Puget Sound Business Journal articles from July 1998

Puget Sound Business Journal archives from July 1998

Four Seasons for sale? (Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in Seattle, WA)
July 31, 1998... Venerable hotel may be part of big package Owners of the landmark Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle are considering putting it up for sale. Owners JMB Realty Corp. of Chicago and its investment partners earlier this year...

New bank will target NW trade. (Northwest International Bank)
July 31, 1998... A new community bank is forming in Seattle with a three-pronged international market strategy it hopes will distinguish it from the competition. Seattle already is home to one other small bank with an international emphasis, Washington First...

Stellar One deal to put NT in TV. (Stellar One Corp's licensing of Windows NT software for its set-top boxes)
July 31, 1998... In a move likely to shake up the companies building devices for browsing the Internet via TV sets, Microsoft Corp. has agreed to let Redmond-based Stellar One Corp. license a stripped-down version of its Windows NT software to run Stellar's...

Fine.com hopes acquisitions will lift stock.
July 31, 1998... Despite the recent wave of excitement about Internet stocks, the tide hasn't raised all boats equally. Just ask Dan Fine, founder and chief executive officer of tiny Fine.corn International Corp. His Seattle company's stock is currently...

Penford poised for growth on starchy diet. (Penford Corp)
July 31, 1998... Jeff Cook sees starch-coated french fries in his future. Now president of Bellevue-based Penford Corp. in all but actual title, Cook is preparing for the Aug. 31 spinoff of Penwest Pharmaceuticals. When that is completed, the remaining...

Windmill maker is tilting toward California. (Wind Turbine Co)
July 31, 1998... Washington's most promising wind turbine company may move to California before finishing its first machine. The Wind Turbine Co. of Bellevue is just ordering material for its first prototype of a new wind turbine design, funded by the initial...

Water world. (Underwater Atmospheric Systems Inc)
July 31, 1998... Underwater Atmospheric Systems, taking a dive is the only way to keep growing Robert Mester has created a life of underwater adventure that's also a business. Or maybe it's the other way around. Mester, a former U.S. Marine, has...

Electric Lightwave turns in a new direction.
July 31, 1998... Electric Lightwave Inc. likes to link its corporate history to the growth of the competitive telecommunications industry. The Vancouver, Wash., company was one of the first competitive access providers, companies that sold bargain long distance...

NeoPath Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 31, 1998... 8271 154th Ave. N.E., Redmond WA 98052, 425-869-7284 NeoPath Inc. develops and markets visual intelligence technology to increase accuracy in medical testing. Its initial products include the Pathfinder System line acquired in 1997, and two...

Exports to Japan fall. (Washington exporters)
July 24, 1998... The economic sickness afflicting Washington's biggest overseas customer, Japan, is beginning to infect many exporters here. Local-origin exports to Japan dropped 26 percent to $890 million in the first quarter of 1998, compared to the first...

A cut above: Crown Pacific boasts a new mill and plenty of timber. (Crown Pacific Partners L.P.)
July 24, 1998... On the Olympic Peninsula, in a region rich with logging lore, Crown Pacific Partners L.P. of Portland is building something rarely seen in Washington state these days - a new lumber mill. The Crown Pacific mill, now going up on Highway 101...

More office buildings test market. (Seattle, WA's real estate market)
July 24, 1998... First it was the big towers. Now, the hot commercial real estate market is rubbing off on smaller downtown Seattle buildings. Two Class A office buildings built in the mid-1980s recently went up for sale. And a Class B building now occupied...

Persistence pays off for Throw backers. (Throw Inc.)
July 24, 1998... Less than a year ago, tiny start-up Throw Inc. was barely alive. Founder Scott Moody had been unable to attract a major investor for the Seattle company with its whiz-bang vision of technology to build complex online communities capable of...

Datamarine lines up for telecom auction; financing sought to bid for frequencies. (Datamarine International Inc.)
July 24, 1998... With an all-important federal auction of commercial radio frequencies nearing, Datamarine International Inc. is maneuvering for position. The company is participating in two private offerings, one for $5 million and the other for $35 million,...

Business Confidence Index hit by 'Asian flu.' (Puget Sound; Asian currency crisis)
July 24, 1998... Most signs indicate the economy is as solid as ever. Plenty of job growth, record stock market levels and the lowest inflation in years point to upward movement. But local executives have lost some confidence in the economy's ability to maim...

Visio draws plans to capture CAD market. (Visio Corp.; computer-aided drawing)
July 24, 1998... Acquisitions bolster aggressive growth In just five years, Visio Corp. has grown from $7 million to more than $100 million in annual sales by pioneering a new niche in software that helps businesses draw flow charts, network diagrams and...

Apartment prices hit record highs. (Washington State)
July 24, 1998... Market-driven rent increases are translating into big profits from the sale of local apartment buildings, new data shows. The average price paid per apartment unit regionwide skyrocketed by 40 percent in the first six months of this year to...

Plum Creek Timber Co. L.P. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 24, 1998... 999 Third Ave., Seattle WA 98104, 206-467-3600 Plum Creek Timber Co. L.P. owns, manages and operates 2.4 million acres of timberland and 12 wood-products conversion facilities in the Northwest and Southeast. The limited partnership was...

Catch 1221: controversial bill would alter North Pacific fishing industry.
July 17, 1998... Once you cut through the loud and tangled media campaigns, Senate Bill 1221 is really about who gets the most fish. Introduced last year by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the bill has been gaining momentum in Congress, bolstered by...

Intracel IPO set at $57M. (biotech firm Intracel Corp. plans initial public offering to fund international network of cancer treatment centers)
July 17, 1998... An Issaquah biotechnology company developing therapeutic vaccines for cancer is seeking $57.5 million in an initial public offering to fund an international network of treatment centers. Intracel Corp., a relative unknown in the local...

How many lawyers does it take? (Washington state demand for lawyers)
July 17, 1998... Plenty more, as demand in Washington increases About 20,600 attorneys are practicing law today in Washington state and, incredibly, the legal community needs a lot more of them. Law firms and public agencies are hiring more experienced...

GM, Chrysler fight city of Seattle over B&O taxes. (General Motors Corp.; Chrysler Corp.; business and occupation taxes in Washington)
July 17, 1998... General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. are fighting efforts by the city of Seattle to collect more than $3.6 million worth of business and occupation taxes for sales dating back to 1986. Both automakers appealed their tax bills on June 26 by...

Suit alleges PacMed backed out of lease: Beacon Hill tower at center of dispute.
July 17, 1998... A former executive of Seattle-based PacMed Clinics has sued PacMed, claiming it unfairly dumped a leasing agreement with him so it could cut a better deal with Wright Runstad & Co. That could cause problems for Wright Runstad's plans to move...

Cymbolic moves HQ from B.C. to Bellingham. (British Columbia, Canada-based Cymbolic Sciences Inc. moves to Washington state)
July 17, 1998... Taxes, work force issues prompt shift Cymbolic Sciences Inc., a leading manufacturer of laser-based imaging systems, is relocating its headquarters and research and development center to Bellingham. A major reason is the high Canadian tax...

New investor relations firms in Seattle. (Washington state-based Synder Buscher Group and StreetConnect Inc. formed to provide investor relations services)
July 17, 1998... The proliferation of publicly traded companies in the past few years has prompted the formation of two new Seattle companies offering help with investor relations. Both are the outgrowth of other firms. John Synder, who ran investor...

Showtime on the Net. (World Wide Web site Encoding.com aims to help firms move their films and videos to the Internet)
July 17, 1998... Encoding.com makes it possible to put sound, video and film in front of Web audiences After eight years at Microsoft Corp. and fresh from starting in the documentary movie "Biker Dreams," Martin Tobias struck on a business opportunity:...

GAO raps SBA's loan supervision. (General Accounting Office claims that Small Business Administration inadequately reviewing on-site 7(a) small business lenders)
July 17, 1998... Claims lenders in 7(a) program not being adequately reviewed WASHINGTON - Billions of dollars of government-guaranteed small business loans are being approved without any regulatory review of the lenders, according to a new government report....

Take this job, please. (labor market concerns in Puget Sound)
July 10, 1998... Managers scramble to fill slots in extra-tight market When store manager Dorie Holden learned that two of her part-time clerks were leaving, she put a "Help Wanted" sign in the window of Pilgrim's Nutritional Center in Ballard. Six days...

Bellevue buildings up for sale.
July 10, 1998... With two of downtown Bellevue's biggest office high-rises heading for sale, market watchers are turning their eyes somewhat warily to Sam Zell. The Chicago real estate impresario's Equity Office Properties Trust, which last month bought the...

Pacific Aerospace reaches across Atlantic. (Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Inc's purchase of Aeromet International PLC)
July 10, 1998... If its latest acquisition closes at the end of July as expected, Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Inc. will double in size at a stroke. Just as important, the $70 million acquisition of a British company, Aeromet International Plc, will...

Boutique investment banks are proliferating. (Seattle, Washington)
July 10, 1998... Fed by the hot market for acquisitions and the swelling ranks of capital-hungry young growth companies, the number of boutique investment banking firms in Seattle has increased dramatically during the past few years. At least a dozen small...

Costco goes national with premium program. (Costco Cos Inc)
July 10, 1998... Costco Cos. Inc. is expanding the premium membership program under which it slapped bulk-rate price tags on car and health insurance and other small-business services. The Issaquah-based warehouse retailer this week started to push its...

Shuttle Express drivers again seek to unionize.
July 10, 1998... Complaining of low wages and high turnover, drivers at Seattle-based Shuttle Express Inc. are trying to get owner Jimy Sherrell's attention by forming a union. This is the third unionizing attempt at the 10-year-old company. Organizers...

In the cards. (Telepress Inc)
July 10, 1998... Telepress has quietly built a thriving printing business by focusing exclusively on business cards Terry Deschenes and Dale Greenfield have honed business card production to a razor's edge. Unlike most printers, that's nearly all they do....

The Washington Water Power Co. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 10, 1998... 1411 E. Mission Ave., Spokane WA 99202, 509-489-0500 The Washington Water Power Co., which was incorporated in 1889, is an electric and natural gas services company with regulated and nonregulated operations throughout the Untied States....

Developers eye lucrative Southcenter corridor.
July 10, 1998... For decades, Puget Sound residents have thought of Tukwila as the locale of a great mall, a cluster of warehouses and industrial complexes and a stop just shy of the airport. Now, two developers are hoping to make the Southcenter area...

Boeing on 'lean' diet. (implementation of Japanese-style manufacturing at Boeing Co.)
July 3, 1998... Teamwork drives new production methods If more people learn to think like Carl Amos, The Boeing Co. might never be stymied by production bottlenecks again. It also might start making some money. Amos, a 25-year machinist at Boeing's...

Busy season. (influx of tourists in Washington's national parks)
July 3, 1998... Near state's national parks, an annual burst of activity When the days grow long and the rain goes away, business picks up at the Ashford Valley Grocery in Ashford, five miles from Mount Rainier National Park on state Route 706. "Everybody...

Librius stocks Internet with e-books. (Librius Inc.)
July 3, 1998... Librius Inc. is racing against several California competitors to get its electronic books to the reading public. The small Bellevue company, founded last year, expects to offer consumers a variety of titles they can download from the the...

Columbia Center sale sets new high. (Columbia Seafirst Center)
July 3, 1998... The $404 million price paid this week for 76-story Columbia Seafirst Center breaks an important record for downtown Seattle office space, sending a variety of strong signals through the real estate market The hefty price Sam Zell's...

Up on the roof: dealing for cell sites. (rental of rooftops to house cellular equipment)
July 3, 1998... The growth of wireless communications services has spawned a cottage industry of hard-charging brokers who see gold in the rooftops, smokestacks, steeples and other places filling up with antennas. In one of the latest deals reflecting this...

State tries out 'digital signature' technology. (Washington)
July 3, 1998... Could increase business over Internet Paint Solutions Inc. of Kent recently submitted a bid for a state contract that could be another milestone in the digital revolution. In a pilot project with the state, the paint-recycling company used...

Digital printing methods create marketing options.
July 3, 1998... Digital printing is blurring the boundaries between printing, copying and the Internet in the Puget Sound are. New digital technologies allow users to print extremely short printing runs, even single copies, directly from online files to full...

Fast-growing Retail Group takes Belltown site.
July 3, 1998... The Retail Group will take over the Belltown neighborhood building where Antioch University once resided. Spurred by growth in its retail design and consulting business, the Seattle-based Retail Group signed a lease to relocate its...

Indoor adventure. (profile of Outdoor Research Inc.)(Company Profile)
July 3, 1998... Outdoor Research hits the retail trail with a new store Outdoor Research Inc., a 17-year-old manufacturer of gaiters, gloves and other outdoor accessories, aims to conduct a bit of indoor research in retail with the August debut of a...