Baltimore Business Journal articles from September 1999

Baltimore Business Journal archives from September 1999

MedStar hurting, S&P says.(MedStar Health's receives a bond downgrade from Standard & Poor's)
September 3, 1999... Hospital company's bonds downgraded Standard & Poor's downgraded MedStar Health's bond rating, giving the local health care system a negative outlook just as it is poised to acquire Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. ...

SBA head fights to stop cuts.(Small Business Administration)
September 3, 1999... David and Ann Casey can ship anything that fits through their store's door. Without a U.S. Small Business Administration loan, though, the Caseys would not he shipping anything at all. "For us, we wood not have been able to get involved in...

City budget ax may fall on businesses.(includes related article on the controversial payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program)(part 2)
September 3, 1999... Andy Todaro admits that he has not given much thought to what would happen to his business if the trash pick-up stopped or if fewer police officers patrolled the neighborhood. For 18 years, the owner of Montebello Delicatessen, located in...

Doctors group betting on stake in future IPO.(Medical Advisory Systems Inc.'s initial public offering)(Company Profile)
September 3, 1999... After years of quietly providing health care services for merchant ships, Calvert County's Medical Advisory Systems Inc. hopes to cash in on the huge wave of Internet popularity. Medical Advisory Systems is providing doctors to Owings...

Mayoral candidates call for budget cuts.(part 5)
September 3, 1999... As campaign season hit stride this summer, the city's financial gurus put some important writing on the wall for the top mayoral contenders to consider: By the year 2003, the city faces a projected budget deficit of $72.2 million. Since the...

Fourth and goal.(financial problems of Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell)(Company Profile)
September 3, 1999... Can cash-strapped Art Modell win one for the home team? Art Modell let it be known in June that he is looking to sell part of his debt-laden Baltimore Ravens to a new investor. That surprising move touched off a firestorm of bad...

A conversation with John A. Moag Jr.(interview with the managing director of Legg Mason Sports Industry Group)(Interview)
September 3, 1999... John A. Moag Jr. is a sports hero in Baltimore, even though he has never pitched an inning for the Orioles or caught a pass for the Ravens. A former chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, Moag is credited with brokering the deal that...

Major horse track owner may leave NTRA.(Frank Stronach; National Thoroughbred Racing Association)
September 3, 1999... Other tracks, including Laurel and Pimlico, have high hopes for the new industry group Frank Stronach, the new owner of two of the country's premier thoroughbred racetracks who is in talks to buy three more, said he wants to see changes at...

Baseball jerseys may become billboards.(new rules on sponsor logos)(Industry Overview)
September 3, 1999... The door remains open for sponsor logos to appear on Major League Baseball team uniforms next season, according to MLB Properties Inc. officials. But the MLB Players Association and the necessary majority of teams have still not offered their...

Maryland scores high in tech.(high-technology businesses)
September 3, 1999... Maryland attracts more venture capital and creates more publicly traded start-up firms than competing states such as North Carolina. Pennsylvania and even Virginia. according to a new report published by the Progressive Policy Institute in...

Rain dance: Metzler's Garden Center plows on in spite of drought.(Company Profile)
September 3, 1999... After pulling in a record $1 million in sales for May alone, John and Dottie Metzler thought they were going to have one of the best summer seasons yet. Then the worst drought of the century hit the area. The Metzler's watched their...

Harford corrals a new firm.(Processors Unlimited Co. opens a major warehouse complex in Harford County, Maryland)
September 10, 1999... Dallas distributor to employ 150 in county A Dallas-based company is opening up a mammoth warehouse complex in Harford County and plans to hire as many as 150 people. Officials of Processors Unlimited Co. said the company has leased...

Maryland car dealer pays for adding fees.(Hill and Sanders Ford)
September 10, 1999... For years, consumer groups have warned of hidden charges and "innocuous" fees that accompany car leases. Now it's a Maryland car dealer who is paying the price for all that fine print. Hill & Sanders Ford in Wheaton will pay $6,377 as...

Beyond the bank.(providing financial assistance to new business enterprises)
September 10, 1999... Loan pools offer businesses new financing options Peter Sottang and Marjorie Wier knew they had a good concept for a company: making medical kits for hospitals and doctors to test for the virus that causes AIDS. The only problem they...

Integrated Health Services Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
September 10, 1999... PROXY CORNER A weekly analysis of Baltimore-area public companies 910 Ridgebrook Road / Sparks, MD / (410) 773-1034 / www.ihs-inc.com Corporate profile Although expansion through acquisitions is part of Integrated Health...

Ad club tries comeback.(Advertising Association of Baltimore)
September 17, 1999... The leaders of the Advertising Association of Baltimore say the club is ready to make a comeback after its near collapse earlier this year shook some local ad executives' faith in the organization's viability. After a series of...

Reviving the city's east side.(East Baltimore Development Corp. Pres. Marie Washington's plan to revitalize Gay Street in Baltimore, MD)
September 17, 1999... There's no mistaking the determined tone in Marie Washington's voice when she talks about plans for the Gay Street corridor. For years, the charismatic president of the East Baltimore Development Corp. has been working to breathe life into...

Gaining ground: despite many obstacles, women are succeeding in corporate America.(Women in Business)
September 17, 1999... Despite many obstacles, women are succeeding in corporate America Lots of young women enter the corporate world with dreams of three-letter rifles: CEO, COO, CFO. Do the facts bear out those aspirations? Can a young woman in Baltimore...

Grant to help Howard ease worker shortage.(federal grant to Howard County, MD)
September 17, 1999... Howard County, which is facing a severe shortage of workers in various service industries, has been awarded a $653,760 federal grant to pay for a shuffle service that will transport workers from West Baltimore to the neighboring county. ...

Maryland targeting biotechnology firms.
September 17, 1999... Maryland economic development officials, flush with increased budgets and new marketing initiatives, have a familiar first target for their extra cash and resources: Biotechnology. State and local economic agencies are earmarking...

Tessco Technologies Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
September 17, 1999... 1126 McCormick Road / Hunt Valley, MD 21030 / (410) 229-1000 Corporate Profile Tessco Technologies, a distributor of products to the wireless communications industry, appears to be back on track after a somewhat disappointing 1998. For...

P&G site attracts tech firm.(TeknoSurf.com will become the first tenant at the former Procter and Gamble plant in Locus Point, Maryland)
September 24, 1999... TeknoSurf.com has signed on to become the first tenant at the former Procter & Gamble plant in Locust Point, a 400,000-square-foot office complex being redeveloped by Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse Inc. The five-building complex eventually...

Local travel agencies in state of flux.(the consolidation trend in Maryland's travel agencies)
September 24, 1999... The nation's $73 billion travel industry may be booming, but its most familiar face, the travel agent, is losing ground like never before. Falling airline commissions and the threat of the Internet have caused the number of travel agencies...

Physicians trying to buy Church Hospital.
September 24, 1999... A group of doctors is trying to revive a flatlining Church Hospital, even after the hospital's board signed the historic facility's death notice this week. The boards of directors for both Church Hospital and its owner, MedStar Health,...

Lewin heads to Israel to drum up business.(the secretary of the Maryland Dept of Business and Economic Development Richard C. Mike Lewin)
September 24, 1999... Maryland economic development czar Richard C. Mike Lewin and Virginia Commerce Secretary Barry DuVal certainly won't be lacking for frequent flyer miles this fall. Lewin and DuVal are headed overseas on separate trade missions in the next...

'Slotting' knocking products off shelves: Lee's Ice Cream owner says that he has given up on selling in supermarkets.
September 24, 1999... The chairman ordered the television crew members to turn their cameras away as the two witnesses, both wearing black hoods over their heads, were escorted into the Senate committee room. Two guards seated the witnesses, one man and one...

Internet banking not just for larger banks.(online banking services)
September 24, 1999... Bay-Vanguard Federal Savings Bank, with just $54 million in assets and three branches, wanted more customers but could not afford to build new branches. "We needed bang for the buck," said Carolyn Mroz, president of the Baltimore thrift....

Columbia company on track to go public.(call center Sky Alland)
September 24, 1999... Richard Hebert works with some of the largest companies in the world and if all goes well, his firm will work with an even more impressive list of clients in the next century. As chief executive at Columbia-based Sky Alland, Hebert is...

Furniture company sets sights on Baltimore.(U.S. Business Interiors)
September 24, 1999... U.S. Business Interiors, one of the Washington Metropolitan area's largest office furniture dealers, is looking to boost its presence in the fast-growing Baltimore marketplace. The company, which is headquartered in Largo, is looking to...

Coffee crazy.(the booming demand for coffee in Baltimore, Maryland)
September 24, 1999... Coffee roasting industry booms in Baltimore area The 1990s will be known as the decade of gourmet coffee. Some 47 percent of Americans were drinking cappuccino, espresso and other specialty coffees in 1998. And that's only expected to...

First Union Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
September 24, 1999... One First Union Center / Charlotte, N.C. 28288 / (704) 374-6161 / www.firstunion.com Corporate profile With its 1998 acquisition of CoreStates Financial Group, First Union Corp became the sixth largest bank in the United States, with...