Puget Sound Business Journal articles from June 1995

Puget Sound Business Journal archives from June 1995

Ballard-Doppler back on radar screen; renamed retailer now must be revived. (Ballard-Doppler Computers; Ballard Computer Inc.)
June 30, 1995... With his shock of black hair and a marksman's glare, David Chalk looks like he could be in line to be the next James Bond. Appearances aside, the new president of Ballard Computer will need about as much mental dexterity and cunning as a...

Browne faces 'ineffective counsel' allegation, but proving that renowned defender bungled Cloud case will be difficult. (John Henry Browne; Darrell Cloud)
June 30, 1995... Seconds after the jury foreman announced that 25-year-old Darrell Cloud had been found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his former teacher, the Cloud family erupted in anger. Cloud's father swore and spat at the visibly...

Opera's 'Ring' cycle will fill house with guests. (staging of Richard Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' at the Seattle Opera)
June 30, 1995... Life-sized flying horses and 20-foot-high flames will energize the Seattle Opera stage this August, and thousands of spectators from across the country will be there to watch. The wondrous creation of a world and then its spectacular...

U.S. AirWaves gets $50 million for wireless net. (Hyyndai Electronics America's investment)
June 30, 1995... John DeFeo's tiny start-up, U.S. AirWaves, has added a cool $50 million to its multimillion-dollar war chest. While an impressive figure for a fledgling firm, the sum is just a fraction of what Bellevue-based U.S. AirWaves will need to build...

Virtual Vision nears end of bankruptcy struggle. (Virtual Vision Inc.)
June 30, 1995... After having two reorganization plans thrown out by a judge, bankrupt Virtual Vision Inc. may have found a white knight. The video-goggle maker, whose backers included Microsoft alums Paul Allen and Scott Oki, has been striving to climb out...

LaFlamme resigns his post at EvansGroup's PR unit. (Lon LaFlamme; EvansGroup Inc.)
June 30, 1995... Lon LaFlamme, former president and CEO of EvansGroup Seattle, resigned this week, less than nine months after being promoted to head the public relations unit of parent company EvansGroup Inc. Salt Lake City-based EvansGroup Inc. immediately...

Lincoln unloads 2 projects; 2 others facing foreclosure. (Lincoln Property Co.)
June 30, 1995... Lincoln Property Co. continues to shrink its Puget Sound apartment portfolio, selling two large suburban projects in Mill Creek and facing imminent foreclosure on two others. Sold were Mill Towne and Mill Station apartments in Snohomish...

Advisory group will review state's toxic cleanup rules. (Washington's Model Toxics Control Act)
June 30, 1995... The recommendations of a new advisory committee now being formed by the state Department of Ecology could mean savings of millions for businesses faced with cleaning up polluted sites. But the outcome will depend on what recommendations the...

Bucking a trend, some specialist law firms expand.(Industry Overview)
June 30, 1995... If you look at the list of the 25 largest local law finns as a horse race, Seed & Berry is on the inside track and moving fast. While most firms have whittled down their attorney rosters in the past year, Seed & Berry added about 10 lawyers,...

Polymer Technology president plans to fight on. (Polymer Technology International's court battle with LifeScan Inc.)
June 30, 1995... A gleaming sword hangs on the wall behind Polymer Technology International president Terry Kelley's desk. It was presented to him a year and a half ago by his staff in celebration of the Issaquah company's phenomenal growth at the time....

Carver Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 30, 1995... Carver designs, develops, manufactures and markets high-fidelity audio components targeted to the mid- to high-end audio entertainment systems market and high-end professional amplifiers principally for the professional audio market. The...

Truckers caught in headlights of deregulation.
June 16, 1995... One of Portland's largest trucking firms let go its 190 employees last Friday and closed its doors, run over by the recent deregulation of intrastate trucking. The same juggernaut is bearing down on Washington truckers, and many of the...

Todd's odd medley: radio and shipyards. (Todd Shipyards Corp.'s acquisition of 3 FM radio stations)
June 16, 1995... Todd Shipyards Corp.'s recent decision to purchase three California radio stations may seem incongruous at first, but it has its own peculiar logic. Todd is profitable for the first time in three years, and sitting on $50 million in cash...

Home centers nailed by own expansion.
June 16, 1995... "Home Improvement" may still be the hottest show on TV, but the increasingly crowded home improvement marketplace itself is cooling off. Indeed, recent sales results of Northwest-based home centers all point to a slowdown from last year -...

Mastro sells two Eastside projects for close to $19M. (real estate developerand financier Mike Mastro)
June 16, 1995... Seattle developer and financier Mike Mastro has sold two more local properties for $18.85 million, continuing his campaign to divest about a quarter of his $450 million, five-state empire. In the larger of the two deals, Mastro sold West...

Bruegger's ready to roll out Seattle-area expansion. (Bruegger's Corp.; Seattle, Washington)
June 16, 1995... The self-styled "Starbucks of bagels" says it intends to duplicate the ubiquitous coffee-seller's impact on the Seattle-area market. Vermont-based Bruegger's Bagel Bakery, the largest bagel retailer in the country with 282 stores projected...

Splash Studios aims to make waves with CD-ROM for kids.
June 16, 1995... Patrick Ford and Jack Turk hope to make a big splash later this year with their first CD-ROM title, bucking the trend that has many multimedia companies wallowing in red ink. The two former Microsoft Corp. employees have a couple of aces that...

Microsoft at crucial transition point in growth.
June 16, 1995... There are many indicators these days that Microsoft has reached one of the biggest transition points in its future - a point where aggressive entrepreneurial instinct encounters the reality of being the dominant player in an industry. The...

Weyerhaeuser Co. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 16, 1995... Tacoma, WA 98477, (206) 924-2345 Weyerhaeuser is in the business of growing and harvesting timber and the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products, including logs, wood chips, building products, pulp, paper and packaging...

Retooled 737 gets lift in European market. (Boeing Co.'s jetliner)
June 9, 1995... While the new Boeing 777 has taken the publicity spotlight from Airbus Industrie, the less-glamorous 737 has been quietly winning sales on Airbus' home turf. And insiders say the upgraded workforce of Boeing's fleet may win even more...

Egghead bets on new stores. (Egghead Inc.)
June 9, 1995... Upgrading from tiny outlets, it takes the 'tweener' route Struggling software retailer Egghead Software will debut a new and larger store design next month, betting its future on a format midway between its tiny existing stores and the...

New Westin CEO checks in with big plans. (Westin Hotel Co.; Juergen Bartels)(Profile)
June 9, 1995... With his bespectacled, boyish looks, slight build and soft, slightly German-accented voice, Juergen Bartels may not seem an imposing figure. But don't underestimate the fierceness of the newly named chairman and CEO of Seattle-based Westin...

Recyclers glad to see return of paper profits. (paper recyclers)
June 9, 1995... After years of suffering from recycled paper prices so low they often had to pay to have the stuff taken away, Washington recyclers are happy again. Since late last year, prices have soared upward, and formerly money-losing operations have...

Performing in public: '94's profits, pratfalls, prospects.(Special Report: Washington Public Companies)
June 9, 1995... Bottom-line fans will rejoice at the fact that 57 of Washington state's 85 non-banking, publicly owned companies made money in fiscal '94. And the percentage of winners would have been higher yet if not for those persistently losing...

Action on several fronts paves way for Pine St. vision. (downtown Seattle, Washington)
June 9, 1995... A new vision for downtown Seattle is beginning to take shape on several fronts. The Pine Street Advisory Task Force has recommended to the Seattle City Council that a reopened Pine Street have only two lanes of traffic, with wide, tree-lined...

Sierra On-Line goes shopping for smaller software firms. (Sierra On-Line Inc.'s acquisition plan)
June 9, 1995... Sierra On-Line Inc. made a tiny acquisition last week, taking a first step outside its core markets of entertainment and educational software. A string of other deals could follow, as the Bellevue company tries to extend its brand name to...

Boeing, Microsoft lead the way in R&D spending.(Special Report: Washington Public Companies)
June 9, 1995... Biotechs also pouring funds into future products When it comes to investing money to create advanced technology, the principal local components of R&D are B&M. The Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. last year accounted for an overwhelming...

Starwave's challenge: turn Net surfers into subscribers. (Starwave Corp.'s online services)
June 9, 1995... Starwave Corp.'s recently launched on-line services have impressed critics and attracted a flood of Internet suffers - some 10 million "hits," or viewing sessions, per week. Soon, however, those surfers will no longer be getting a free ride....

Public companies find expanded markets abroad.(Special Report: Washington Public Companies)
June 9, 1995... Despite Boeing's falloff, overseas sales soaring In terms of dollar growth in exports and international operations, The Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. went in opposite directions last year. While Microsoft's international revenues...

Jay Jacobs tries on a new look to woo customers. (Jay Jacobs Inc.)
June 9, 1995... Jay Jacobs Inc. has now been in Chapter 11 for a year. And while it isn't ready yet to propose a solution for its financial woes, it is fashioning a strategy to bring in a new generation of customers. That's not an easy task, but it's what...

Developer says Bothell hotel will fill a vacancy in market. (Sonmar Development Co.; Bothell, Washington)
June 9, 1995... That rarest of rarities, a new hotel project, is moving ahead in Bothell. A North Dakota lodging developer is well into construction of a 60-room Comfort Inn and Suites at the Canyon Park Business Center in Bothell. Sonmar Development Co....

How WaMu accounts for Enterprise Bank buy. (Washington Mutual Inc.)(Bank Accounts)(Column)
June 9, 1995... Through-much of the 1980s, Washington Mutual Inc. endured roller-coaster earnings as it raced off in a million directions: real estate partnerships, property-casualty insurance, junk bonds, commercial construction loans. Enter chairman Kerry...

High hopes for new corporate finance chief at Dain. (John Siegler; Dain Bosworth Inc.)
June 9, 1995... John Siegler's predecessor as head of Dain Bosworth Inc.'s corporate finance office in Seattle lasted less than a year. And Siegler apparently feels he, too, has an urgent mandate to bolster the local business of the Minneapolis-based...

They walk like a doc and talk like a doc. (physicians' assistants)(includes related article)(Special Report: Health Care Quarterly)
June 9, 1995... Physician assistants even handle many MD-type tasks, responding to shortfall in primary-care MDs For years, when you visited a doctor's office, you always saw the doctor. But today, when you make that visit, you may see a physician assistant...

Shrinks neurotic about managed care. (psychiatrists)(Special Report: Health Care Quarterly)
June 9, 1995... They're not at all happy with way insurance firms, other third-party payors cover and reimburse Several years ago, Seattle psychiatrist August Piper got a taste of managed care - and didn't like it one bit. It was late at night, and Piper...

Mental health pros fight back, form own managed-care groups.(Special Report: Health Care Quarterly)
June 9, 1995... Mental health clinicians here are organizing to champion their patients and preserve their livelihoods. They aim to compete with companies that manage mental and drug-abuse benefits for insurers and self-insured businesses. They contend...

Making sense of revised Olympia health package. (health care reform)(Special Report: Health Care Quarterly)
June 9, 1995... The recently enacted health-care reform legislation repealed the core provisions of the Health Services Act of 1993. While most have focused on what was eliminated, it is important to recognize that the 1995 law continues and expands the...

Market-driven reform gives Foster Higgins adrenalin rush. (Foster Higgins and Company Inc.)(Special Report: Health Care Quarterly)(Company Profile)
June 9, 1995... For some, the demise of President Clinton's national health-care plan, and the recent repeal of a big chunk of the Washington Health Services Act of 1993, were bad news. For the health-care industry, though, the two events lessened the threat...

Immunex Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 9, 1995... 51 University St., Seattle, WA 98101, (206) 587-0430 Immunex is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops, manufactures and markets therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders....

Selig puts Regrade tower on sale block. (developer Martin Selig; Seattle, Washington office building)
June 2, 1995... For the first time since he sold Columbia Seafirst Center in 1990, developer Martin Selig has placed one of his major office towers on the block. Selig has hired the Seattle brokerage Martin Smith Inc. to market the Fourth and Blanchard...

Vipperman, follows 'life path' to trade with Russia. (Foundation for Russian-American Economic Cooperation founder Carol Vipperman)
June 2, 1995... When Carol Vipperman Walks through Moscow, locals often ask her for directions, assuming she's Russian. This puzzles her, because she hardly speaks the language and has no Russian blood. Her vivid, dark features instead reflect her...

Future Shop, Magnolia Hi-Fi building headquarters in Kent. (Washington)
June 2, 1995... Puget Sound electronics retailers have widened their fierce marketing battles from the storefront to the loading dock. Two major chains - Canada-based Future Shop and local retailer Magnolia Hi-Fi - have commissioned large new headquarters...

Midisoft's expansion tune gets ho-hum reaction. (Midisoft Corp.)
June 2, 1995... Midisoft Corp., long devoted to music software, is changing its theme song. A hot little growth stock that's stumbled badly in recent months, Issaquah-based Midisoft is now expanding into a range of multimedia products to regain its...

Meetings promote trade between U.S., Russian Far East.(Doing Business with the Russian Far East)
June 2, 1995... Next week, Seattle will host the first meeting of the ad hoc working group to expand trade and commerce between the American West Coast and Eastern Russia. The Seattle meeting is unprecedented: for the first time in the history of bilateral...

S. End office building razed for retail development. (South King County, Washington)
June 2, 1995... One of the largest office buildings in South King County was smashed to bits over the past week, crushed by the twin blows of a terribly soft office market and a well-aimed wrecking ball. But the demolished Parkway Plaza office building in...

Seattle law firm 'builds international relationships.' (Williams, Kastner and Gibbs)(Doing Business with the Russian Far East)
June 2, 1995... Seattle-based Williams, Kastner & Gibbs is one of several Puget Sound area law firms that stands ready to meet the growing demand for international legal services. Entrepreneurs from the Russian Far East are now fully engaged along with the...

Seattle Chocolate feeds taste for growth with new infusion. (Seattle Chocolate Co.)
June 2, 1995... Seattle Chocolate Co. is putting the final touches on a new strategy that executives hope will vault the tiny truffle maker to $20 million in sales by 1998. To get there, the Seattle company has raised nearly $1.2 million from investors in...

Russian Far East's fledgling tourist industry needs our help. (U.S. businesses)(Doing Business with the Russian Far East)
June 2, 1995... The Russian Far East isn't exactly a leading tourist destination yet, but government and business leaders there believe their region has the potential to become one. They know that the tourism industry is usually a top producer of hard...

Facts about Russian Far East's Sakhalin Region.(Doing Business with the Russian Far East)
June 2, 1995... The Sakhalin Region of Russia includes the Island of Moneron, which is renowned for its beautiful vegetation and its birding colony and the Kuril Islands. Sakhalin Island is the region's largest island, occupying a territory of 7,000 square...

Bill to reroute toll-road process awaits Lowry pen. (Washington Gov. Mike Lowry)
June 2, 1995... After voracious public outcry and exhaustive legislative wrangling, a bill now sits on Gov. Mike Lowry's desk that attempts to refashion the public-private initiative program to fund state transit projects. Although its supporters say the...

Trade with Russian Far East beckons to shippers, traders. (Washington)
June 2, 1995... Rusty Devereaux is ready for the next gold rush, which he figures will come from the opening of Sakhalin Island's oil fields. For Washington suppliers traditionally oriented toward Alaska, it could be like a second Prudhoe Bay, says...

FESCO provides transportation throughout Russian Far East. (Far Eastern Shipping Co.)(Doing Business with the Russian Far East)(Company Profile)
June 2, 1995... The Far Eastern Shipping Co. (FESCO) is the leading transportation company in the new, open market of the Russia Pacific. FESCO Agencies North America is the exclusive North American agent of FESCO, the largest privatized commercial fleet in...

G&B hotel plan faces costly conversion and competition. (Goodale and Barbieri Cos.)
June 2, 1995... Goodale & Barbieri Cos.' planned acquisition of the old U.S. Bank Building gives it an excellent hotel site in the thick of Seattle's revitalized downtown, local hotel experts and real estate investors agree. But observers say the Spokane...

Reduce federal role in communications marketplace.
June 2, 1995... In 1934 Franklin Roosevelt was president, the telephone was our nation's most advanced way to communicate, Bill Gates had not yet been born and the new Communications Act was passed through the U.S. Congress. The premise of the 1934 law held...

Microsoft finds place in Vietnamese market. (Microsoft Corp.)
June 2, 1995... Savvy, persistent distributor paves way for deal Editor's note: This article and the one on page 18 conclude a series about business opportunities in Vietnam. Rachel Zimmerman is a reporter for the Portland Business Journal, a sister...

Portland bookseller does volumes of biz in Vietnam. (Powell's Books Inc.)
June 2, 1995... Books about war, technical titles are best-sellers HANOI, Vietnam - After leading a group of American tourists through the quiet, tree-lined hamlet of My Lai, where the most nightmarish crimes of the Vietnam War were committed, Truong Thien...

Airborne Freight Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 2, 1995... P.O. Box 662, Seattle, WA 98111, (206) 285-4600 Airborne Freight, better known by its service mark of Airborne Express, provides door-to-door express delivery of small packages and documents throughout the United States and to and from most...