Puget Sound Business Journal articles from January 2000

Puget Sound Business Journal archives from January 2000

Employers divided on reform.(Washington's unemployment-insurance program)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Old divisions within the business community, along with unexpected consequences from Initiative 695, are obstructing a complete overhaul of Washington's unemployment-insurance program this year. State legislators instead are tackling some...

Bellevue looks up.(real estate development projects in Bellevue, WA)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... Skyscrapers rise to meet tech demand As high-tech companies flow into downtown Bellevue, developers are poised to respond with the city's biggest wave yet of new skyscrapers. Wright Runstad &. Co. has put three more projects on the...

Charities explore online-giving sites.
January 28, 2000... Go to the Web site of The Giraffe Project, and you'll see no less than a half-dozen icons that link to online sites where visitors can contribute money or make purchases that benefit the small Langley, Wash.-based charity. There's...

$15M for telecom software.(Quintessent Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... Quintessent Communications Inc. has landed $15 million to help the telecommunications software company grow and position it for a possible initial public offering later this year. The Redmond company makes software to help manage the...

SuperYo hopes it's not at end of its string.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... The yo-yo business sure has its ups and downs. SuperYo LLC of Lynnwood last year was riding the yo-yo craze and working with the state Economic Development Finance Authority on plans for a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing and shipping...

Stretching out.(Northwest Aerospace Technologies Inc.'s contract with United Airlines)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Four more inches of airplane legroom for you is gravy for Jeff McShane. As executive vice president of Northwest Aerospace Technologies Inc., McShane is celebrating a contract to design and oversee the legroom expansion for 451 aircraft...

Fuel impact.(on jet plane sales)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... The recent hikes in the cost of jet fuel could be good news for Boeing's 717. While Boeing's slow-selling smallest aircraft has been hampered by its lack of commonality with other Boeing models, it does have one advantage: Fuel economy. ...

Mariners' new pitch.(Seattle Mariners' contract with Kazuhiro Sasaki)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... The Seattle Mariners made thunderous news in Japan recently when they signed reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki to a two-year, $8 million contract. Now, according to Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, they're trying to make sure the news...

Hawks need steady gains.(Seattle Seahawks)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... The Seattle Seahawks ascended into the NFL playoffs this year, but the team ranks near the bottom in fan support according to a ranking system developed by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal The annual ranking by the sports magazine,...

Benchmarking B2B.
January 28, 2000... The Department of Commerce plans to conduct its first survey of business to-business e-commerce. "In the next few months, we will survey tens of thousands of manufacturers, service organizations, wholesalers and retailers," Commerce...

New drug lifts Immunex results.(Enbrel)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Immunex Corp. of Seattle posted record results thanks to its arthritis drug Enbrel, which yielded sales of $366.9 million in its first full year n the market. Chairman Ed Fritzky announced that Immunex revenues more than doubled to...

Gates Foundation now the largest.(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation )(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said the Microsoft chairman and his wife have added more than $5 billion to the foundation's endowment, pushing its total to approximately $21.8 billion. That makes the Gates Foundation the world's...

Amazon in new e-tail deals.(Greenlight.com and drugstore.com)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Amazon.com Inc. will invest an additional $30 million in drugstore.com Inc. of Bellevue, upping its stake to nearly 28 percent. Amazon.com also agreed to pay an undisclosed amount for a 5 percent stake in Greenlight.com, an online car-buying...

Hood venture finds lab space.(Dr. Leroy Hood)(Institute for Systems Biology)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... A new research institute headed by Dr. Leroy Hood, a noted pioneer in the use of computers in biotechnology, has found a home next to the University of Washington. Hood's Institute for Systems Biology has leased 30,000 square feet in the...

Holland rides boomer wave.(Holland America Line Westours Inc. builds new ships)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... New ships aim at more active cruise crowds Baby boomers are flocking to cruise ships, and Holland America Line Westours Inc. is building new berths to satisfy them. The Seattle-based company is launching three new ships this year, a...

Local group canvasses world for art.(ContemporaryArtProject L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Works will be donated to museums A newly formed group of contemporary art collectors plans to spend at least $700,000 on modern artworks over the next three years, with the intention of donating the works to local museums. The group,...

Local firms will bring over-50 market to Net.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... They may be among the last to go online, but Internet users aged 50 and over may be about to make their mark on e-commerce. At least two local companies plan to court a segment of the population that analysts say is the wealthiest and...

WatchGuard breaks into new security niches.(WatchGuard Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... During the past three years, WatchGuard Technologies Inc. has pioneered a niche in the Internet security market by offering a low-cost, plug-in red box to companies lacking an information technology manager. Now the Seattle company, run...

Selig ready to move ahead on Yesler building.(Martin Selig)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Downtown developer Martin Selig has an eye-catching design for a 24-story office building he proposes to build on Goat Hill in downtown Seattle. More importantly, he has the financing, said the developer of the 76-story Bank of America...

Quinaults put together hotel.(Quinault Indian Nation)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Construction crews have lifted into place the last prefabricated sleeping rooms for a 159-room seaside hotel that the Quinault Indian Nation is developing north of Ocean Shores. The hotel is one section of the Quinault Beach Resort, a $50...

Lamonts aims for quick emergence from Ch. 11.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Lamonts Apparel Inc.'s newly appointed president, E.H. Bulen, has set an aggressive timeline to steer the cash-strapped company out of its second bankruptcy reorganization in five years. Bulen, president and executive merchandise manager...

Condo plans drive record sale of '20s building.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Seattle condo conversions have reached record territory, pushed by the same hot economic forces that have run sale prices of apartment buildings to new heights. In the latest chart-topping deal, developers Jim Daly and Sandy Somerville...

More QA apartments.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Developers David Odegard and Don Gockel expect to start construction of a five-story apartment building in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne area this spring. Bellevue-based Odegard Gockel Construction would build the 60 units at 315 First Ave....

People moving.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Mark Mugleston, formerly Bank of America Tower leasing manager for developer Wright Runstad & Co., has become Western states tenant representative for the Chicago-based commercial brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle. * Susan Murphy, former...

Maker of heaters emerges from Chapter 11.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Cadet Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of electric residential heating systems, has emerged from Chapter 11 after reaching an unusual settlement with creditors and federal regulators. In the settlement, the Vancouver, Wash., company will...

Woodinville layoffs trigger NAFTA training benefits.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Employees who will lose their jobs at Crescent/U.S. Mat LLC, a manufacturer of matting for art framing, are eligible to apply for benefits under the North American Free Trade Agreement transitional adjustment program. The Woodinville...

Livingston Boats Inc.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Livingston Boats Inc., a Washington brand well known for its line of double-hulled fiberglass boats, has been purchased by Joseph Usibelli, owner of Usibelli's Pacific Rim Yachts in Hoquiam, Wash. Usibelli plans to move Livingston...

Applied Technical Systems Inc.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Applied Technical Systems Inc., a Bremerton designer and operator of information retrieval systems heavily used by the Navy, is moving to Silverdale. The 13-person company, and the name, is all that is left after the company's 65-person...

Harris named as Business Journal associate publisher.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Linda Harris has been named associate publisher of Puget Sound Business Journal and publisher of Eastside Business Journal, which was launched as a stand-alone weekly business news paper a year ago. Harris joined American City Business...

Freei connecting in Singapore.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Freei.net of Federal Way unveiled a strategic alliance with Singapore Telecom, through which Freei will begin offering free Internet access, e-mail, and portal services in the Asian nation. Singapore Telecom is the biggest telecommunications...

T&W Financial's chief resigns.
January 28, 2000... Michael A. Price resigned as CEO and chairman of T&W Financial Corp., the struggling Tacoma-based finance company. Price controls 57 percent of the company's stock, according to its SEC filings. The small-business finance company said that if...

Phoenix has a banner year with music deals.
January 28, 2000... Seattle-based venture firm The Phoenix Partners is hoping the music never stops. The 18-year-old venture capital firm had some of its best returns in 1999 from investing in music-related Internet companies. And those investments could...

Incubator adds EBallot.
January 28, 2000... EBallot.net, a firm that targets online polling, voting and elections, has signed on with Pioneer Square-based incubator iStart Ventures. The firm joins iStart's initial tenant, PredictPoint, an e-commerce marketing and merchandising...

Rural health facilities get a little help.(grants for rural health care)
January 28, 2000... The Washington Health Foundation has created a grant program to help struggling rural hospitals and clinics keep their doors open. The Rural Health Viability Grant Program will award $600,000 this spring to health-care providers that need...

Renter advocate Nicastro heading Land Use panel.
January 28, 2000... Judy Nicastro, the new Seattle City Council member who campaigned heavily on renters' issues, is now chair of a new committee that oversees issues dear to the development community -- building codes, land use and landlord-tenant relations....

Drago heads Finance panel.
January 28, 2000... Seattle City Council Member Jan Drago will keep working on economic-development issues in her new role as the council's finance chief. The council named Drago chair of the Finance, Budget and Economic Development Committee during its...

Kirkland will hire exec for economic development.
January 28, 2000... Sometime this spring, the city of Kirkland will become the latest suburban city to hire someone who will concentrate on economic development. The Kirkland City Council recently authorized the new position, and city officials are refining...

DCLU's record year.
January 28, 2000... The Seattle Department of Design, Construction and Land Use issued a record $1.6 billion worth of permits in 1999, according to the department. It was the third straight year of extraordinary permit activity. The value of last year's...

Social Venture Partners hatches seminar series.
January 28, 2000... Social Venture Partners is working to develop new philanthropists and additional giving in our region. To that end, it will bring a string of national philanthropic visionaries to Seattle during the next six months for a series of seminars --...

United Way of King County.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... * United Way of King County broke national records for growth in a single year with its recently concluded annual campaign. The 78th annual campaign brought in $82.4 million, more than the goal of $78 million. Last year, United Way raised $68...

ArtWorks.
January 28, 2000... * In my last column, I noted the formation of ArtWorks, formerly Panels for Progress, which provides job training for at-risk youth and teaches job skills through art. While part of the organization became ArtWorks, Panels for Progress...

HomeGrocer logo is all peachy now.
January 28, 2000... HomeGrocer.com Inc., the online grocer, has evidently resolved a logo problem that might be called (with deepest apologies to Roald Dahl) "Claims and the Giant Peach." The upshot is that HomeGrocer won't have to can its trademark peach logo....

Safeco account in review.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2000... Copacino, the Seattle advertising agency known for its Mariners campaigns, will be among the contenders for the Safeco Corp. advertising account recently placed in review. Jim Copacino, veteran creative talent and founder of the namesake...

DDB.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Tom Phillips, co-founder and principal of DeLaunay/Phillips, has left the public relations firm he started to take a position at DDB Seattle. Phillips, who worked for DDB earlier in his career, has joined the agency as managing partner of...

Microsoft.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain recently unveiled banner ads on Microsoft's slate.com site. Aligning himself with high-tech interests, McCain's Internet campaign ads say "Just Say No to Internet Taxes."

DesignSight.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * DesignSight in Seattle and Rosenwald Ink have complete a marketing campaign for Daniel's Broiler on South Lake Union, owned by Schwar Brothers Restaurants. The design and marketing firms also collaborated on promotional materials for Havana...

Hornall Anderson Design Works.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Hornall Anderson Design Works in Seattle has completed several projects. The design firm created the packaging design for Seattle's Best Coffee ice cream bars.

Fox Sports Net.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Fox Sports Net Northwest has simplified its name to Fox Sports Net. The Bellevue-based sports channel is part of Fox's national sports network.

Avenue A.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... * Newcity.com, a Web site targeting 18 to 34 year olds, has hired Avenue A in Seattle to oversee its online advertising. Chicago-based Newcity.com launched in April 1999 and recently unveiled a ticket-selling service on the Web.

Community college will offer customized training.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... North Seattle Community College has established a new unit to create customized programs for the many Seattle-area businesses that say the community college system is not currently meeting their needs. The new division's name, The...

RealNetworks puts $15M in BackWeb.(BackWeb Technologies)(joint creation of Internet music delivery service)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... RealNetworks Inc. of Seattle is investing $15 million in BackWeb Technologies of San Jose, Calif., and the companies will jointly create an Internet music delivery service for consumers. The companies said BackWeb, which provides 'push'...

EPA toughening anti-pollution enforcement.
January 28, 2000... EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner wouldn't be surprised if the record $30 million fine her agency slapped on Koch Industries for oil pipeline leaks is broken. "Well," she said with a smile at a Jan. 13 press conference announcing the...

Bill puts telecommuters off limits for OSHA.
January 28, 2000... As Congress prepared for hearings on OSHA's attempt to regulate telecommuting, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., introduced legislation that makes work performed at home with a telephone, computer or electronic device off limits to the agency. The...

AEA: Grass-roots effort will win China trade deal.
January 28, 2000... The American Electronics Association says granting China permanent normal trading relation status is the high-tech industry's No. 1 legislative priority this year, and it plans a grass-roots lobbying campaign through its 17 regional councils...

Four airlines seek right to enter Chinese market.
January 28, 2000... Four airlines applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for the right to enter the Chinese market next April. American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Parcel Service applied for all 10 of the new weekly flights authorized by...

Japan urged to open construction market.
January 28, 2000... A top U.S. trade official told his Japanese counterpart that Japan needs to do more to open its public construction market to American companies. "Japanese firms do 12 times as much public construction business in the United States as...

Web site tracks political contributions from lawyers.
January 28, 2000... The American Tort Reform Foundation launched a new Web site that tracks political contributions from trial lawyers. The site identified $18.7 million in political contributions from plaintiffs' lawyers in the Jan. 1, 1997, to Oct 31,...

Shelter seeks office supply and surplus.
January 28, 2000... Union Gospel Mission is asking business owners to open their hearts and storage rooms to help one of the state's largest private shelter providers. The Seattle-based mission, which shelters an average of 450 people each night and serves...

Employee pay rises.
January 28, 2000... Employee compensation increased among 82 percent of small and medium-sized businesses this year, according to a nationwide survey of The Alternative Board, a national organization of small and medium-sized companies. Wage increases were 5...

WOMAN TRAVELER.
January 28, 2000... Adventure Divas, a travel portal and e-commerce site;, will be geared toward the female adventurer Few Internet start-ups have the luxury of launching their sites with a prime-time television special, but that's the marketing plan for...

Comment period extended for the family leave plan.
January 28, 2000... The Department of Labor extended to Feb. 2 the public comment period for its proposal to allow states to pay unemployment insurance to new parents who take time off from work. This 15-day e tension "is hardly adequate," said Rep Bill...

IRS allows ISO cost deductions.
January 28, 2000... The Internal Revenue Service ruled that businesses can deduct the costs of meeting ISO 9000 quality guidelines, a certification increasingly demanded of suppliers by American companies as well as by international partners. The ruling...

Selling today still requires the basics: prospecting.
January 28, 2000... Despite all the advances in technology, selling today, in one fundamental way, is just the same as it was decades before: Selling is finding people to sell and selling the people you find. This requires prospecting. And prospecting is...

AOL deal changes Time Warner's tune on ISPs.
January 28, 2000... Brian Moran, a reporter at the Atlanta Business Chronicle, contributed to this story. America Online's acquisition of Time Warner may accomplish what a year's worth of lobbying could not It may force cable companies to let other Internet...

Jimmy's Table serves an eclectic, enticing mix.
January 28, 2000... When Jim Watkins of Cafe Flora fame and Sharon Luke of Cool Hand Luke's decided to go into business together, they chose "Free at Last" as their corporate name. The name represents the partners' desire to break free of culinary labels and try...

REGIONAL STOCKS.
January 28, 2000... REGIONAL STOCKS Percent closing price 52-week range Best performers change 1/25 1/18 High Low Avista 97.89% 47.00 23.75 68.00...

TAKING STOCK.
January 28, 2000... Longview Fibre Co. P.O. Box 639, Longview WA 98632 Longview Fibre owns and operates tree farms in Oregon and Washington which produce logs for sale. It also operates a sawmill and a pulp-and-paper mill in Washington, and it operates...

Small-cap stocks switch with larger brethren.
January 28, 2000... The most profitable period ever for big-cap stocks came to a close at the end of 1999's first quarter. Between the end of 1994 and March 31, 1999, big-cap stocks, as measure by the S&P 500, averaged an annualized turn of 30 percent, a record...

BRIEFCASE.
January 28, 2000... * ACCOUNTING Scott Limoli joined Gilligan, Ryan, Jorgenson & Co. PS in Gig Harbor as staff accountant. The following joined Benson & McLaughlin PS in Seattle: Alison Carpenter, business support services; Bryan Waller, Laura Nolten,...

Undlin is moving up at Community Health Plan.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... This spring Cassandra Undlin will take over a health plan that runs counter to insurance industry trends. While other insurers may shy away from patients in state-subsidized programs, the Community Health Plan of Washington was created solely...

Gates' giving fulfills pledge.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Wealth put to work for world Bill Gates said quite a while ago that he intended to give away most of his fortune. That he has given away so much so quickly ought to quiet the sniffling critics who carp that the software billionaire...

Entrepreneurism needs own strategy.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2000... Seattle is one of a handful of cities around the country where entrepreneurs and those who fund and nurture them will have an opportunity to discuss policy factors that help or binder entrepreneurism. The National Commission on...

Why 2K? Human nature hyped a nonevent.
January 28, 2000... Do you really think all the computers in Russia and Tanzania were Y2K compliant due to the Herculean efforts of programmers in those countries? If you listen to the post-Jan. 1, 2000, rhetoric of government and Y2K "experts," they must...

LETTERS.
January 28, 2000... Puget is progressing Your Jan. 21 story about a few Washington cities exploring the formation of municipal utilities overlooked Puget Sound Energy's steps to provide our customers with the best utility service available anywhere. ...

Cities want to unplug Puget.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... At least eight cities in the region are considering taking over Puget Sound Energy's local power lines, revolting against what local officials call the investor-owned utility's high rates and poor service. The cities, representing...

Split decision.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... Business lobby fears two-tier tax As tax-cut fever sweeps over Olympia, business interests are carefully sifting through the many proposals for a hidden bombshell. Business lobbyists are worried that legislators, spooked by the...

High-tech space, high-rise rents.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... Fisher Cos. plans to charge some of the highest office space rents in the Northwest for what it calls a revolutionary new building, designed for a telecommunications-driven future. Fisher Plaza, which Fisher expects to finish building...

Fund-raising firms often take big cut.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... If you bought a ticket last summer for the rodeo at the Kitsap County Fair, you may have been under the impression that the event was a fund-raiser for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Posse. But just $3,000 -- a mere 2.5 percent of the nearly...

What's next for Harbor Steps? Pay Attention.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... Pay Attention, a catalog merchant with a single store in San Francisco, has pegged Seattle as its first expansion market. The outdoor clothing merchant will open a store Feb. 1 on First Avenue in the Harbor Steps retail development. Pay...

Tropical in Tacoma.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... The Tacoma Dome neighborhood wants Seattle artist Kurt Kiefer to install five 30-foot sculptures of palm trees just north of the dome. Tacoma's palms will have flexible metal fronds attached to recycled telephone poles, which will be...

Post-WTO relief.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... At least one small business has qualified for government aid because of losses caused by civil unrest during the World Trade Association's recent ministerial meeting in Seattle, according to the city's Office of Economic Development. Two...

Starbucks brews news.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... The opening of another Starbucks store is rarely newsworthy in the Puget Sound, but it's still a big deal in many markets. The first freestanding Starbucks store in the Jacksonville, Fla., market merited a Page One story in our affiliated...

Land of the rising dot-com.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... Thirteen residential real estate agents from Japan spent a day in Seattle this week learning how to better use the Internet to sell houses. "We're years ahead of them on the Internet," said J. Lennox Scott, head of John L. Scott Real...

Reflecting on opportunities.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2000... A newly formed venture firm, Reflector Ventures, is looking for deals in the area. New York City transplant Roddy Scheer has started scouting area Internet and entertainment companies for investment opportunities. Seattle-based...