Baltimore Business Journal articles from October 2001

Baltimore Business Journal archives from October 2001

Arundel nabs 150 new jobs.(Anne Arundel County, Maryland)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Sears, Roebuck and Co., the Illinois retail giant, has taken a large slice of space in an Odenton industrial park for a new regional repair center that will bring 150 new jobs to Anne Arundel County. The company leased 106,000 square feet...

Biotechs eye city for expansion.(Infinite Biomedical Technologies, Chesapeake PERL)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Two emerging bioscience companies that list Baltimore in their expansion plans could give the region's commercial life sciences business a boost. Infinite Biomedical Technologies, a California medical device company with ties to Johns...

Tourney loses State Farm.(Senior PGA Tour event in Baltimore)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... State Farm Insurance, the title sponsor of Greater Baltimore's Senior PGA Tour event since 1998, has pulled its $1.5 million investment in the annual golf tournament. The Bloomington, Ill.-based insurance firm's decision not to sponsor the...

USi's woes put taxpayer money in peril.(USinternetworking Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Losses and layoffs continue to plague USinternetworking Inc., a technology firm that was given millions of dollars in assistance and tax breaks by Maryland and Anne Arundel County. The Annapolis-based company has been hit hard by the...

St. Louis news blues.(Sinclair Broadcast Group ends news operation in St. Louis)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., a Sparks company that runs 62 television stations nationwide, is folding its St Louis news operation to trim costs amid declining ad revenues. The cut, at ABC affiliate KDNL-TV in St. Louis, leaves that...

No sweet deal for Key.(Key Bank and Trust stake in Naron Mary Sue Candies)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Key Bank & Trust has a special interest in the pending sale of Naron Mary Sue Candies Inc. The Owings Mills bank has a $650,000 lien on the faltering candy company. Bank officials hope to be able to recover that amount when the company is...

Techie High.(Baltimore City plans Digital Harbor High School)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Move over jocks and preps, here come the computer nerds. Baltimore City is going through with its plan to establish a high school devoted entirely to training students in information technology. Baltimore's first "Digital Harbor High...

Gainers & Losers.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... With a losing team and a disgruntled fan base, the Orioles must really be lamenting the loss of ticket-selling Cal. Interest rates Now is the time to refinance that mortgage. What it means for the rest of the economy, only time will tell....

With war looming, oil investors staying calm.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... If CNN reports that the United States is dropping bombs on Kabul or Green Beret troops have infiltrated the Afghan mountains, money manager Richard Koloski isn't going to panic. Koloski, president and portfolio manager of Petroleum &...

Acme: Paper, plastic and a touch of Iron.(Acme Paper and Supply Co.)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Of the throngs of fans that will pack Camden Yards for Cal Ripken's last hurrah this weekend, thousands will take home a small piece of history: a plastic cup, emblazoned with the Iron Man's image and a few words commemorating the occasion. ...

Office vacancy rate higher in Columbia.(Maryland)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... The vacancy rate for the Baltimore metropolitan office market continued to inch upward, according to a third quarter report from Mac-Kenzie Commercial Real Estate Services LLC of Lutherville. The total market vacancy rate hovered around...

Dixon denied.
October 5, 2001... A rezoning bill that would clear the way for a residential project behind the Papermoon Diner in Baltimore City's Remington section remained on the planning commission's agenda this week -- despite a request to the contrary from the City...

Inflation could give banks a net margin boost.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... It appears that while banks are still being nagged by falling net interest margins, some analysts believe that relief could come in the form of an unlikely ally -- inflation. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Christopher Marinac, who...

Legg teams with bank.(Legg Mason Wood Walker agreement with First Trust Bank of Charlotte)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., the brokerage arm of Legg Mason Inc., signed a referral agreement with First Trust Bank of Charlotte, N.C., to provide the commercial bank's clients with brokerage services. The agreement comes at a time when...

Fund using convertibles.(Greenspring Fund)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... The Greenspring Fund (www.greenspringfund.com), a Lutherville-based mutual fund that invests in value stocks, has done pretty well over the past year and a half investing heavily in convertible bonds. Convertible bonds are bonds that pay...

Adams Express Co.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Closed-end funds Adams Express Co. and Petroleum & Resources Corp. have named Edward J. Kelly III to their boards of directors. Kelly, 47, is president and chief executive officer of Mercantile Bankshares Corp. He replaced long-time CEO H....

Sandy Spring Bank.(Frank D. Moran Jr. named director of security)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Sandy Spring Bank (www.ssnb.com) of Olney has hired a security director to protect the $2 billion banks assets and employees. Frank D. Moran Jr. was hired as vice president. director of security. He will oversee the banks security...

Annapolis native plots new restaurant plan.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... An Annapolis native recently opened the first of what could expand to a chain of seafood restaurants bearing the name of his hometown. Brian A Berger, a 26 year-old former server in the Legal Sea Foods restaurant chain, opened his first...

Loews closes Columbia site.(Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. closes Columbia Palace 9 theater)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Howard County lost an entertainment venue and a source of income for some of its residents when the troubled Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. (www. loewscineplex.com) closed its Columbia Palace 9 theater Sept 27. The movie house buckled...

SiteWorks nears retail deal.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... A Columbia company is nearing a deal to become the exclusive local leasing agent for Bayer Properties Inc., a Birmingham, Ala., property developer. Bayer is negotiating with Columbia-based Site Works (www.siteworksonline.com), which...

Gr8 vets start new company.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... It's been a rough ride, but three former employees of Baltimore-based Gr8 LLC have landed on their feet. J.B. Siegel, former vice president of business development at Gr8, and Glenn Roeca and Lisa Wurlf-Roeca, both former senior creative...

Holes in urban Net.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Researchers at Brown University's Taubman Center for Public Policy searched through 1,506 municipal Web sites in 70 of the United States' largest cities and found most of them lacking basic information and services. Baltimore ranked No. 22...

Taking on an industry giant.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Small telephone competitors get bruised in open market Happy endings are hard to come by in the local telephone industry -- just ask the folks behind Baltimore-based Ntegrity Telecontent Services Inc. The provider of local telephone...

RWD Technologies Inc.(stock price hits 52-week low)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... NASDAQ: RWDT Columbia-based RWD Technologies Inc. continues to struggle on Wall Street. The information technology consulting firm that began selling its own software products last year hit its 52-week low of $1.85 a share Sept 27....

BBJ Tech 25: A glance at Greater Baltimore's leading public technology companies.(stock price movements)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... BBJ Tech 25: A glance at Greater Baltimore's leading public technology companies This Last Week's Week's Net Company Name ...

Bethesda.(e-centives raises funds in stock offering)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Bethesda, Md.-based e-centives raised about $24 million in a follow-on offering. The online direct marketer whose stock trades over the Swiss exchange sold 20 million shares of its common stock for about $1.24 a share.

Online Resources.(stock conversion)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Online Resources, an electronic banking software maker, converted $2.5 million worth of its convertible stock. The McLean, Va.-based company negotiated a conversion price of share 1.25 million shares, compared to the previously set $4 per share...

Cambridge Technology Group.(secures financing for VCommand subsidiary)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... McLean, Va.-based Cambridge Technology Group announced that its VCommand subsidiary secured $8 million from an undisclosed investor. VCommand will use the financing to roll out its AvStar product, a voice-activated, hands-free navigation system...

Full disclosure.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Body scanning is 'peace of mind' to some, waste of money to critics Barry Blank is a self-described health nut The 45-year-old entrepreneur from Baltimore exercises regularly. He is picky about what he eats, and he prefers getting his...

Companies should stress worker immunizations.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Employers this fall can measurably improve their operations and make a meaningful contribution to Public health by motivating their employees to be immunized against this year's strain of influenza. Within the next few weeks, flu shots will...

Healthy bottom line.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... A recent study of costs associated with flu among U.S. workers age 18-64 indicated strong financial reasons supporting employee immunization. When all costs were analyzed, including lost time and other secondary costs, vaccinating healthy...

Educate, encourage.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Put aside the old tales of immunization causing flu symptoms. It just doesn't happen. Those few individuals who have allergies to poultry or eggs -- the source of biomaterials present in flu vaccine -- should consult their physicians before...

Make it easy.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Inconvenience is probably an individual's greatest barrier to getting a flu shot -- we're all leading increasingly busy lives and one more errand can add inordinate stress. The best way to solve this issue is to offer flu shots on-site through...

Med schools adding mind-body courses.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... For Anthony Graves, a Johns Hopkins medical school education came with all that he expected -- coughs, corpuscles, cadavers. But he also got some things he did not expect, including lectures in each of his first two years on things like...

Xavier picks Tide Point complex for expansion.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Another health care company is crashing what once was a tech party at Tide Point Two months after Performax, a health plan broker and administrator, announced plans to move to the waterfront office space, Xavier Health Care Services Inc....

Extension for IHS.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Integrated Health Services, the Sparks-based nursing home chain that filed for bankruptcy last year, has asked for more time to file its reorganization plan, according to bankruptcy experts. Christopher Studdard of Boston-based...

Erickson recognized.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Erickson Retirement Communities, the Catonsville-based developer of retirement communities, is the 12th largest developer of senior housing, according to the American Senior Housing Association. Erickson (www.ericksonretirement.com) moved...

Largest clothing retailers in the Baltimore area.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Largest clothing retailers in the Baltimore area (Ranked by number of Baltimore area locations) Rank/ Name Number of Number of last Address Baltimore area locations year Phone...

People.
October 5, 2001... The People section publicizes management level hirings and promotions of area business people. We also publicize elections to nonprofit and charitable organizations. We do not run professional certifications or designations. Send announcements...

Taking Stock.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... [Graph omitted] [Graph omitted] Taking Stock The BBJ Index [*] of 83 stocks closed at 1124.42 on Oct. 3, 2001. Price Corporation 10/3/01 % Change Weekly...

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Corporate profile Along with the rest of the broadcasting sector, Sinclair Broadcast Group has suffered through this year's advertising downturn. And like many other broadcasters whose stations stayed with commercial-free news coverage of...

Home sales, prices soared in region, nation.(in 2000)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 5, 2001... If you're thinking of buying or selling a new home, you're in good company. New home sales in the United States have climbed from 545,000 sales in 1980 to 907,000 sales in 2000. The sale of existing homes in 2000 rose to more than 5.1 million....

Rewarding employees.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Employee attitudes have changed dramatically in the past decade. Instead of being devoted to one company in quest of a lifetime career, employees jump from company to company in pursuit of greater opportunity. This environment makes it...

Cal's a role model for everyone.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Imagine an employee who is loyal, never gets sick and keeps a good attitude even in the worst of times. If you're lucky enough to have someone like that on your staff, now imagine trying to replace him. Such is the challenge to the...

Back up your business.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Security has always been a concern for most businesses. But in an age when crucial information is stored on tiny, vulnerable microchips, business security should be an essential part of any corporate strategy. In last week's Business...

Never getting the chance to say what you really feel.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Unlike many journalists, I have not found solace in writing my personal feelings about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. I don't expect it would be cathartic for me. Everyone is sad, angry, confused and scared. Just add my name to the list....

From the Editor.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Reality hit the technology industry in the Past year, forcing many firms that had survived only on other people's money to start producing their own. For some, the task was just too much. At the Baltimore Business Journal, we chronicled their...

Alex. Brown name dropped.(It will be renamed Deutsche Bank Securities)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... German banking giant Deutsche Bank announced it will drop the Alex. Brown name -- a Baltimore institution for more than 200 years -- from its U.S. operations. The firm's U.S. brokerage business will be renamed Deutsche Bank Securities and its...

Aether cuts 280 jobs.(Aether Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Owings Mills-based Aether Systems Inc., a developer of wireless technologies, confirmed that the company plans to fire another 280 workers in three of its offices. The cuts affect workers at the company's headquarters, its software division in...

Legg Mason new Royce Funds owner.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Legg Mason Inc. completed its acquisition of the New York-based Royce Funds Monday, and also got a slap on the wrist from the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to control a portfolio manager who allegedly tried to mislead...

Report Md. Medicaid debt tops $150M.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Maryland, considered one of the most advanced state's for health care reform in the country, has racked up a Medicaid funding shortfall of about $150 million, according to Tuesday's Washington Post The newspaper said that the figure is part of...

CSX pays city for derailment costs.(Railroad pays the city of Baltimore)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... Baltimore city received a $373,573 payment from CSX Corp. The payment is compensation to the city for overtime costs paid to city emergency workers after a July train derailment in the underground Howard Street Tunnel.

NFB to build research center.(National Federation of the Blind to build research and training facilty in Baltimore)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2001... The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) plans to break ground Oct. 19 for its 5-story, 170,000-square-foot National Research and Training Institute for the Blind in Baltimore. The $18 million institute will add-more than 60 new jobs to the...

Baltimore shifts tech strategy.(Baltimore, Maryland rethinks strategy for creating more high-tech jobs)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... Loss of 600 tech workers tempers aggressive plan to boost jobs Baltimore City is pulling back on its aggressive plans to create nearly 2,000 new technology jobs by 2004 and more than 30 new tech businesses each year. The city, which...

Partners leave city law firm.(Blum, Yumkas, Mailman, Gutman & Denick P.A.)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Blum, Yumkas hit by defections to Hodes Three partners and an associate from the Baltimore law firm of Blum, Yumkas, Mailman, Gutman & Denick PA boiled for a competitor this month as the firm fights a $2 million malpractice lawsuit. ...

Hospitals face war-related staff shortages.(Baltimore, Maryland)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... America's war against terrorism could hinder Greater Baltimore hospitals' battle with staff shortages. As the United States military retaliates against terrorist groups in Afghanistan, area hospitals are taking stock of the number of...

First Mariner sets secondary offering.(First Mariner Bancorp)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... First Mariner Bancorp successfully completed its secondary offering of 1.5 million shares of common stock to the public. The Baltimore-based bank run by Ed Hale raised $10.87 million Oct. 5 at $7.25 a share. First Mariner, which has $715...

City loses $22.8M in convention deals.(Baltimore, Maryland)
October 12, 2001... Baltimore has lost five conventions worth about $22.8 million since Sept. 11, officials with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association said at the group's annual meeting. The meeting was subdued largely by concerns over the ailing...

More flights planned for BWI.(Baltimore Washington International Airport)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Officials with AirTran Airways, the newest airline to join the fold at Baltimore Washington International Airport, said their December launch date is just the beginning of an expansion effort that will bring more flights to BWI. Orlando,...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
October 12, 2001... * In the Technology Resource Guide [Vol. 19, Oct. 5-11, Page 22A], Quantum Internet Services Inc. was listed with their old address. The company's new address is 2975 Manchester Road, Suite B, Manchester, MD 21102. * The Book of Lists 2001...

Columbus Center limbo.(Baltimore business news briefs)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute is not a leasing agent, but the state-supported organization sure feels like one. For more than a year, leaders of UMBI (www.umbi.umd.edu) have shopped around to no avail for a tenant to...

MIE Properties shops Anne Arundel Parcel.(restaurants needed to service large business area)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... A local real estate firm says it will build either a retail or restaurant development itself if it can't get its price for 28 acres near Baltimore/Washington International Airport. MIE Properties Inc. has hired real estate brokerage KLNB...

State seeks proposals for child support ad account.(Maryland, Child Support Enforcement Agency)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... Maryland's Child Support Enforcement Agency is puffing an advertising contract worth more than $100,000 up for bid. The agency, run by the state's Department of Human Resources, issued a bid request on the business Oct 2. But it did not...

Two Owings Mills men plead guilty in scheme.(Kent E. Baklor, Christopher Trikeriotis)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Two Maryland men have pleaded guilty to cheating Sovereign Bank and National Mortgage Warehouse of Cherry Hill, N.J., out of $8.5 million via a mortgage fraud scheme. Kent E. Baklor, 43, and Christopher Trikeriotis, 38, each face up to 30...

Business leaders, city team on minority expo.
October 12, 2001... Baltimore City officials are working with a local entrepreneur on a spring "minority business expo." The conference would be aimed at drawing minority-owned companies from out-of-town to invest in Baltiore by locating offices or workers...

Flu shots injected with wholesale price hike.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... It may cost you more to protect yourself from the flu this winter. A year after the nation experienced a shortage of the flu vaccine, groups that administer the vaccine are paying almost three times as much for a dose in 2001 than they did...

Rate hike rejected.(city-mandated payment for Baltimore hospitals)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Baltimore City's hospitals will have to fork over their portion of a city-mandated payment in lieu of an energy tax after all. A month after the city's 14 hospitals asked the state if they could increase their prices as a result of the $20...

Healthy meeting.(Health Care for All proposes universal health care)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Leaders of the Maryland Hospital Association have some questions for the group that is advocating universal health care for the state, Health Care for All. As a result, the two groups plan to meet later this month to discuss the nuances of...

Maryland Insurance Administration.(rejects price hike request from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... The Maryland Insurance Administration again rejected a request by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to raise rates for open enrollment health insurance products by more than 50 percent. The administration originally rejected the proposal...

Anne Arundel Health System.(to open new hospital in Annapolis, Maryland)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 12, 2001... Anne Arundel Health System (www.aahs.org) has announced that it will open its new Annapolis hospital Dec. 2. The six-story, 277,000-square-foot facility is located on the health system's medical campus on Jennifer Road. The $65 million...

Zurich says it expects higher losses from attack.(Zurich Financial Services Group)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Swiss-based Zurich Financial Services Group, which employs 1,200 people in Baltimore, says it's hurting a lot more than it initially expected from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. zurich, which operates its insurance business in Baltimore...

Money for First Mariner.(secondary offering)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... First Mariner Bancorp successfully completed its secondary offering of 1.5 million share's of common stock to the public last week. The Baltimore-based bank, run by Ed Hale, raised $10.87 million Oct. 5 at $7.25 a share. Advest Inc., of...

Legg opportunistic.(sales office in Spain)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Legg Mason Inc. (www.leggmason.com) executives said they were being truly opportunistic when they opened their new institutional sales office this month in Madrid, Spain. Legg Mason recruited at least three Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette...

T. Rowe Price Group Inc.(relocates Baltimore call center)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Group Inc. has decided to move its 400-person call center to new class "A" office space in downtown Tampa, Fla. The company will move the call center, run by T. Rowe Price subsidiary T. Rowe Price Services Inc.,...

Legg Mason Inc.(acquired Royce Funds)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Legg Mason Inc. completed its acquisition of the New York-based Royce Funds. Shareholders of the five Royce mutual funds approved the acquisition Sept. 14. The Royce fund family, which specialized in small-cap stocks, will keep its...

SSA Baltimore Federal Credit Union.(opens its sixth branch)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... The SSA Baltimore Federal Credit Union opened a new branch on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills, its sixth branch.

BACVA pushes city's safety as selling tool.(Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association is shifting its marketing Strategy to lure conventions apprehensive about meeting in New York and Washington, D.C. "We are in the process of coming up with some new ads," that will...

Hotel amenities cut.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Baltimore's hoteliers are now cutting back the hours of operation for many of their in-house facilities to cut costs. Hotel restaurants, pools, lounges and other facilities are open as many as five hours fewer than they' were before the...

Travel forecast grim.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Companies that depend on business and leisure travelers aren't likely to see relief any time soon. About 58 percent of domestic companies expect to cut back on corporate travel between now and mid-2002, according to a forecast on the $568...

Region's tech bash gets cash.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Slashed budgets, mass layoffs and a few bankruptcies can't stop at least one local trade group from throwing its annual bash. The dragging economy -- and the tragic events of Sept. 11 -- have not prevented the Greater Baltimore Technology...

Maryland Technology Development Corp.
October 12, 2001... The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (www.mary landtedco.org) received $125,000 from the Small Business Administration to fund programs to connect tech firms with researchers at historically black universities.

WebAdvantage.net.(marketing firm gets new clients)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... WebAdvantage.net, the online marketing firm based in Aberdeen, landed three new clients: George Washington University, Stateline.org and Bond Beebe Strategic Solutions.

The ScientificWorld Inc.(bought Web site, ScienceWise)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... The ScientificWorld Inc. a Florida-based software company paid an undisclosed amount of cash for Gaithersburg-based ScienceWise, a Web site that targets science and engineering industries.

War delays tech legislation.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2001... Internet education, 'digital divide' bills get pushed back Federal legislation that would have helped Maryland's technology community is getting little attention on Capitol Hill these days because of the attacks of Sept. 11 and the...