Baltimore Business Journal articles from May 1999

Baltimore Business Journal archives from May 1999

Accounting firm to sell: Reznick, Fedder to join conglomerate that plans stock sale.(Reznick, Fedder & Silverman)
May 7, 1999... Reznick, Fedder & Silverman, one of a handful of large, independent accounting firms in Maryland, is planning to sell to a national conglomerate that wants to go public. The new venture, Centerpoint Advisors Inc. of Chicago, is planning to...

Valu Food rebound is delayed.
May 7, 1999... Valu Food Inc. president Louis Denrich told a group of grocery manufacturers in January that his 10-store chain of supermarkets would have emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by now. Now more than a month into spring, Denrich has pushed that...

IHS CEO takes $3 million cut in pay.(Integrated Health Services CEO Robert N. Elkins)
May 7, 1999... Robert N. Elkins, the Integrated Health Services CEO who has long been one of the highest-paid executives in Baltimore, took a massive pay cut last year, according to the company's recently filed proxy statement. Meanwhile, the Owings...

AIDS health center expands to county.(Chase Brexton Health Services Inc.)
May 7, 1999... Anticipating an increasing need for treatment of HIV and AIDS patients outside the city, Chase Brexton Health Services Inc., the 21-year-old fixture of Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood, is expanding into Pikesville. The new Pikesville...

Investors ponder market for elderly.
May 7, 1999... With Americans graying at a rapid rate, the geriatric industry is hoping investors will continue pouring money into companies that provide health care for the elderly. In the past six months, investors have put nearly $50 million into two...

Un-wired: Aether Technologies taps into a super-hot market.
May 7, 1999... David Oros, president and chief executive of Aether Technologies, didn't surprise many third graders at McDonough School when he pulled a cell phone and pager out of a cardboard box during a kind of show-and-tell last week. After all,...

Women make their mark in high tech.
May 7, 1999... Female tech executives in the Baltimore-Washington area agree the area's burgeoning information technology sector offers unprecedented opportunities for women, and, despite some lingering problems, they are cracking the traditional glass...

Doug Humphrey.(interview with SkyCache president)(Interview)
May 7, 1999... He's only 38, but Doug Humphrey, founder and president of Laurel-based SkyCache, already has made his first $13 million and industry insiders say he is on his way to making a whole lot more. The Baltimore native and technology entrepreneur...

Is East Baltimore a tech hotbed? Some newer firms prefer city life to the sprawl of suburbia.
May 7, 1999... Some newer firms prefer city life to the sprawl of suburbia Billy Twigg and Dean Carter moved into a turn-of-the-century bank building at the corner of East Avenue and Elliott Street in Canton a few years ago. At first glance, it's not...

Sylvan Learning Systems Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 7, 1999... 1000 Lancaster St./Baltimore 21224/(410) 843-8000 Corporate profile Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. had its best year ever in 1998, with a huge jump in revenues from less than $300 million in 1997 to more than $440 million last year. With...

Moody's critiques hospitals: ratings agency says outlook is negative.(Baltimore, MD)
May 14, 1999... Moody's Investors Service Inc. predicted a negative outlook for Maryland's urban hospitals, a move that could make it more expensive for the region's health care institutions to borrow money. The April report, released this week, is...

Post time: can Joe De Francis beat the odds?(CEO of Maryland Jockey Club)(Interview)
May 14, 1999... Joseph A. De Francis is about to host the biggest party of the year in a town that likes its parties. But after the black-eyed susans are draped and the beer cans cleaned up following the 124th Preakness Stakes, the chief executive of the...

The new kids on the corporate block.(Baltimore's largest corporations)
May 14, 1999... Acquisitions and fast-growing young industries changed the face of corporate Baltimore in 1998. With its acquisition of Rykoff-Sexton in late 1997, U.S. Foodservice, the Columbia-based national food distributor, sits atop the Business...

Venture capitalists target 7 local firms.(Baltimore-area firms)
May 14, 1999... Venture capitalists from around the country poured more than $16 million into seven Baltimore-area companies in the first quarter, according to a survey released this week. The White House Inc., a Baltimore-based retail chain that sells...

Stock split will reduce profile of Bowles.(Bowles Fluidics Corp.)
May 14, 1999... Tired of federal regulations and the limelight, Columbia's Bowles Fluidics Corp. shrunk its number of shareholders to less than 300. Stockholders on April 14 voted to approve a 1-for-1,000 reverse stock split. The move essentially creates...

Port seeks manufacturers on its shores.(Port of Baltimore)
May 14, 1999... New law provides employers with tax credits for moving, expanding to area Dejected, but hardly defeated by losing a bid to attract two large shippers to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland port officials have launched a new plan to lure...

Annapolis bank CEO quits, cites differences.(John W. Marhefka Jr., CEO of Annapolis National Bancorp)
May 14, 1999... John W. Marhefka Jr., a veteran banker who led Annapolis National Bancorp through a highly successful restructuring, abruptly resigned from his post last week, citing "philosophical differences" with the board of directors. Reached at his...

Big Flower Holdings Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 14, 1999... 3 E. 54th St. / New York 10022 / (212) 521-1600 / www.tcadvertising.com Corporate profile Big Flower Holdings Inc. is a New York-based advertising and marketing company with four business segments: insert advertising and newspaper...

Deacon of debt: Bernie Dancel created a company from his own bankruptcy.(Amerix Corp.)
May 21, 1999... Bernie Dancel knows what it's like to face a mountain of bills with no way to pay them. It was about 12 years ago, when Dancel was 23 years old, that he went through a divorce and ended up supporting two households. After struggling for...

Retailer speeds growth: White House stores to double in 2 years.(White House Inc.)
May 21, 1999... White House stores to double in 2 years White House Inc., the retail chain that grew from one small boutique in Harborplace in 1986 to 50 stores in 14 states, plans to crank up that growth. The company plans to double its number of...

Sunny's CEO quits.(resignation of John D. Reir, CEO of Sunny's Great Outdoors Inc.)
May 21, 1999... John D. Reir, the man that Sunny's Great Outdoors Inc. brought in to launch a major regional expansion, left the company earlier this month to become president of a general merchandise discount chain. Fred's Inc., a Memphis-based chain that...

Rifkin spins web for e-commerce.(medical supplies offered in the Internet through AmericasDoctor.com, founded by Dr. Scott Rifkin)
May 21, 1999... AmericasDoctor.com, an Owings Mills company that answers medical questions online, is moving into the potentially lucrative world of electronic commerce with a plan to sell medical supplies over the Internet. The new online "shopping mall"...

Robots quicken the pace for candy man.(robotics used by Goetze's Candy Co., owned by Randle W. Goetze III, to increase its plant production)
May 21, 1999... The candy man just couldn't do it. Randle W. Goetze III, owner of Baltimore-based Goetze Candy Co., tried for two decades to boost productivity at the company's "Caramel Cream" candy plant. After many failed attempts, Goetze presented the...

Port seeking solace in entry of CSX rival.(entry of Norfolk Southern Corp. into the rail transport system of Baltimore, Maryland, together with CSX Corp. and Consolidated Rail Corp.)
May 21, 1999... On June 1, Baltimore becomes a two-track town again when Conrail hitches up with CSX Corp. and newcomer to the state, Norfolk Southern Corp. After nearly two years of scrutiny by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the $9.8 billion...

The grass is greener ... Neuristics ponders a future outside of Maryland.(Neuristics Corp.'s labor supply problem)
May 21, 1999... Neuristics ponders a future outside of Maryland If recruiting doesn't improve for Neuristics Corp., the Hunt Valley-based technology company might be forced to pack up and leave the region. Although Andrew Krause, founder and chief...

A conversation with ... Evan Jones.(interview with the chairman and CEO of Digene Corp.)(Interview)
May 21, 1999... Chairman and CEO, Digene Corp. Once swept under society's carpet, women's health issues are now moving to the forefront of medical science. And no company is closer to the cutting edge of that effort than Beltsville-based Digene Corp....

New regulations can open book of secrets.(proposed regulation of the Maryland Insurance Administration allowing health care providers to file complaints on behalf of their patients regarding violations of medical record confidentiality)
May 21, 1999... My friends have secrets. One friend tried to slash her wrists after she walked into her celebrity fiance's apartment and found him in bed with another woman. She spent some serious time in a mental institution, but now wants to put the whole...

Not for sail: one of Maryland's oldest companies continues to flourish.(Loane Bros. Inc.)
May 21, 1999... One of Maryland's oldest companies continues to flourish Sure, the offers come in often. But Bryan Loane, president of Loane Bros. Inc., said he's not about to give up the tent manufacturing business that has been in his family for six...

Essex Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 21, 1999... 9150 Guilford Road / Columbia, 21046 / (301) 939-7000 / www.essexcorp.com Corporate profile Essex Corp., based in Columbia, provides engineering and scientific services to the defense, space and energy industries. The company, which...

The preacher: Jim Berger spreads the good word about his Clorox plant in Aberdeen.(Baltimore, MD; plant manager)
May 28, 1999... Jim Berger, a tall 60-year-old wearing thick red suspenders and an open-collared work shirt, strides through the Clorox plant he helped design as if he were part preacher and part boastful parent He moves from the loading dock, where tanker...

Bolduc rolling anew: JPB has its eye on packaging industry.(J.P.Bolduc, founder of JPB Enterprises; acquisition of companies)
May 28, 1999... Columbia-based holding company JPB Enterprises continues to strengthen its foothold in another manufacturing industry with the purchase of Richmond, Va.-based Millhiser Inc. earlier this week for an undisclosed amount. This is the second...

Bonuses on the rise again for execs: highest-paid local executives see 82 percent increase in 1998 incentives.(Baltimore, MD)
May 28, 1999... The highest-paid executives at Baltimore-area public companies received an average raise of 17.2 percent in 1998. The raise is due to a boost in company performance and a large hike in incentive pay. Cash bonuses of the top 100 highest-paid...

USi 1st quarter loss no surprise to some; Annapolis Net firm touts partnerships.(USinternetworking Inc.; 1st quarter of 1999; Maryland)
May 28, 1999... USinternetworking Inc.'s net loss of $17.7 million in the first quarter were in line with what analysts expected to see at the year-old company. The Annapolis-based software leasing company, which held its initial public stock offering...

HMO's fearing end to discount program: open enrollment incentive examined by Maryland regulators; $40 million at stake.(health maintenance organizations)
May 28, 1999... Managed care as Maryland knows it could drastically change come December. That's when the discount that meant $40 million in savings last year to some of the state's insurers could be phased out by state regulators. Created to cover costs...

Magellan chief has big plans for future.(Magellan Health Services; Henry T. Harbin)
May 28, 1999... At ease in a golf shirt and Brooks Brothers blazer, Dr. Henry T. Harbin sits under photographs of his ancestors - four generations of physicians - and calmly explains his company's growth strategy. The chief executive of Magellan Health...

Howard County rides wave of good news; Headquarters relocations point up Columbia's attractions.
May 28, 1999... For Howard County, the business page headlines could not get much better. In the past six months, two $1.5 billion companies announced plans to move their corporate headquarters to Columbia. The two moves, though unrelated, seem to cement...

New products power B&D's 1999 rebound; keeping customers excited is crucial to tool company's revamping efforts.
May 28, 1999... Black & Decker, struggling to get back on top of its financial game, has high hopes for its newest line of consumer power tools and lawn equipment. The Towson-based tool manufacturer has reported some hefty losses in the last few quarters....

Swimming with sharks: F&M and FCNB hold their own in the merger age.(F&M Bancorp; FCNB Corp.)
May 28, 1999... Rules of banking, circa 1999: Big fish eat, little fish get eaten. And the medium fish? Well, two Frederick-based institutions have shown that they too have an appetite for acquisitions. Both F&M Bancorp and FCNB Corp. have been swallowing...

Catholic group starts 'moral' mutual funds.(Catholic Knights of America)
May 28, 1999... Catholic Knights of America, a St. Louis-based fraternal benefits association, is one of three partners in a joint venture to establish The Catholic Funds, a family of three mutual funds. The funds will include stocks of companies that give...

Orlando tries luring HQs with radio ads.(Orlando, FL; headquarters)
May 28, 1999... Washington is such fertile territory for high-tech companies that other cities are trying to lure them away. Radio spots for the Metro Orlando (Fla.) Economic Development Commission have been airing on WAMU-FM in the District of Columbia,...

Boom times: businesses target baby boomers as big growth area.
May 28, 1999... They protested vigorously. They loved freely. They drove Volkswagens, and are doing so again. Next on the list of scheduled baby boomer milestones: get rich, get old, retire. Experts say the 78 million boomers - those born between 1946 and...