Baltimore Business Journal articles from July 2000

Baltimore Business Journal archives from July 2000

Great outdoors.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Restaurateurs look outside for profits In Havre de Grace and Columbia, they're on the waterways. In Baltimore City and Annapolis, they're on the sidewalks. Outdoor cafes are popping up everywhere restaurants are in the Baltimore area. ...

'Net sales force facelift at aging malls.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Consumer fickleness and the increase in online shopping are forcing developers to improve outdated malls and retail centers, according to a new study by Towson commercial real estate firm KLNB Inc. Westview, Hunt Valley, North Plaza and...

Hale deal leads to $5M suit.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... The trucking operation owned by banker Edwin F. Hale Sr. is suing the makers of Volvo trucks for $5 million, claiming the company tried to force it to shut its new Volvo franchise. Hale Trucks of Maryland LLC alleges in Baltimore County...

Belvedere eyed by 2 developers.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Two powerhouse real estate companies are considering the purchase of Belvedere Square, the beleaguered North Baltimore shopping center once considered a thriving retail hub. Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., the Baltimore developer...

CareFirst to exit Medicare market.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Following in the footsteps of two other HMOs who made similar announcements last month, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield announced that it would be closing its Maryland Medicare HMO operations at the end of the year. Company officials said the...

Sylvan completes sale of debt.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Sylvan Learning Systems, a provider of educational services, announced that it has completed the sale of $100 million in debt to Apollo Management IV L.P., DB Capital Investors L.P., and Investor AB. Apollo, the lead investor, is a private...

BWI starts service to Ghana.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... The first Ghana Airways flight arrived at Baltimore/Washington International Airport July 6, marking the first direct air service between West Africa and the Washington region. Federal and state officials, including U.S. Transportation...

Ravens' gear fumbles.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Baltimoreans aren't shelling out the bucks for professional sports team apparel -- those overpriced shirts, caps, earrings, etc. adorned with the colors and logos of the hometown teams. SportsTrend Inc., a West Palm Beach, Fla., company,...

Republican watch.
July 7, 2000... Baltimore entrepreneur Jack Goldenberg recently approached the idiosyncratic state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer to offer the former mayor/governor a choice of his latest creations: A presidential election watch imprinted with the visage...

Racing at the mall.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Most malls are known for relaxed days of shopping. Sure, there are the holiday season races against time for last minute gifts, but race cars, everyday? It will be a reality soon at Arundel Mills mall, when the NASCAR Silicon Motor...

Heart-throb city.
July 7, 2000... The Rouse Co. didn't exactly monkey around when it came to planning Harborplace's 20th birthday celebration. The big draw of the weekend's festivities was former Monkee Davy Jones, apparently still a teen heartthrob at age 54. Jones's...

Gainers & Losers.
July 7, 2000... Davy Jones and Metallica? That's even better than Randolph Mantooth as Preakness Parade Grand Marshal. * The Rouse Co. The Columbia development company celebrates 20 years of Harborplace. Say what you will, but it remains the envy of...

Manufacturers slow to embrace Internet.
July 7, 2000... The Internet may be the hottest thing going for most businesses, but officials with some local small manufacturing firms are not too sure about it "It just doesn't make sense for us," said Tom Rohe, part owner of Baltimore-based Monarch...

LifeBridge seeks state OK for major overhaul.
July 7, 2000... LifeBridge Health has notified the state of its plans for $40 million worth of renovation and expansion projects to its three Baltimore-area hospitals. But health system officials say they are not ready to talk specifics because they have not...

Outdoor ad firm to leave city.
July 7, 2000... Eller Media, an outdoor advertising agency, is selling the buildings that house its offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and looking for space in Howard County to streamline both operations. The company wants to vacate its offices at...

Study: Maryland among population hotspots.
July 7, 2000... The fastest-growing metropolitan area in the East during the next 25 years won't be New York or Boston or any of the other urban giants along the Atlantic seaboard. It will be Cape Cod, commonly considered merely a summer resort area. ...

CSX warns of more rail delays.
July 7, 2000... Amtrak and the Maryland Rail Commuter service are bracing passengers for delays -- and rail owner CSX Transportation doesn't know when they will stop. Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX, which bought Conrail last summer, leases its track to...

PaineWebber moves into popular Bel Air.
July 7, 2000... PaineWebber has made a bold move into Bel Air -- one of the fastest-growing areas in the region -- by hiring three Legg Mason Wood Walker brokers. On May 26, the PaineWebber (www.painewebber.com) Hunt Valley office hired three brokers from...

DLJ staking its territory.
July 7, 2000... Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (www.dlj.com), a New York-based investment bank and retail brokerage has made a quiet entrance into Baltimore. The firm, which is owned by French insurance giant AXA, hired former Alex. Brown broker William F....

New fund for T. Rowe.
July 7, 2000... T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., which already runs the highly-successful T. Rowe Price Science & Technology Fund, has registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create the T. Rowe Price Global Technology Fund. The fund will...

Creditrust's creditors.
July 7, 2000... As part of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on June 20, Creditrust Corp. had to list creditors holding the 20 largest unsecured claims against the company. Who has the biggest claim? It's Constantine...

Developer explores black entertainment area.
July 7, 2000... State Sen. Clarence Mitchell IV's plans are moving forward, albeit slowly, for an African-American business and entertainment district on the west side of downtown. Keith Key, chief executive officer of Columbus, Ohio-based Omni Management...

Security fills food court.
July 7, 2000... The owners of Security Square Mall have been trying for two years to fi11 all the spaces in the mall's food court Last month, the mall signed a lease with Ontario, Canada-based Sarku Japan restaurant to fill the last remaining 700-square-foot...

A little help from the Web.
July 7, 2000... Independent restaurant owners can now get a little advice on the Web. TheSauce.com, which was launched in Los Angeles, now is available to restaurants across the country. The site offers help with things like payroll processing, inventory...

Goodwill.
July 7, 2000... Thrift store chain Goodwill opened a new 18,000-square-foot retail store in Pasadena on July 6. The store, located in the Lake Shore Plaza on Mountain Road, will employ 15 full- and part-time staffers.

Food Lion.
July 7, 2000... Salisbury, N.C.-based Food lion has signed a lease to open a 43,000-square-foot store at the former Valu Food Shopping Center in Severna Park. The center, at the corner of Ritchie Highway and Robinson Road, is owned by a partnership of...

Clyde's Restaurant Group.
July 7, 2000... Clyde's Restaurant Group is looking to open a location at Boston Properties' Tower Oaks project off Interstate 270 in Rockville. Tower Oaks is a 2.5 million-square-foot office, hotel, residential and retail development. It would be the 11th...

St. Joe's offering new back surgery procedure.
July 7, 2000... Dr. Paul McAfee of St. Joseph Medical Center is getting a leg up on his competition by doing more than the everyday back surgery. McAfee, the hospital's chief of spinal surgery, is leading. St. Joseph's charge as one of 10 medical...

New drug research system.
July 7, 2000... Johns Hopkins Health System, in conjunction with Applied Theory Corp. of New York, plans to launch a Web site that will give medical professionals a reference to research antibiotics and other drugs before prescribing them to a patient. ...

St. Joseph revisits nursing.
July 7, 2000... St Joseph Medical Center's plans to revamp its nurse care model are running smooth and should be complete by August, said Sharon Soop, a hospital spokesperson. St. Joseph is creating about 40 new positions to help free resident nurses of...

Maryland Athletic Club & Wellness Center.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... The Maryland Athletic Club & Wellness Center has created a medical advisory committee made up of 17 of the state's top medical professionals from various segments of the industry. The committee will provide the public with free medical seminars...

Demand for industrial space remains heavy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 7, 2000... The Baltimore metropolitan area industrial market has continued its strong performance during the first half of the year, according to a market review from Baltimore commercial real estate firm Colliers Pinkard. The vacancy rate for bulk...

OpSail fuels Olympic hopes.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... City officials are hoping that the record turnout for Operation Sail 2000 will prove a thing or two to the United States Olympic Committee. Baltimore can be a huge tourist magnet, after all. The tall ships attracted more people than...

Expanding at the Can.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Interactive advertising agency Gr8 took on more space in The Can Company at 2400 Boston Street in Canton this week. The tech company has spread out onto a second floor, bringing their total amount of space to roughly 22,000 square feet, CEO...

Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Baltimore engineering firm Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall has renewed its lease for 17,397 square feet of office space in the Alex. Brown Building at One South Street. Matt Wilson and Sam Murik of Baltimore's Trammell Crow Co. represented the...

Building smart.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... New state codes aim to clarify myriad of development regulations Lawmakers in Maryland just passed an offshoot of Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening's Smart Growth program, called Smart Codes. The plan is to create a universal standard for...

Market Facts.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 7, 2000... In a report released on June 29, 2000, the Census Bureau (www.census.gov) found that the biggest money-maker and job producer in the United States is the service industry. The report, called "Comparative Statistics," compares 1997 and 1992...

Startups seeking space.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... In considering office space, it is critical that early stage technology companies understand the impact the office facility will have on their business -- both economic non-economic. Office facility issues can place significant constraints...

College sprawl irking neighbors.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Urban institutions such as Towson University and Loyola College in Maryland live in an uneasy balance with their neighbors. The schools want to evolve, they want to enhance their facilities and attract new students. The neighbors want peace...

Firm picks Md. real estate.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... OTG Software, one of Maryland's highest-flying tech firms, has resisted the urge to move to Northern Virginia. Instead, the fast-growing data storage company is relocating its headquarters from North Bethesda to Rockville. And Rockville...

Never accept the first offer on table.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... In recent articles, we have taken a look at our systematic approach to the negotiation process -- The Three Ps -- and discussed the first and second "P": "Prepare" and "Probe." Now it is finally time to sit down at the negotiating table and...

Sharon Grinnell.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Baltimore Development Corp. A one-time physical fitness educator and construction laborer, Sharon Grinnell wears a very different bat these days. As chief operating officer of the Baltimore Development Corp., the city's economic...

A shining Sun.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Today, the Baltimore Sun is nothing less than a respected local and national institution -- a Pulitzer Prize winning publication that was recently named one of the 10 best newspapers in the country by the industry bible, the Columbia Journalism...

How to win over the group.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... The sales presentation was textbook wonderful. Rapport bounced off the walls. Their company would clearly be better off buying from you. By the midpoint, the air sang with the understanding that the two of you are going to have a long and...

Corporate chariots.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Limo companies siphon some of the corporate dollar Jeff Pool is riding Maryland's economic boom in luxury. His company, Tip Top Limousine, has seen an increase in sales, and his rather large fleet -- 17 cars of various sorts -- has been...

Do you form business partnerships?(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Phil Stevens Jr. President, Stevens Builders / Glenwood "Homebuilding is best characterized by its intricate network of subcontractors and skilled technicians. By trade, the nature of our business is built upon partnerships. Most...

Brian Moran.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Everything College Inc. BBJ: Where did you get the idea for your business? Moran: At first, I wanted to develop a Web site dedicated to providing college students with written class no free access to student notes. However, after...

Symet in deal with Worldcom.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... A Canton software developer is doing business with one of the world's largest telecommunications companies -- Worldcom. Mario Missakian, founder and president of Symet Corp. in Canton, said the one-year contract could mean big things for...

People.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Architecture Marks, Thomas & Assoc. Inc., promoted Robert E. Reich and Richard "Win" Boyer Jr. to senior associate. Reich has been with the firm since 1991 and Boyer joined the firm in 1986. Banking Allfirst Financial Inc....

City needs Camden hotel site.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... It seems that if you say you are going to build a hotel in Baltimore, you might as well be crying wolf. There are at least 10 hotels on the drawing board, but so far only two, the Marriott Water front Hotel and the Marriott Courtyard in the...

Gas taxes fuel rage.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Indignant politicians have become a fixture in the news during these days of runaway gasoline prices. Fingers are pointed towards OPEC and the giant oil companies. But perhaps our government leaders should take a look in the mirror. ...

Conductor's light touch is key to simpler symphony.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Maestro Mario Venzago, artistic director for the Baltimore Symphony's Summer MusicFest, bubbles with enthusiasm as he talks about what he has prepared for Baltimore audiences. His passion to please makes his occasional difficulties with English...

Largest landscape architecture firms in the Baltimore area.
July 7, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Largest construction firms with offices in the Baltimore area.
July 7, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Taking Stock.
July 7, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Prime Retail Inc.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Corporate prifile Prime Retail Inc., whose financial problems have hampered the real estate investment trust during the last year, recently announced it has lined up $110 million in financing through Lehman Brothers. The announcement was...

Sequoia's 'risk' paying off.
July 7, 2000... Columbia company survives Wall Street tech skittishness Watching Mark Wesker roll down the hallway on a miniature chrome scooter is hardly a good indication as to the work he and his company have been pumping out since their successful...

Web Site of the Week: www.salestipwebsite.com.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2000... Designed with professional salespeople in mind, this Web site gives users a healthy dose of advice - from proper vocabulary to how to close the deal. The majority of information on this site is free for anyone. However, there are certain...

Equal footing.(participation of minority- and women-owned enterprises in public construction contracts in Baltimore, MD)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... Minority firms fear demise of set-asides Edwin Avent is worried. He and other minority business owners fear a proposal before the City Council scrapping minority participation mandates in city contracting will make it nearly impossible...

Owings Mills group fights sour image.(Owings Mills Development Council)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... Eight local developers have formed an organization to market Owings Mills to growing companies -- in an effort to counter a perception that the area is an undesirable place to locate businesses. The Owings Mills Development Council, which...

Hopkins launches inquiry.(construction of Johns Hopkins Health System's new cancer center)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... Cancer center delay spurs outside audit Johns Hopkins Health System has launched an internal investigation and has hired an outside accounting firm to take a hard look into who is responsible for the costly and prolonged delays surrounding...

Amex sued for firing new mom.(American Express Financial Advisors Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... A former employee of American Express Financial Advisors Inc. is suing the company for $450,000, claiming she was fired last year because she took maternity leave. Laurie Friedman claims in a June 26 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in...

Comcast cable acquires HTS.(Home Team Sports LP)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Comcast Corp. announced that it plans to acquire Viacom Inc.'s stake in Home Team Sports LP, the regional sports programming network that serves the Baltimore/Washington D.C., area and portions of other mid-Atlantic states. Comcast also will...

Harford lowers amusement tax.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... The Harford County Council voted 4-2 on June 11 to cut an increase to the county's Admissions and Amusement tax in half. The council originally voted to increase the tax by 1000 percent, from 1 percent to 10 percent May 20, upsetting many...

Correction.
July 14, 2000... Market Facts [Vol. 18, July 7-13, Page 131 incorrectly reported the U.S. employment figures for the services industry. The increase in U.S. employment from 1992 to 1997 should have been in the millions. In Who's Who in Hospitality and...

St. Joseph, Bayview hospitals to revamp ERs.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... St. Joseph Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center have added their names to the growing list of Greater Baltimore medical institutions that are revamping their emergency departments in response to growing volumes. St....

Miami company will add 90 jobs in Arundel.(Ryder System Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... Ryder System Inc. has leased more than 100,000 square feet of space in Anne Arundel County for its new electronic commerce distribution business, a move that will create as many as 90 new local jobs. The Miami-based logistics and...

MedStar Health dissolves billing group, lays off 85.(Physician Administrative Services)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 14, 2000... MedStar Health followed through with a proposal to dissolve its troubled in-house billing agency; a move that sent 85 former employees of MedStar's now-defunct Physician Administrative Services searching for a new job. The Columbia-based...

Cal Ripken's venture leases space downtown.(in Baltimore near Camden Yards)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Talk about a room with a view. Cal Ripken Jr. and his business manager Ira Rainess recently inked a deal to lease some prime space across from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The duo is sub-letting roughly 3,000 square feet from law firm...

City tops in vacant space.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Baltimore has the highest total office market vacancy rate in the country, according to a mid-year office review by ONCOR International. Charm City's vacancy rate leveled out at 17.99 percent after the first two quarters, the organization...

Wal-Mart.(retailer to build store at Mount Airy Shopping Center)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * Wal-Mart has finalized its purchase of a 14-acre parcel of land that is part of the Mount Airy Shopping Center on Ridgeville Boulevard in Mount Airy. This brings the discount retailer one step closer to construction of a new...

EMJAY Engineering.(purchases building)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * Michael O. Scherr, who heads EMJAY Engineering, has purchased 21,587 square feet of industrial space at 1706 Whitehead Road in Baltimore. The engineering firm will move its operations there from Baltimore City. John Sell of Latshaw Commercial...

Terminal Corp.(building purchase)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * The Terminal Corp. has renewed its lease for 162,925 square feet of industrial space at the Point Breeze Business Center, 2300 Broening Highway in Dundalk. J. Richard Latini of Colliers Pinkard and Richard F. Blue Jr., formerly of Colliers...

Group tries to revive Annapolis wine festival.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... At least two groups are vying for permission to host a now-defunct annual wine festival in Anne Arundel County. A consortium of Maryland wineries, and a partnership between a former festival organizer and a restaurant owner, are preparing...

International attention.(Port Discovery children's museum receives accolades)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Port Discovery should be getting plenty of attention following its ranking among the 12 best children's museums in the world by The Observer, a London newspaper. In its June 18 edition, The Observer said the two-year-old museum excelled at...

Marriott earns Kudos.(Marriott International)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Marriott International in Bethesda made it onto Fortune magazine's list of the top 50 companies for minorities -- for a third consecutive year. Marriott; with about 145,000 employees, is the largest hotel company on the list; which was...

International Association of Exhibition Management.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * Meeting planners, usually a group very particular about numbers, erred slightly during a trade group meeting here last month. The International Association of Exhibition Management announced record attendance of 1,086 at its annual mid-year...

The Baltimore Convention Center.
July 14, 2000... * The Baltimore Convention Center will play host to two events this month. The annual Firehouse Expo will be held July 18 to 23, drawing some 7,000 people to Baltimore. About 3,500 visitors are expected later in the month when the American...

Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * Marylanders are fueling tourism in Virginia, according to new numbers released by the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association. Hotel occupancy in Alexandria, Va. is up 5 percent this year, and Marylanders were among the largest group...

Software firm to unveil products, double staff.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Things seem to be falling into place for Baltimore's Healthware Solutions Inc. After more than two years of development and fund raising, the home-grown health care software company plans to launch two of its initial three products by the...

Hopkins targets East side.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Johns Hopkins Medicine will spend $4.5 million over the next five years to support a recently formed Urban Health Institute to tackle health problems in East Baltimore. A group headed by Hopkins health experts, community and business leaders...

EntreMed Inc.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * Clinical researchers at four medical institutions across the country will enroll 12 additional patients into the final stage of their Endostatin protein clinical trial, which is sponsored by Rockville-based biotech EntreMed Inc. The study...

The University of Maryland School of Nursing.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... * The University of Maryland School of Nursing will hold its 10th annual Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics July 19 to 22. The event will focus on the changing technological landscape of nursing, including how nurses can access resources...

No conflict.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2000... Accounting firms work to avoid SEC's wrath The Securities and Exchange Commission isn't messing around when it comes to auditor independence, and neither are the local offices of the Big Five accounting firms. At KPMG, for example,...