...

An industrial entrepreneur.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... While tens of thousands of workers have passed through The forges and mills of Sparrows Point, no one person has left more of a mark than Frederick Wood -- the man who set up and then ruled the steel making empire like a czar. It was 1887...

GOP site featured in politics magazine.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... A redesigned Web site for the Maryland Republican Party is high-lighted in the latest issue of Campaigns and Elections magazine. Party officials said the Web site (www.mdgop.org) was recognized because of its design and interactive...

Try a little Espanol to broaden your site's reach.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Within the United States, the Internet has been mostly an English-language mode of communication. Around the world, however, Web sites have evolved to more fully reflect the diversity of spoken languages. By 2002, it is estimated that over...

PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... ARCHITECTURE Kann & Associates Inc., a Baltimore-based architectural firm, hired Benjamin Kim and Akin Ajuwon as architectural designers, specializing in retail, food-store and multi-use projects. Kim graduated from the Maryland Institute,...

A changing economy.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Baltimore lags far behind most of the country when it comes to manufacturing jobs as a percentage of the total labor market. Only 8.23 percent of the labor force in the Greater Baltimore area is involved in making tangible items....

Keeping RTKL a difficult sell.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Firm seeks building with its imprint on it State and city officials are fighting to keep RTKL Associates Inc., Baltimore's largest architectural firm, from leaving downtown, but the task might be harder than expected. That's because...

Wanted: Regional air service.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Executives outside of Central Maryland might never have to spend half a day driving Maryland's highways to reach the Baltimore area if a plan to connect regional airports to Baltimore/ Washington International Airport takes off. The...

A new day.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Davis brings business expertise to NAACP Alexis Davis wants to run the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, like a top-performing corporation. "In corporate America you have a product," Davis said during a recent...

College site stirs interest.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... Although demolition on Baltimore City Community College's Lockwood site is not expected to begin until the spring, companies are already lining up for office space in the complex slated to replace the academic landmark along Pratt Street. ...

U.S. Foodservice wins Chili's.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... U.S. Foodservice, the Columbia-based food distributor, entered into $600 million contract with Chili's restaurants, a unit of Dallas-based Brinker International. U.S. Foodservice will provide food and related products to Chili's restaurants...

McCormick releases 3Q earnings.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... McCormick & Co. Inc. officials said this-week that the company's market valuation has been hurt by the uncertainty surrounding a Federal Trade Commission investigation that began in 1996. After reviewing more than 2,000 of McCormick's contracts...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
January 14, 2000... The Baltimore Opera Company was inadvertently omitted from the "Largest arts organizations" List [Dec. 31, 1999 Jan. 6, 2000, Page 11]. The company would have ranked 4th. A statement in the industry brief "Chairman resigns from...

DeGroen leaving U.S.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Theo deGroen, the Dutch founder of the Baltimore Brewing Co., is leaving Charm City for Germany. DeGroen is taking a job at Parkbrau, a brewery located in the Rhineland-Pfalz region in Germany, said Rick Soucy, manager of the brewery's...

Spicing it up.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The benefits just got a bit better for senior management folks at MicCormick & Co. Inc. The company has added a deferred compensation plan for its top ranks, a group that consists of approximately 50 people. The plan, which works like a...

Best in sports.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... What team is the most successful sports franchise of 1999? Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, our sister paper that covers the business side of sports, recently rated all 118 teams in the four major league sports -- baseball,...

On the Ball.(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... On the Ball Top major league franchises as ranked by SportsBusiness Journal. Rank Team League 1. New York Yankees MLB 2. Atlanta Braves ...

Gainers & Losers.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... If the Ritz-Carlton never happens, perhaps the residents of Federal Hill could, warm up to a kitschy country music resort. * Ronald L. Daniel The new police chief looks to a New York veteran to help combat the city's crime. * Steve...

Merger may open cable lines to ISPs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... America Online's nearly $179.1 billion acquisition of Time Warner may accomplish what a year's worth of lobbying could not: It may force cable companies to let other Internet service providers use cable broadband systems to provide high-speed...

Hospital leaders prepare for state rate battle.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Maryland hospital executives are hoping state regulators propose a revamped hospital rate structure without drastic cuts, but they are preparing for a fight in Annapolis in case the recommendations do not go their way. "Adequate payment...

Feds serve warrant on Alcore Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... The federal government launched an investigation of Edgewood-based Alcore Inc. last week, using a warrant to seize company documents. Officials with Advanced Technical Products Inc., the Roswell, Ga.-based parent of Alcore, announced that...

Hopkins hopes mail will deliver patients.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Say Johns Hopkins Medicine, and the people in charge of marketing the revered institution are confident most people around the country will think quality health care. Suggest visiting one of the system's facilities, though, and Hopkins...

Magellan execs ecstatic over growth strategy.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... For executives at Columbia-based Magellan Health Services Inc., the recently signed contract between subsidiary Magellan Specialty Health and Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. means more than an increase in revenues. The new...

Glasses for the tellers.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... When an Allfirst bank teller or loan officer looks through a pair of new glasses this year, there's a pretty good chance those specs will have been made in East Baltimore. As of Jan. 1, Allfirst Financial Inc. started using one of its...

UM gets Mighty boast.(University of Maryland)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... In an effort to beef up the University of Maryland's high-risk pregnancy and critical care obstetrics programs, the University of Maryland Medical Center hired a nationally known obstetrician and gynecologist. Dr. Hugh E. Mighty, an expert...

Downtown group to tackle parking woes.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... With any luck, ground on a new city parking garage could be broken within six months, said Lisa Raimundo, economic development director for the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. Last week, Raimundo became the official point person for...

Hoffman's TIF.(tax increment financing)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... State Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, D-Northwest Baltimore, has agreed to sponsor legislation that would give the city another economic development tool: tax increment financing. Commonly referred to as TIFs, the incentives are usually granted to...

Dance fever in Charm City.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Another dance club in the Baltimore area? Uncle Lee's Szechuan plans to open China Room, "Baltimore's newest nightclub with a twist" in mid-February. The popular Asian eatery at the corner of South and Lombard streets will transform itself...

Good times in real estate.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., the largest real estate company in the five-state Mid-Atlantic region, has recorded $13.3 billion in sales last year, a historic high for the Fairfax, Va.-based firm. The figures were up 11 percent from 1998,...

Action on the water.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The Tide Point complex, the former Proctor & Gamble plant in Locust Point, is beginning to bubble with tenants. NOvoVascular Inc., a biotechnology company, recently moved into a 2,600-square-foot space at the Nicholson Street facility that...

Baltimore fund wins big with minority firms.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... There is a quiet revolution going on in Baltimore's money management community. Investors usually chase the best-performing mutual funds, and Chapman Capital Management's DEM Equity Fund (www.chapmancompany.com)posted some of the year's most...

F&D sells stake in insurer.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Dutch credit insurer NCM Holding NV (www.ncmgroup.com)is buying out Fidelity & Deposit Co.'s stake in Maryland Netherlands Credit Insurance Co., which is located at 210 N. Charles St Amsterdam-based NCM had previously owned a 49 percent...

Cyphers Wood lands three new accounts.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Cyphers Wood Inc., an Annapolis-based advertising firm, recently announced that it has been awarded three new accounts. SC Logic, a data-collection company based in Baltimore, secured the agency to design and implement a marketing campaign...

Saval Foods recognized for deli ad campaign.
January 14, 2000... Saval Foods Corp. was awarded the top prize for successful media advertising by the International Foodservice Distributors Association. This marks the firm's third recognition in the past five years by the IFDA, and is its first in the area of...

Take One! USA enters market with new deal.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Strategic Publications LLC, owners of the Pennysaver Group Inc. has finalized a deal with Take One! USA, a new distribution and publishing company created by Jay Roper and John Ryan. Take One! USA provides different markets with publication...

BBJ parent launches new online initiative.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... American City Business Journals Inc., the parent company of the Baltimore Business Journal, has created a new company, Amcity.com, to handle its World Wide Web operations and intensify the company's business-to-business Web presence, chairman...

Sales and Marketing Executives of Greater Baltimore.
January 14, 2000... Sales and Marketing Executives of Greater Baltimore, an affiliate of Sales and Marketing Executives International, is accepting nominations for "Victor" trophies. The trophy represents the Distinguished Sales and Marketing award, which is given...

Harvey & Daughters Inc.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Harvey & Daughters Inc., a Hunt Valley-based advertising and graphic design firm, recently moved to a new location at 11426 York Road. The new space, designed by Nancy Foreman Design, will be entered into national interior design competitions.

Harry Bosk.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Harry Bosk, previously director of media relations and publications for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, has opened his own communications/ marketing firm, Bosk Communications. Bosk is a past president of both PRSA's Maryland chapter as...

"The Bottom line,".
January 14, 2000... Beginning Jan. 8, "The Bottom line," a local talk show hosted by NAACP CEO Kweisi Mfume, is moving to prime time. The show will be aired at 7 p.m. Saturday on. Channel 11 WBAL-TV.

Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, an Italian pharmaceutical company, has named The Dan Rosenthal Co. agency of record for its prescription products division in Gaithersburg. The account is estimated at $2 million.

The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and United Way of Central Maryland have hired the Baltimore office of Shandwick International to provide public relations and advertising. The LIRS helps to resettle and provide services for...

Getting connected.
January 14, 2000... Internet making deals easier for local brokers A year ago, commercial real estate broker Tim Hearn was faced with a major decision: get Internet-savvy or lose a Fortune 100 client. Hearn, a broker with Towson-based KLNB Inc....

Largest architecture firms in the Baltimore area.
January 14, 2000... Largest architecture firms in the Baltimore area (Ranked by architectural billings originated from Baltimore-area offices) Name Rank/ Adress 1999/1998 local last year...

'NoMa' hopes to draw artists and tech firms.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... New York has SoHo, San Francisco has SoMa, Baltimore has SoWeBo. And now, Washington, D.C., has NoMa. Short for "North of Massachusetts Avenue" and encompassing an area that stretches up to Florida Avenue and east to the railroad tracks,...

Largest office furniture retailers in the Baltimore area.
January 14, 2000... Largest office furniture retailers in the Baltimore area (Ranked by 1999 local sales) Name Local Rank Address ...

Reputation is key when choosing leasing broker.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Selecting a broker to assist with office leasing details and negotiations is a delicate and sensitive task -- somewhat like choosing a dentist, except there are no painkillers to protect the prospective tenant from an inept broker. ...

A Conversation with... Andrew Segal.
January 14, 2000... At age 32, Andrew Segal has already earned a name for himself as a real estate developer who swims against the tide. His Houston-based Boxer Property made a splash in Baltimore in late 1998 when it starting buying up Class B downtown office...

Sneaker backs tech court bill.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Taylor wants Maryland to become a technology law mecca Maryland's top delegate wants the state to become a center of technology law. House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., D-Allegany, is backing a bill he hopes will establish Maryland as...

TEDCO secures mission.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The mission for the Maryland Science, Engineering and Technology Development Corp., known to most as TEDCO, is now official. Phillip Singerman, chief executive of the state-funded agency, didn't pull any punches when it came to putting the...

Rep. promotes Web.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Rep. Robert Ehrlich Jr. says he wants to see his colleagues in Congress continue to work toward creating an environment that fosters tech companies. As a member of the Commerce Committee, Erhlich played a role in the three-year moratorium...

Still growing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... There should be plenty of work for certain technology companies in Maryland and throughout the world, according to the most recent research conducted by the folks at Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. Equity Research Management. The investment...

mlis.state.md.us.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The official Web site for the Maryland General Assembly provides all sorts of useful information to those interested in the current legislative session. Users can locate a specific legislator or a specific bill on the site. In addition, a host...

Jos. A Bank offers lesson on value of innovation.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... A common thread emerges when looking back over the history of Jos. A Bank Clothiers. The Bank men were all bound by an inherent drive and determination to succeed in the clothing business. And according to Bob Bank, great-great-grandson of...

Survival by reinvention.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... The history of Kipp Visual & Security Systems has more to do with reinvention that it does with longevity. In 1865, George Kipp and Son was known as a shoe-finder, a company that provided leather and supplies to shoemakers. Later, the...

High Voltage.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Shepherd Electric Supply streamlines, grows steadily Stuart Vogel's plan is not glitzy or glamorous. He is not driving the growth of his family's business by hiring skydiving elephants or a hundred Elvis impersonators. He hasn't added a...

SHOP TALK.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... How do you fight turnover? "We at The Classic Catering People learned a long time ago that the best way to retain strong, committed employees is to understand what is important to them when they are not working. To our employees, family is...

PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... BANKING The Columbia Bank hired Ryan S. Houck as assistant vice president, marketing. Houck was previously the marketing/communications manager for The Ryland Group Inc. of Columbia. Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Co. of Baltimore...

BBJ INDEX.
January 14, 2000... BBJ INDEX (for 5-week period) [*] Corporation Price 1/12/00 % Change Weekley Gainers 1. Credit Management Solutions (CMSS) $9.88 36.21...

The St. Paul Cos. Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2000... Corporate profile The St. Paul Cos. Inc. became a major player in the Baltimore corporate arena with its acquisition of USF&G Corp in April 1999. The Minnesota-based insurance organization eliminated hundreds of jobs at USF&G's Mount...

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Dr. Michelle Gelkin, a Sinai Hospital of Baltimore ophthalmologist, was awarded the Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award by the Academy of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology.

17th Annual JCPenney Golden Rule Volunteer Awards Program.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... David Modell, president and chief operating officer of the Baltimore Ravens will be the Honorary Chairman of the 17th Annual JCPenney Golden Rule Volunteer Awards Program.

The Baltimore Zoo.
January 14, 2000... The Baltimore Zoo was awarded a $11,000 grant from the Maryland State Department of Education to develop and implement four two-week summer camps at the zoo for gifted and talented students.

Barton Malow.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... Barton Malow, a full-service construction company, had four projects, including the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore, honored as outstanding buildings by the American School & University magazine.

University of Maryland University College.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2000... University of Maryland University College is accepting applications for its Executive Chief Information Officer Certificate Program to begin April 8, 2000, in Rockville.