Baltimore Business Journal articles from July 1995

Baltimore Business Journal archives from July 1995

T. Rowe opts for 35 acres. (T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.)
July 28, 1995... Owings Mills corporate park chosen for expanding brokerage T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. is close to buying a 35-acre site in Owings Mills so it can double the size of its Baltimore County operations. The firm has tentatively agreed to buy...

FTC fines agency for debt threats. (Federal Trade Commission)
July 28, 1995... A now-defunct Baltimore collection agency that threatened to sue millions of consumers over unpaid magazine subscription bills has been ordered to pay a record $500,000 in federal fines for being overzealous. Debts incurred by the subscribers...

State doles out millions; economic fund nearly dry. (Maryland)
July 28, 1995... $15M used at start of fiscal year Less than a month into the new fiscal year, Maryland has already promised $15 million in economic development incentives - three-fourths of its allotment for the entire year. But while state legislators...

Cellular charges into new market.
July 28, 1995... For John Stange and Jessie Wilkinson, what once seemed laughable - almost to the point of absurdity - has become a major boon to their business. Flouting tradition, the owners of Towson-based Phoenix Transportation brought their fleet of...

Health cost battle continues on all fronts; region loses the top spot on inflation list. (Baltimore, Maryland)
July 28, 1995... The Baltimore area got a reprieve from inflationary health care costs this spring, moving from the top of a 15-city list, where it has been sitting for more than a year. The cost of health care services and supplies rose 6.9 percent in...

Sinai, St. Joseph's teaming up to win heart surgery contracts.(Health cost battle continues on all fronts)
July 28, 1995... Sinai and St. Joseph's hospitals have decided to use a team approach to convince insurers to send patients to their facilities for high-priced cardiac surgery procedures. Instead of each hospital working on its own to sign contracts with...

Smaller manufacturers get workers' comp option.
July 28, 1995... To help hold onto Maryland manufacturing firms and their high-paying jobs, two statewide business organizations are trying a new cost-control approach to workers' compensation insurance. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland...

New Jersey firm may bring 60 jobs. (Clark Group Inc.)
July 28, 1995... Distributor says Maryland 'an employer-friendly environment' A New Jersey shipping and storage company is planning a major expansion into Harford County next year, a move that could create more than 60 jobs. Citing the county's access to...

Waging a crusade to cut business air fares.
July 28, 1995... When Kevin Mitchell needs to make his favorite point, he simply shows skeptics a flow chart that's almost impossible to read. The document - called "Existing Business Travel Process" - just reflects reality, with its swirling arrows darting...

Low-income renters may get vouchers under plan.
July 28, 1995... Congress is mulling over several ideas proposed last month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to control the rising cost of helping low-income families pay their rent. The main proposal calls for cutting off federal...

Hopkins feeds health news to far-flung radio stations. (John Hopkins Hospital)
July 28, 1995... A few months ago, executives from a hospital and pharmacy told Dan McClintock they wanted to sponsor some health care programming on his Battle Creek, Mich., radio station. Their advertising budgets weren't big enough for the usual half-hour...

A force to be reckoned with. (Miller Real Estate Corporate Services Inc.)(Real Estate Monthly)
July 28, 1995... Miller's youthful leaders rising to the top with major deals Ask Ernest L. Moyer why he joined Miller Corporate Real Estate Services after three years with a rival firm, and the 32-year-old commercial broker rattles off a list of reasons....

Russett a bright spot in sluggish year for new homes. (planned community)(Real Estate Monthly)
July 28, 1995... Reports on new home sales have painted a discouraging picture so far this year. Sales were down in all areas of the Baltimore region in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, with a decline of 18.6 percent, according to the...

Outlook bleak for old buildings. (Baltimore, Maryland)
July 21, 1995... City's vacancy rates continue to rise The numbers are in, and they're worse than ever. Since the beginning of 1995, vacancy rates in Baltimore's 8.4 million-square-foot Class B market have jumped 6 percentage points, to 27.3 percent....

Move brings mixed bag to old Yard firms. (Camden Yards; Maryland)
July 21, 1995... Bob Millhauser probably will never set foot in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It's just too painful for the former seafood distributor, whose Eutaw Street warehouse once was in right field. William Johnson, on the other hand, sat through the...

Area stocks skyrocket in market boom. (Baltimore, Maryland)
July 21, 1995... Baltimore firms reap rewards of Dow's march toward 5,000 What a difference a year makes. Black & Decker Corp. stock sold for $18.63 a share in May 1994. Investors now desiring a piece of the Towson tool manufacturer must spend at least...

Game maker's value soars with Trek launch. (Spectrum Holobyte Inc.; Star Trek game)(Area Stocks Skyrocket in Market Boom)
July 21, 1995... A new Star Trek game apparently has sent the value of a Hunt Valley-based company's parent firm skyrocketing. Like other software companies, the stock of Spectrum HoloByte Inc. - owner of MicroProse Inc. - has benefited from a bull market...

Utilities tap new gold mine with tower space. (Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.)
July 21, 1995... Communications look for structures, avoid hassles Thanks to the booming mobile telephone market, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and some other utilities have uncovered a largely untapped gold mine in their communications and electrical...

Sun awaits word from new Times Mirror CEO. (The Baltimore Sun newspaper; Times Mirror CEO Mark H. Willes)
July 21, 1995... No papers will be sold, Willes promises The new chief executive officer of Times Mirror Co., who last week closed down one of the company's newspapers in a cost-cutting move, was scheduled to visit the Sun's downtown Baltimore offices...

Polluted? New group says it's not bad. (Baltimore Alliance for Clean Air Progress)
July 21, 1995... Local businesses will try to shift focus to individuals Baltimore's air quality has improved dramatically over the past 15 years, but hardly anyone has noticed. That's the conclusion of some area corporations and business organizations...

Firms find new way to cut costs. (Baltimore, Maryland; computer outsourcing)(Office: Technology)
July 21, 1995... More companies turning outward for computer needs Philip Rowe recounted with a laugh an old saying about the computer services business. "When the economy is good, business is good," said the president of Towson-based Data Processing Support...

TV targets new market; city cable ventures into games. (United Artists Cable Corp.)
July 14, 1995... Interactive television - the mysterious and much-discussed new media form - has quietly swept into Baltimore on the backs of Earthworm Jim and Sonic the Hedgehog. They're popular characters in Sega Genesis video games, which are now...

Port gets new chief from L.A. (Maryland Port Administration; ; Tay Yoshitani; Port of Los Angeles)
July 14, 1995... The number two executive at the Port of Los Angeles will become chief of the Maryland Port Administration, a position that has been vacant for four months. Tay Yoshitani has been deputy executive director of maritime affairs at the Port of...

Big players leave trust door open for First National. (First National Bank of Maryland)
July 14, 1995... With Mercantile Bankshares Corp. and NationsBank Corp. both abandoning the labor-intensive corporate trust business, First National Bank of Maryland is aggressively trying to expand a business that it's been building for more than a decade....

Braces rage brings in bucks; orthodontists cashing in on the latest craze. (includes related article)
July 14, 1995... Even though Emily Rutledge doesn't absolutely need braces for her teeth, the 11-year-old daughter of Liberty Health System Inc.'s chief executive officer is still keen on the idea. She's even picked out the colors for the bands that keep the...

Bills piling up as Empowerment gets off ground. (Empower Baltimore Management Corp.)
July 14, 1995... Empower Baltimore Management Corp. has racked up more than a half-million dollars in start-up costs, but has yet to see any of the $100 million in federal grant money pledged. The first federal funds should be arriving this month, said Rachel...

Lawyers fire parting shots in overbilling suit. (legal battle between Fairfax Savings Bank F.S.B. and Weinberg and Green)
July 14, 1995... It's over. After a nearly three-month trial and more than 8,500 pages of testimony, the bitterly fought legal battle between Fairfax Savings Bank and the law firm Weinberg & Green ended in Montgomery County Circuit Court this week. Now...

Parks' unusual strategy aims for quick cash. (Parks Sausage Co.)
July 14, 1995... While most struggling businesses try to keep mum when they're trying to raise capital or sell out, Parks Sausage Co. has gone public with its efforts. Taking the highly unusual step of issuing a press release about the search, the...

Colleges target hospitality job market.
July 14, 1995... Morgan, UM expand degree programs In an effort to provide a management labor pool for the state's $5.7 billion hospitality industry, two universities will begin offering degree programs in hospitality management in the metropolitan region...

As Md. adds health mandates, critics cite cost. (Maryland General Assembly)(includes related article on in-vitro fertilization mandate)(Special Report: Health Care-Employee Benefits)
July 14, 1995... When the Mothers' and Infants' Security Act went into effect July 1, Maryland once again was at the nation's forefront in establishing mandates. This act, passed by the General Assembly earlier this year, has increased the hospital discharge...

Packager aims to sweep away those drug vials. (Medicine-on-Time)(Special Report: Health Care-Employee Benefits)
July 14, 1995... Ian Salditch wants those little plastic amber prescription bottles to become pharmaceutical relics, just like pestles and mortars. As chief executive officer of Medicine-on-Time, a Baltimore-based pharmaceutical packaging company, he's...

High-profile international agency goes quietly. (Maryland)(includes related article)
July 7, 1995... The disbanding of Maryland's international division, a high-profile state agency that promoted foreign trade, does not signal waning interest in global markets by the Glendening administration, says the state's new economic chief. In fact,...

Signet Leasing rides fire trucks, cars to profits. (Signet Leasing Corp.)
July 7, 1995... Each time Dan McKew hears a Medevac helicopter whizzing overhead, two thoughts come to mind: First, someone's life may be saved. Secondly, his Baltimore-based Signet Leasing Corp. may have played a role. The leasing corporation, a...

Hospital chief still learning on the job. (Liberty Health Care CEO Everard O. Rutledge)
July 7, 1995... If you think about it, Everard O. Rutledge should be nowhere near a hospital conference table at 7 a.m. listening to a committee talk about childhood immunizations and managed health care companies. About 20 years ago, he was a month away...

Waverly Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 7, 1995... Corporate Profile After a couple of rough years, Waverly Inc., a medical publisher that has been in business for 105 years, raised earnings in 1994 to 62 cents per share, compared with a loss of 9 cents per share the previous year. President...