Baltimore Business Journal articles from September 1998

Baltimore Business Journal archives from September 1998

Lasky can keep hotel stake. (investor Michael W. Lasky; Harbor Inn Pier V in Baltimore, Maryland)
September 25, 1998... john Paterakis Jr. paid Inphomation Communications' bankruptcy trustee $425,000, in a deal allowing Michael W. Lasky to keep a 25 percent stake in Harbor Inn Pier V. In a U.S. Bankruptcy Court settlement with trustee Paul-Michael Sweeney,...

McBranding: McCormick tweaks its merchandising.
September 25, 1998... McCormick & Co. Inc.'s recent rebound has been built on quick tacos and chicken-in-a-bag. McCormick's efforts to re-energize its lines of flavorings and seasonings in its domestic supermarket business - an effort built around shopper...

Cash-heavy Chevy Chase targets Balt. (Chevy Chase Bank; Baltimore, Maryland)
September 25, 1998... Fueled with cash from the recent sale of its credit card portfolio, Chevy Chase Bank will soon be muscling in on the local market with plans to open as many as 163 locations in Giant Food stores in the Baltimore-Washington area. According to...

Lackluster hospitals face moment of truth.
September 25, 1998... As competition for fewer and fewer patients gets fiercer, time may be running out for some Maryland hospitals. With the state this spring imposing stricter rules on how much hospitals can charge for services, as well as a full-blown...

Reaction to dissident at Provident mixed. (dispute between Provident Bankshares Inc.'s management and shareholder activist Jerry Sheaver)
September 25, 1998... Provident Bankshares Inc. shareholders interviewed this week had mixed reactions to a brewing fight between the bank's management and a shareholder activist pushing Provident to sell. George D. Edwards II, a local management consultant and...

Hopkins credit union tries new kind of teller.
September 25, 1998... A need to reduce long lines and increase security prompted the Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union to become the first financial institution in Maryland to replace the traditional teller counter with an interactive television system. The $92...

State buys Crestar building on Baltimore St. (Maryland)
September 25, 1998... The state of Maryland has paid $46 million for the Crestar Bank building, a 327,000-square-foot office tower at 120 E. Baltimore St. State Treasurer Richard N. Dixon, a member of the state Board of Public Works, said the Maryland Retirement...

Suds city: Baltimore restaurants are using local beers to draw crowds.
September 25, 1998... Walk into the new ESPN Zone, and chances are most guests are not enjoying the King of Beers or taking part in Miller Time. The tourists and local pub crawlers who filter into the restaurant and bar are more often drawn to the 10 craft or...

Marriott takes on destination management. (Marriott Corp.)
September 25, 1998... Tours, transportation and party arrangements for conferences and meetings - a service domain long held by independent destination management companies - are getting formidable new competition from Marriott Corp. and other hotels seeking new...

Dissident wants Provident sold. (shareholder activist Jerry Shearer; Provident Bankshares Corp.)
September 18, 1998... Prominent Carolina shareholder activist cites performance in push to find buyer Calling its stock price abysmal and its performance ratios poor, a well-known shareholder activist is pushing for the sale of Provident Bankshares Corp., parent...

Office tower on Lombard up for sale. (Baltimore office building)
September 18, 1998... Another of Baltimore's signature office towers is about to hit the market. J.P. Morgan & Co., the New York investment banking powerhouse which controls the 300 E. Lombard St. office tower, has solicited proposals from area real estate firms...

Nauticos hopes to swim with the big boys.
September 18, 1998... Employees at Nauticos LLC are used to standing behind the camera while they map sea floors and shipwrecks. These days, they are finding themselves in front of the camera more often. Nauticos, a Hanover-based ocean sciences and engineering...

Texas lender scouts region. (Guardian Savings and Loan Assn. to put up Baltimore-area branch)
September 18, 1998... A Houston-based thrift is setting up shop in the Baltimore area as part of its plan to expand nationwide. Guardian Savings and Loan Association, which is fueling its expansion with cash from the sale of 18 branches in Texas last year, has...

Spectera eyes growth, buys Californian firm. (EyeCare Service Plan Inc.)
September 18, 1998... Spectera Inc. acquired another eye-care company this month, picking up an additional 100 employees and about 120,000 vision plan members. By buying Los Angeles-based EyeCare Service Plan Inc. for an undisclosed sum, the Woodlawn company...

Jos. A Bank awaits money owed by state. (Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc.)
September 18, 1998... After a summer of delays, the state of Maryland might finally pay the $600,000 it owes Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. as part of an agreement inked earlier this year that kept 300 jobs in Baltimore. In April, the Hampstead-based menswear...

Igene hopes pigment will put it in the pink. (IGENE Biotechnology Inc.)
September 18, 1998... Igene Biotechnology Inc. is facing the abyss. In its third-quarter report, the company said it "will not be able to continue in existence" if it does not raise additional capital and somehow generate profits. The company has lost $24.3...

Weiberg merger no surprise to other firms. (merger of law firm Weinberg & Green with Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul)
September 18, 1998... Baltimore law firm Weinberg & Green's merger announcement may have come out of the blue, but experts predict there are more mergers to come. Weinberg & Green's pending marriage to Philadelphia firm Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul is indicative of...

Old guard leaving Brown.(includes related article on former BT Alex. Brown Inc. executive W. Gar Richlin's appointment as chief financial officer and executive vice president of Sitel Corp.)(resignation of six BT Alex. Brown Inc. executives)
September 4, 1998... At least six of BT Alex. Brown Inc.'s top executives have left or plan to leave as control of the investment banking firm gradually shifts to its new owner, sources close to the firm say. However, company officials say that while the...

A new medium: for The Sync, it's the content that counts.(World Wide Web broadcasting firm)
September 4, 1998... For The Sync, it's the content that counts You won't find "Snack Boy" on ABC. You won't even find him on MTV. Snack Boy, Terry Crummitt's cheese snack-eating alter ego, can only be seen on the Internet, courtesy of The Sync, a...

MCI to shut Linthicum operations.(MCI Telecommunications Corp.; Baltimore, Maryland)
September 4, 1998... MCI Telecommunications Corp. will close its Anne Arundel County operations next month. a move that will take 665 jobs from the county. The telecommunications giant will vacate its Linthicum location Oct 30, according to documents filed...

Expensive 1st National name change looms.(First National Bank of Maryland)
September 4, 1998... First National Bank of Maryland expects to spend between $8 million and $15 million on its new name and logo. So far, the Baltimore-based company reports having spent about $2 million on research, which includes months of painstakingly...

Ryder picks Odenton for distribution site.(Ryder System Inc.; Anne Arundel County, Maryland)
September 4, 1998... A division of transportation giant Ryder System Inc. is moving a major distribution facility from northern Virginia to Anne Arundel County. Ryder integrated Logistics, a shipping subsidiary and the Miami trucking company's fastest...

Analysts, investors still bully on Ciena-Tellabs.(merger between Ciena Corp. and Tellabs Inc.)
September 4, 1998... More delays in shareholder meetings at Ciena Corp. and Tellabs Inc. are just postponing the inevitable, analysts and investors say. People who are closely following the impending marriage of Linthicum-based telecommunications firm Ciena...

Investor bags a $10M prize.(Winfield Capital Corp.)
September 4, 1998... Winfield Capital Corp., a federally regulated investment company with local ties, recently saw its stake in a small Connecticut technology company quintuple in value. Now, Winfield Capital, which made its investment less than a year...

Building on a dream: USinternetworking shakes up tech world.(Special Report: Technology: Focus on Anne Arundel County)
September 4, 1998... The story of USinternetworking Inc. closely parallels the story of its chairman and chief executive officer, Christopher McCleary. Big things are expected of both. And both are attracting a lion's share of attention. ...

Second time around: entrepreneurs give it another try.(Growth Strategies)(Raymond V. Haysbert Sr. and Michael Uhlfelder)
September 4, 1998... At its peak in 1989, Parks Sausages Co. grossed $28.5 million a year, but the slide came fast and hard. By June 1996, things had gotten so bad that Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., a black World War II aviator who joined the company one year...

Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc.(Proxy Reports Excerpt)(Company Profile)
September 4, 1998... Corporate Profile Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc., a technology company which manufactures devices that reduce background noise and improve sound quality, has had a busy year. The Linthicum-based company, best known for its...