Baltimore Business Journal articles from June 1999

Baltimore Business Journal archives from June 1999

UB apartments planned.(apartment project planned near midtown campus of the University of Baltimore)
June 4, 1999... A $6 million apartment project is in the works near the University of Baltimore's midtown campus, a move that school officials and community leaders say will give the area a much-needed economic boost. Keyser Development Corp., a...

Reconnecting: Ciena Corp. emerges from morass.
June 4, 1999... The pendulum may be swinging back for Ciena Corp. After being beaten down by a failed merger with Lisle, Ill.-based Tellabs Inc. last year, the manufacturer and seller of telecommunications equipment has emerged as a company with some fight...

Liberty to let go 417 workers.(Liberty Medical Center)
June 4, 1999... Inpatient care at Bon Secours unit eliminated Bon Secours Medical System, which plans to shutter Liberty Medical Center's inpatient hospital on Aug. 1, will lay off 417 employees at the West Baltimore facility. The hospital system told...

Prudential unloads Md. Medicaid plans.(Prudential Health Care Mid-Atlantic; Maryland Medicaid)
June 4, 1999... Amerigroup Corp. took over Prudential Maryland Medicaid business this week after a nonprofit group of health care clinics dropped its challenge to the deal. The transfer of more than 80,000 members of Prudential HealthCare Mid-Atlantic's...

New CMS chief sees e-commerce future.(Credit Management Solutions CEO Peter M. Leger)
June 4, 1999... Peter M. Leger thinks capitalizing on the growing electronic commerce business will put Credit Management Solutions Inc. on the path to profitability. Leger, the new CEO of Credit Management Solutions, an Annapolis Junction-based...

Spectera's Ohio jobs could lead to growth.
June 4, 1999... Outsourcing contracts with Kaiser, union, adds 227,000 to vision care company's roles Spectera Inc.'s large-scale expansion into Ohio this summer could trigger further expansion at the company's Baltimore headquarters. The new...

Rate disclosures irk Maryland hospitals.(public disclosure laws)
June 4, 1999... Each time Maryland's health care regulators set prices for hospitals, public disclosure laws make this information available to everyone - including competing hospitals in neighboring states. In the competitive health care industry, where...

Amex launches into tech; accounting giant's local office seeks out emerging firms.
June 4, 1999... Sometimes the individuals behind an emerging technology business are a little too focused on the technology and not focused enough on the business, according to the man behind a new service designed for tech companies of all sizes and ages. ...

A healthy dose: University of Maryland complex gives downtown plan a fighting chance.(Health Care)
June 4, 1999... Downtown Baltimore's western flank is often compared to a doughnut - an empty hole surrounded by a savory edge. The University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, are part of that delectable edge. And UM...

Steady supply: distributor grows as key to survival.(Northeastern Supply Inc.)
June 4, 1999... While other privately-held hardware suppliers have trembled - and even crumbled - beneath the weight of the massive national chain stores, Steve Cook has held his ground. With an aggressive growth campaign, the president of Baltimore-based...

Provident Bankshares Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 4, 1999... 114 E. Lexington St./Baltimore, 21202/(410) 277-7000 Corporate profile Provident Bankshares Corp. is on track to make 1999 a banner year. The Baltimore-based bank company posted strong total loan growth in the first quarter, growing by...

Internet firm to go public.(Powerize.com Inc.)
June 11, 1999... Powerize.com Inc. to raise $28.8 million A fledgling Linthicum Internet company is hoping to take advantage of the market's appetite for Internet stocks by selling as much as $28.8 million of stock with an initial public offering. ...

Concerted effort.(Baltimore, Maryland concert theaters)
June 11, 1999... Baltimore's new venue managers have high hopes When John Scher looks at Baltimore's concert scene, he sees northern New Jersey nearly 30 years ago. Scher, whose company co-manages Pier Six Concert Pavilion at the Inner Harbor, compares...

Camera stores do battle.(Baltimore, Maryland)
June 11, 1999... Just a month after Beltsville-based Ritz Camera Centers Inc. said it would pounce on its biggest competitor's home market of Atlanta, Wolf Camera is pouncing back. Alpharetta, Ga.-based Wolf Camera, which is second only to Ritz Camera's...

Hospitals bank on emergency care.(Baltimore, Maryland)
June 11, 1999... The emergency room, once an overcrowded necessity in otherwise gleaming medical centers, has become a top priority - and breadwinner - at area hospitals. At least 15 area hospitals have or are in the midst of revamping their emergency...

Annapolis National struck by loan mess.(Annapolis National Bancorp Inc.)
June 11, 1999... Troubled by several large delinquent loans, Annapolis National Bancorp Inc. took a $254,000 hit to first quarter earnings - prompting an 81 percent drop in net income. The $118 million-asset bank company said it had to restate its March 31...

Seattle coffee chain battle percolating.(Seattle Coffee Co.)
June 11, 1999... A coffee battle is brewing in Baltimore. With Starbucks Corp. and rival Seattle Coffee Co. both planning expansions, the two will be fighting over prime locations throughout the region. Seattle Coffee Co. is looking to open more than 50...

County pushes east side as tourist draw.(Baltimore County, Maryland)
June 11, 1999... Eastern Baltimore County usually brings to mind towering cranes in Dundalk, steel mills at Sparrows Point and myriad blue-collar neighborhoods. But county officials say this sprawling area, with some 200 miles of waterfront, acres of lush...

Online firm to expand; Ameritrade to bring 300 jobs to Arundel.
June 18, 1999... Ameritrade Holding Corp., one of the nation's largest online investment brokers, is negotiating to open a large technology center in Anne Arundel County. The center, which is expected to employ as many as 300 people, will likely be located...

Power struggle: deregulation will send utilities after billions in commercial business.
June 18, 1999... With the beginning stages of electricity deregulation fast approaching, local and not-so-local utility companies are gearing up for the contest of their lives. The prize: Lucrative commercial and industrial customers that, in 1998, bought...

Rifkin asks investors to bet again.(AmericasDoctor.com CEO Scott Rifkin)
June 18, 1999... Their business strategy is new and unproven, but officials at AmericasDoctor.com Inc. are still hoping Internet-hungry stock investors will hand them up to $60 million. Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed late last week...

Photo chain owner develops new angle.(acquisition of The Dark Room by Wolf Camera)
June 18, 1999... Photos of Brian Weiss' bar mitzvah still sit in a bag at the Weiss household - almost a decade after the event. That normally would not be so unusual, but Brian Weiss' father is Michael Weiss, who last week agreed to sell the 12 Dark Room...

Corvis seeks to unlock fiber-optic jams.(Corvis Corp.)
June 18, 1999... Columbia-based Corvis Corp. last week unveiled an all-optic network that could revolutionize the manner in which businesses and consumers use the Internet. Company officials said the introduction of the new technology, known as CorWave,...

Minnesota upstart will peck at Giant.(SuperValu Inc.; Giant Food)
June 18, 1999... SuperValu Inc. of Minneapolis has muscled its way into Baltimore's grocery market, but that doesn't mean it is about to overpower this area's undisputed grocery store king. Landover-based Giant Food continues to garner the lion's share of...

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... 100 E. Pratt St. / Baltimore, 21202 / (410) 345-2000 Corporate profile 1998 was a great time to be in the mutual fund business. That's easy to see when taking a look at T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.'s yearly figures. In his letter to...

Peter Angelos.(Baltimore's Most Influential)(sole partner, Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos)
June 18, 1999... Age: 69 Education: B.A., Eastern College; J.D., University of Baltimore Hometown: Greektown, Baltimore Residence: Roland Park, Baltimore Family: Wife, Georgia; two sons, John and Louis. For Peter G. Angelos, influence does not come from...

CareFirst moves to cut rates.(CareFirst Blue Cross BlueShield)
June 25, 1999... Insurer asks hospitals to bypass state in negotiating patient costs In a display of raw power, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is calling on Maryland hospitals to bypass state regulators or risk losing access to millions of CareFirst's...

Leading lender: Mid-Atlantic finds ways to do the hard deals.(Mid-Atlantic Business Finance Co.)
June 25, 1999... Mid-Atlantic finds ways to do the hard deals Randall Nixon needed a lender to serve up $780,000 to expand his growing catering business. His bank, Maryland Permanent Bank & Trust Co., didn't want to do the deal solo. So, on the bank's...

Hunt Valley firm fights investor wrath.(Maryland; Carnegie International Corp.)
June 25, 1999... Lowell Farkas is battling the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as investors and industry analysts, to save his Hunt Valley company's reputation. Carnegie International Corp. filed a $1.1 billion lawsuit this month against...

Baltimore pizza chain plans to double stores.(Mamma Ilardo's Corp.)
June 25, 1999... With heady expansion plans underway, Mamma Ilardo's Corp. has learned to be one thing: flexible. The Baltimore-based pizzeria franchise company plans to double its number of stores from 50 to 100 within a year. To do so, the company has...

Semmes loses $3.5 million negligence suit.(Semmes, Bowen & Semmes)
June 25, 1999... Semmes, Bowen & Semmes, one of Baltimore's largest law firms, has been ordered to pay $3.5 million to a New Jersey packaging company that claimed it lost a lucrative patent because of the firm's negligence. Sebro Packaging Corp., a...

PET scan approval means bucks for docs; Pikesville's Advanced Radiology hopes to cash in on new technology's potential.(Maryland; Positron Emission Tomography)
June 25, 1999... Pikesville's Advanced Radiology hopes to cash in on new technology's potential Dr. Ethan J. Spiegler spends much of each day surveying computerized cross-sections of human anatomies for growing cancers, a job made easier by a new scanning...

Skipping class ... Caliber Learning considers future in 'virtual' education.(Caliber Learning Network Inc.)
June 25, 1999... Caliber Learning considers a future in 'virtual' education When it went public a year ago, Caliber Learning Network Inc. had ambitious plans to spend millions building a network u of classrooms in malls and office parks around the country....

Keeping faith: Schulweis stays in the hotel fray.(Real Estate Quarterly)(Town & Country Trust CEO and Schulweis Realty Inc. Pres. Harvey Schulweis)
June 25, 1999... Schulweis stays in the hotel fray Harvey Schulweis doesn't like being called an outsider when it comes to doing business in Baltimore. As chief executive of Baltimore-based apartment complex operator Town & Country Trust and president...

A conversation with ... James P. O'Conor.(O'Conor, Piper & Flynn ERA CEO)(Interview)
June 25, 1999... chief executive officer, O'Conor, Piper & Flynn ERA O'Conor, Piper & Flynn ERA is one of the most recognizable business names in the Baltimore area. The real estate company's blue and gold signs are ubiquitous in suburban, rural and...

It's in the mail: direct-mail company leaves the basement.(Imaging Mailing Services Group Inc.)
June 25, 1999... Direct-mail company leaves the basement As David Oleksik surveys the new location of his direct-mail business, Imaging Mailing Services Group Inc., he can hardly believe that this is the concept he and his wife Barbara began in the basement...