Baltimore Business Journal articles from May 1996

Baltimore Business Journal archives from May 1996

May looking at Arundel: huge warehouse would serve Hecht stores. (May Department Stores Co.; Ann Arundel County, Maryland)
May 3, 1996... The parent company of the Hecht Co. department store chain is close to buying a large parcel of land in Anne Arundel County where it would build a mammoth, 700,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center. The May Co. facility, which would...

Tax perk drives state's plan on export growth. (tax credit proposal for Maryland exporters)
May 3, 1996... Maryland companies that increase export sales by 10 percent could get tax breaks of up to $250,000 annually under a Glendening administration plan to bolster the state's international trade sector. Companies would have to increase jobs by 10...

Hopkins' strategy triggers questions. (Johns Hopkins Health System's Employee Health Plans managed care plan)
May 3, 1996... A new venture by Johns Hopkins Health System, whose executives have been itching to get on the managed care bandwagon, is drawing the attention of competitors who are questioning exactly how Hopkins' new entity will function. One of the most...

Go or stay? Growing biotech firm weighs move. (U.S. Biomaterials Corp.)
May 3, 1996... One of Baltimore's fastest-growing biotechnology companies is looking for larger quarters as it moves to consolidate its management and manufacturing facilities. James L. Meyers, president of White Marsh-based USBio-materials Corp., said the...

Columbia firm expanding into East Baltimore. (Dynatech Integrated Systems Inc.)
May 3, 1996... Empowerment zone package to help Dynatech add 21 jobs A Columbia technology company plans to expand into Baltimore's federal empowerment zone, creating 21 new high-tech jobs in an East Baltimore neighborhood. Dynatech Integrated Systems....

Md. business failures rise in first quarter. (Maryland; 1996)
May 3, 1996... Increase blamed on 1995 woes; economists predicting better days ahead in 1996 Nearly 200 Maryland businesses failed in the first three months of this year, a 30 percent increase that economists blame on last year's stagnant economy. Some...

F&G Life save credited to Greater Baltimore Alliance. (USF and G Corp.'s decision to keep life insurance subsidiary in Baltimore, Maryland area)
May 3, 1996... Ann Coscia is one for one. Hired in September as the executive director of the Greater Baltimore Alliance, Coscia is widely credited with pulling together a successful package that persuaded USF&G Corp. executives to keep their 90-employee...

Slow quarter no trend, say venture capitalists.
May 3, 1996... Venture capital investments in Maryland slowed down in the first three months this year after reaching record levels in 1995. Venture capitalists invested $6.1 million in four deals in the state as of March 31, according to a new survey by...

Crown 'welcomes' investigation into crude prices. (Crown Central Petroleum Corp.)
May 3, 1996... Officials at Baltimore's Crown Central Petroleum Corp. do not expect their business to be hurt by the current controversy surrounding the nation's largest gasoline companies. Since February, gasoline pump prices have risen almost 15 percent...

HMOs balk at state plan. (Maryland's new rules for Medicaid)
May 10, 1996... Insurers criticize new Medicaid rules As Maryland gets ready to move virtually all Medicaid recipients into managed care, the state's health maintenance organizations are battling new rules they call burdensome and unfair. "Based on the...

Lego, Brady set to meet on huge U.S. theme park. (James T. Brady, Maryland's secretary of Business and Economic Development)
May 10, 1996... Trying to piece together a massive Lego project, Maryland's top economic official was scheduled to meet yesterday in London with officials from the Denmark-based toy manufacturer and theme park developer. James T. Brady, the state secretary of...

Liquor law may halt discount wine chain. (Total Beverage Corp.)
May 10, 1996... A discount beverage chain that is looking to expand into the Baltimore area may he thwarted by a state law that prohibits chain stores from gaining liquor licenses. Total Beverage Corp., which operates three superstores in Northern Virginia,...

Staff uproar forces Glen Burnie printer to change its plans. (Quebecor Printing USA Corp.)
May 10, 1996... A Glen Burnie printing company has backed off a plan to cut health care benefits for employees after a strong backlash from the plants' workers. But, as a cost-cutting measure, Montreal, Canada-based Quebecor Printing will continue laying off...

Sun opens talks with union; issues may be 'difficult.'
May 10, 1996... Medical benefits, wages among expected topics New contract negotiations began this week between The Sun newspaper and its largest union, a process one union official said could be "difficult." At issue are salaries, health benefits and...

First Annapolis plan: move north, add 90 jobs. (First Annapolis Consulting)
May 10, 1996... First Annapolis Consulting, an Annapolis-based financial services consulting firm, has signed a deal to move its headquarters from West Street in Annapolis to the Airport Square Technology Park in Linthicum. The 60-employee company plans to add...

Sears' plans could spell trouble for Hechinger's. (Sears, Roebuck and Co. to open hardware stores in Washington D.C.; Hechinger Co.)
May 10, 1996... Retail powerhouse Sears Roebuck and Co. plans to blanket the Washington area with hardware stores. For local heavyweight Landover-based Hechinger Co., which has been struggling the past year, the move could threaten its already tenuous position...

Union claw at Food Lion plans. (United Food and Commercial Workers Union - Local 27; Food Lion Inc.)
May 17, 1996... A union representing the area's supermarket workers will mail out 8,000 fliers imploring residents who live near a planned Food Lion Inc. supermarket not to buy groceries there. The planned Randallstown store will become a new battleground for...

PHH ready to sell information on fleet drivers. (PHH Corp.)
May 17, 1996... More than 10 million automobiles on American roads are classified as company cars. Any accident or moving violation involving such a car is easily traced back to the company. For 50 years, Hunt Valley-based PHH Corp. has been managing the...

Hechinger's comeback designs welcomed. (Hechinger Co.)
May 17, 1996... What's in store for Hechinger Co.? Guesses abound, including rumors of a takeover by Sears Roebuck and Co. - flatly denied by Hechinger - a possible rebound after flat growth for at least a year, or the death of the 84-year-old home improvement...

Montgomery real estate agents face off with computer. (Montgomery County, Maryland)
May 17, 1996... Metropolitan Washington may be an emerging technology center. But the information age hasn't come easily for many real estate agents. A sophisticated new system that's being installed this year to computerize the region's home-selling industry...

Wood pulp importer on a roll. (BalTerm)(Special Report: International Business)(Company Profile)
May 17, 1996... It's not a name that consumers recognize, but a local company called BalTerm is one of the Port of Baltimore's success stories. The Timonium-based importer of wood products, which handles most of the wood pulp coming through the port, has...

Crown Central Petroleum Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 17, 1996... Corporate profile It's been a somewhat turbulent first quarter for Crown Central Petroleum Corp., punctuated last month by a picketing session by union members at the Baltimore-based refiner's annual meeting. Union members picketed because a...

USF&G to lay off 80 more. (USF and G Corp.'s layoff at the Owing Mills claims processing division)
May 24, 1996... Insurer shifts jobs USF&G Corp. is eliminating 80 jobs at its Owings Mills claims processing division, shifting some of the jobs to centers in Atlanta and Denver. A company spokeswoman said the layoffs are part of USF&G's plan to create...

Fiber optic firm files bankruptcy. (U.S. Fiber Optics and Telecommunications Inc.)
May 24, 1996... Reorganization plan set A Columbia telecommunications equipment manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization protection this week. U.S. Fiber Optics and Telecommunications Inc., which employs about 40 people at its office and...

Information technology firm moves to Maryland from Pa. (RMS Technologies Inc.)
May 24, 1996... RMS Technologies Inc. moved its corporate headquarters from suburban Philadelphia to Lanham this month and is reorganizing to focus on communications support. Although the 19-year-old, minority-owned information technology contractor always...

BioCenter chief sets standard. (Bioprocessing Center board head Jacques Rubin)
May 24, 1996... The bubbles in the newly laid floor were minuscule, but somehow Jacques Rubin spotted them. It was during a tour Rubin was giving to a colleague at the BioCenter, then under construction in East Baltimore. Suddenly, there was Rubin,...

Guilford nears the finish line. (Guilford Pharmaceutical Inc.)
May 24, 1996... Former one-man firm grows at speedy clip Dr. Craig Smith was given a rather tall order in 1993. He was hired to go out and build a biotechnology company based on ideas and research that somebody else had decided not to pursue - not exactly...

Ceaseless pursuit of the perfect lease.
May 24, 1996... Martha Lucius and Michael Myers figured it would be easy to sign a lease for their first bagel shop. Two sets of failed negotiations and a year later, they got the contract they wanted. When Martha Lucius and Michael Myers signed a franchise...

Rouse Co. (Proxy Reports Excerpts)
May 24, 1996... Corporate profile In the year that the Columbia-based Rouse Co. lost its spiritual leader, it made bold moves and recorded record earnings that furthered Jim Rouse's legacy. The nation's leaders, from President Clinton to Baltimore Mayor Kurt...

BGE: workers must reapply. (reapplication of workforce in the merger of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Potomac Electric Power Co.)
May 31, 1996... Union may fight utilities' job plan In a decision that will affect more than 12,000 utility workers, employees of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Potomac Electric Power Co. will have to reapply for jobs with the new utility formed when the...

Creditors, bidders awaiting Parks Sausage deal; Fugett still interested; union roles examined. (Parks Sausage Co., entrepreneur Anthony S. Fugett)
May 31, 1996... Like the pork meat stuffed into casing to make Parks Sausage Co. products, labor union contracts and millions of dollars in long term debt must be stuffed into any deal that the company and investors can digest. Collective bargaining...

Businesses owed money still hoping for resolution. (planned sale of Parks Sausage Co.)(Creditors, Bidders Awaiting Parks Sausage Deal.)
May 31, 1996... April 25 turned out to be D-Day for Parks Sausage Co. That was supposed to be closing day for a deal to sell the Baltimore food manufacturer to a buyers' group led by former football player Franco Harris. When the sale did not go through, the...

AAI moves employees, enlarges local operation. (AAI Corp.)
May 31, 1996... AAI Corp. plans to bring about 35 high-paying jobs from its North Carolina and Florida facilities to the company's Baltimore County headquarters. With the help of a $15,000 county government "relocation assistance" grant, the Hunt Valley-based...

Southwest passengers to get SkyMall catalog. (Southwest Airlines Co.)
May 31, 1996... Southwest Airlines passengers can now make a in-flight trip to SkyMall for the latest offerings from specialty retailers. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. has joined 18 other domestic airlines offering in-flight shopping through...

Ravens scurry as time ticks. (activities of the marketing division of professional football team Baltimore Ravens)
May 31, 1996... Marketing team battles against clock After listening to David Cope describe what he does for a living, you get this strange, schizophrenic feeling - you pity him and wish you were in his shoes, all at the same time. Cope is the vice...

UNC Inc. (Proxy Reports Excerpts)
May 31, 1996... Corporate profile For Annapolis-based UNC Inc., 1995 was a transition year. As a result of a massive cost reduction plan, the aerospace company returned to profitability after losing almost $68 million in 1994. Over the past four years, the...