Baltimore Business Journal articles from May 1998

Baltimore Business Journal archives from May 1998

Sick hospital seeks a cure. (New Children's Hospital negotiates with North Arundel Health System)
May 1, 1998... The New Children's Hospital, short on profits and patients, is negotiating a deal with North Arundel Health System that could end inpatient services at the hospital. The continuance of outpatient services at Children's is still undetermined,...

Seeing alternatives: trio hopes to profit from new therapies. (Complementary Care Co. to specialize in alternative medicine)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1998... Three men have started a new Towson health care firm to capitalize on the growing popularity of alternative medicine - and hopefully dispel myths that such practices are "voodoo." Complementary Care Co. plans to make money by a network of...

Corporate revamping key for BGE: utility holding company would expand horizons. (Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1998... The yawn-inducing words "holding company" are usually banished to the corporate boardroom and mouthed only by tax lawyers or bankers. But in the wake of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s failed attempt to change an 85-year-old state law, the...

Cigar smoke causing some diners to fume. (Baltimore restaurants deal with cigar smoke)
May 1, 1998... Gail Kaplan noticed her guests at the Polo Grill weren't staying as long as they had been, and she suspected they were being smoked out. Cigar smoke had been filtering from the bar into the nonsmoking dining room, leaving guests uneasy. So...

Leeds Federal bank plans to buy back stock. (Leeds Federal Bankshares Inc.)(Company Profile)
May 1, 1998... Leeds Federal Bankshares Inc. plans to buy back up to 5.3 percent, or 275,000 shares, of its outstanding stock, hoping to boost a price that has remained steady for the last several months. "The repurchase program reflects management's belief...

Rising in value: women investment professionals look to a growing market.(Industry Overview)
May 1, 1998... Trevor and Marley Simpson had planned to retire at 50, send their children to college and buy a new car once every five years. The car accident that killed Trevor at 37 roughly eight years ago and left Marley with two sons to raise on just her...

Local ties remain secure for Silicon Valley Bank.
May 1, 1998... Ask any small-business owner what the biggest obstacle to his or her company's growth is, and the answer is almost universal - not enough money. For technology firm owners, who may have to toil for years developing a hard-to-understand product...

McColl: NationsBank merger won't kill local focus. (interview with Hugh McColl, Jr., CEO of NationsBank Corp. of Charlotte, NC)(Interview)
May 1, 1998... On April 13, NationsBank Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., and BankAmerica Corp. of San Francisco announced a $60 billion merger to create a banking network that would stretch nationwide. Last week, Hugh McColl Jr., the chief executive of NationsBank,...

Bank chiefs paid big to keep shareholders happy.
May 1, 1998... Even though CEOs' compensation is increasing these days, their ranks are dwindling, analysts say Buoyed by record profits, skyrocketing stock prices and a surging economy, banks in the Baltimore-Washington region rewarded their top executives...

'Net exec wired for growth. (USinternetworking CEO Christopher R. McCleary)
May 8, 1998... A well-funded new Internet-services company put its headquarters near Annapolis and plans to build a 1,000-employee work force in the next 18 months. Christopher R. McCleary, chief executive of USinternetworking, signed a lease for the...

Mixed messages: WBAL blends news, advertising in spots. (WBAL-TV's 'Woman's Doctor' segment is part of a commercial relationship between Mercy Medical Center and the television station)
May 8, 1998... Four times a week, WBAL-TV viewers are served up a story on women's health issues that prominently features doctors at Mercy Medical Center. What viewers don't see is that the "Woman's Doctor" segment is part of a commercial relationship...

Four St. Louis execs buy area cable firm. (John Brooks, Kelvin Westbrook, Jeffrey Sanders and Charles Payer, Jr.; North Arundel Cable System; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland)
May 8, 1998... Four St. Louis cable executives paid approximately $108 million to buy North Arundel Cable System - the first step in their quest to build a nationwide cable empire. The group founded Millennium Digital Media LLC last year and made its first...

NationsBank remains top dog in Baltimore. (Baltimore, Maryland)
May 8, 1998... NationsBank Corp. once again emerged as the Baltimore area's market-share leader with nearly $5 billion in deposits. Maintaining their hold on the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively, were First Maryland Bancorp and Mercantile Bankshares, neither...

National distributors pour into local liquor industry. (purchase of Kronheim Companies Inc. by National Distributing Company Inc.)(Special Report: Distribution)
May 8, 1998... Last fall, Kronheim Cos. Inc., distributors of Jim Beam bourbon, Inglenook wines, Concha y Toro Chilean wine, and Heineken beer in Maryland and Washington, was bought by Atlanta-based National Distributing Co. Inc. The purchase is in line with...

The Rouse Co. (Proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 8, 1998... Corporate Profile THE ROUSE COMPANY The Rouse Co. accomplished significant mile- stones in 1997. Total earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes were a record $181.4 million, an increase of 30 percent over the $139.4 million recorded...

Sinclair moving to county. (Sinclair Broadcast Group; Hunt Valley)
May 15, 1998... Sinclair Broadcast Group next year will move its corporate headquarters from Baltimore to a planned office tower in Hunt Valley. Sinclair officials confirmed this week that its headquarters staff of the fast-growing company, about 60 people,...

A business transplant: new chief executive revives Maryland's transplant center. (Marion Borowiecki; Transplant Resource Center of Maryland Inc.)
May 15, 1998... Following several disappointing years for organ donation in Maryland, trustees at the Transplant Resource Center of Maryland Inc. faced a difficult decision last winter. They had already asked for and received the resignation of the centers...

Bank robberies fall dramatically in city. (Baltimore, MD)
May 15, 1998... The Baltimore region's bank robbery rate, once one of the highest in the country, has plummeted to its lowest point in recent years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Baltimore office reports that there have been 30 bank robberies in the...

Publisher is hoping to climb out of the cellar. (Bancroft Press)
May 15, 1998... Bruce Bortz is banking on a story about a journalist-turned-serial killer, Marion Barry, and a contrarious take on the assassination of John F. Kennedy to make Bancroft Press into a success story. By the end of the year, Bortz, Baltimore-based...

Medlantic/Helix eyes growth after merger. (interview with Medlantic/Helix Health System CEO John P. McDaniel and Pres. Michael Merson)(Interview)
May 15, 1998... Medlantic Health System of Washington and Helix Health System of Baltimore finalized their merger May 7, creating the largest community-owned health system on the East Coast. Medlantic/Helix Health System runs seven hospitals, including...

Finding workers who fit the mold: manufacturers are going on the offensive to attract workers to the industry.(Special Report: Manufacturing)
May 15, 1998... Manufacturers are going on the offensive to attract more workers to the industry 'Manufacturing has kind of lost its zest. Working in the plant just is not glamorous.' The U.S. Filter/Filtration and Separation Group in Timonium employs...

Manufacturers embrace eco-friendly strategies.(Special Report: Manufacturing)
May 15, 1998... During the past five years, Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.'s switch from using toxic degreasing solvents to citrus-based solvents to clean power plant and vehicle machinery has reduced hazardous waste generation from the cleaning process by 98...

New law gives tax break to tech firms.(Special Report: Manufacturing)
May 15, 1998... A new state law is giving biotech and computer software firm owners in Maryland something to cheer about. The new law expands the definition of manufacturing in the state tax code to include these firms and gives them a break on property taxes....

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 15, 1998... Corporate profile T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. reported another year of record results for 1997, the first year of George A Roche's term as chairman and president. Investment assets under management reached $124.3 billion, generating record...

REIT plans bid on Candler. (real estate investment trust Boston Properties Candler Building)
May 22, 1998... Boston Properties, the acquisitive real estate company that paid a record price for the IBM Building on Pratt Street last October, is emerging as a top bidder for the Candler Building on Market Place. According to sources in the real estate...

US Airways to replace BWI flights. (Baltimore/Washington International Airport)
May 22, 1998... Discount MetroJet to take most slots US Airways plans to replace most of its traditional flights at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with its new low-cost MetroJet flights, company officials said. US Airways plans to launch...

New job, familiar face. (NationsBank Corp. President John Morton III)
May 22, 1998... Former MNB exec in charge at Nations John Morton III, a former Maryland National Bank executive who once took on two troubled thrifts, is back on his home turf. Morton returned to Baltimore in February to become president of NationsBank...

Agency touting deaf market. (state administered telephone service provider Maryland Relay)
May 22, 1998... Maryland Relay wants to be heard. The state-administered phone service that connects the deaf to the hearing has kicked off a $250,000 marketing campaign aimed at raising awareness of the still little-known service - and allow businesses to...

Ex-partner sues law firm. (law firm Gebhardt & Smith)
May 22, 1998... An acrimonious parting has left a prestigious Baltimore law firm and a former partner pitted against one another in a dispute over money and loyalty. The altercation started in February, when David R. Naka, a former partner at Gebhardt &...

The new reality. (virtual reality in architecture)
May 22, 1998... Architects can now design entire projects without picking up a pencil The Design Collective Inc. architectural staff had a problem. Developers in two cities - Dallas and Hartford, Conn. - had asked the Baltimore based architectural firm to...

Merger mania slows hospital design plans. (University of Maryland Medical System)
May 22, 1998... During the past 15 years the University of Maryland Medical System has spent millions of dollars on construction to renovate its downtown hospital and build new facilities, such as the $60 million Homer Gudelsky Building for cancer patients....

Design styles reflect new attitudes on work, home. (architectural designs)
May 22, 1998... The changing ways people relax at home and conduct business are spurring architecture professionals to move from more traditional design techniques toward modernization, experts say. The '90s emphasis on balancing work and family has led to...

Architects, engineers confer on high-tech buildings.
May 22, 1998... Times have changed. In the past, when planning a new building, the architect led the design process, and the engineer played a secondary role. Today, with more technically complex building requirements and specialized engineering systems, the...

Alex. Brown tower for sale. (Alex. Brown Building)
May 29, 1998... Less than three months after it bought the 30-story Alex. Brown Building on South Street, New York-based Blackstone Group has put the city's landmark skyscraper back on the market. Sources in the real estate industry confirmed this week that...

Change of the seasons: Lawless puts his stamp on McCormick. (McCormick & Co Inc's CEO Robert Lawless)
May 29, 1998... Lawless puts his stamp on McCormick Robert Lawless is slowly but surely taking an old-line family-run manufacturing behemoth into the 21st century. Even before taking the reins as chief executive officer of McCormick & Co. Inc. in January...

Stations go to Jacor in CBS swap. (Jacor Communications Inc and CBS Corp)
May 29, 1998... 'The Colt' divested as part of huge merger Baltimore's WOCT-FM, 104.3, is switching owners. Covington, Ky.-based Jacor Communications Inc. has agreed to swap two of its stations elsewhere for two Baltimore stations: WOCT-FM, also known as...

Healthy fees go elsewhere. (merger counsel for hospitals)
May 29, 1998... The hospital mergers of the last two-years have spurred a wave of fees for lawyers specializing in health care, but few local law firms have been able to ride it. While the trend to merge hospitals into larger health care systems has been...

Mercy unit seeks site in Baltimore County. (Mercy Ventures Inc)
May 29, 1998... A subsidiary of downtown's Mercy Medical Center is looking to relocate its headquarters. Mercy Ventures Inc., which employs 75 people, is actively searching to relocate outside of the city, according to Dan Collins, spokesman for Mercy Medical...

Baltimore City readying west side development.
May 29, 1998... The Baltimore City Council will decide next week whether to OK a proposal by the Baltimore Development Corp. to purchase 98 buildings in the downtrodden Howard Street corridor. The buildings, 36 of which are either vacant or structurally...

Pritzkers buy Rouse's warehouse properties. (Pritzker family and Rouse Co)
May 29, 1998... The real estate arm of one of the country's richest families is buying two warehouse buildings in Columbia - more than 1.2 million square feet of industrial real estate - from the Rouse Co. for $36 million, according to sources in the real estate...

Neubauer leaves Taneytown Bank & Trust. (Monocacy Bancshares CEo Frank W. Neubauer)
May 29, 1998... Frank W. Neubauer, the aggressive chief executive officer and president of Monocacy Bancshares who spearheaded several expansions, resigned suddenly from his post last week after six years with the company. In an interview Tuesday, Neubauer...