Puget Sound Business Journal articles from November 1999

Puget Sound Business Journal archives from November 1999

Assessments soaring.(real estate values in King and Pierce counties are up)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Skyscrapers, apartment buildings see big gains The torrid economy continues to drive up assessed values for commercial properties in King and Pierce counties, especially for downtown office towers and apartment buildings. In King...

No room for kids.(child care centers have trouble finding facilities)
November 26, 1999... Rising rents crimp child-care centers Kathleen Holman considers herself lucky. When Christopher Robin Learning Center, the North Seattle toddler and preschool program that she directs, lost its lease last year because the building was...

Lakewood's coaster ride.(amusement park in the works)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Amusement park proposed If a $100 million amusement park rises in a blighted area of Lakewood sometime in the next few years, a free-spirited, unemployed ski-school director who wanted a big roller coaster to ride will deserve a large...

InfoSpace isn't done acquiring.
November 26, 1999... Energetic deal-maker Naveen Jain, CEO of InfoSpace.com Inc., has bought four companies this year, but he's not through yet. The company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings say Jain has several more acquisitions up his sleeve as...

WTOtal chaos: A few players on the global stage.
November 26, 1999... For one week beginning Nov. 29, Seattle will have three daily newspapers, a condition not seen since the demise of The Seattle Star, a pro-labor daily that folded in 1947. Critics of the World Trade Organization will publish the World...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
November 26, 1999... Photo credit The credit for the photograph of an Audi TT coupe in the Nov. 12 Personal Journal was incorrect. The photo was taken by Terry Parkhurst. WTO event An item in the Nov. 12 World Trade Organization special section...

Weyerhaeuser in $720M deal for TJ.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Weyerhaeuser Co. will acquire TJ International for $720 million, the Federal Way-based timber giant announced. The cash deal answers a question raised when Weyerhaeuser acquired Canadian forest products company MacMillan Bloedel, which held a...

Microsoft hit with consumer suits.
November 26, 1999... Microsoft Corp. found itself facing a raft of potential class-action lawsuits claiming consumers were over-charged for its Windows software. The suits, filed in several states, seek to capitalize on preliminary findings in the federal...

Boeing settles over pay inequity.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... The Boeing Co. agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle federal pay-disparity inquiries involving minority and female employees at company facilities. The Seattle aerospace company, the second-largest federal contractor, admitted no...

Kenneth Cole picks Seattle site.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Designer wants own outlet despite close ties to Nordstrom A Kenneth Cole store will open in downtown Seattle next spring, marking the Pacific Northwest retail debut for the footwear and fashion mogul. Kenneth Cole Productions Inc....

Downtown B'vue lures tech.(Bellevue, Washington)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Dot-com tenants begin booking space in new office buildings A reverse exodus of high-tech companies from Eastside suburban office parks into downtown Bellevue's new office skyscrapers has begun. Ex-Microsoftie Naveen Jam said his...

Agenda uncertain as WTO meeting nears.
November 26, 1999... With only a few days remaining before the World Trade Organization ministerial opens in Seattle, member nations are still disagreeing over what they'll be talking about. The strife has challenged the leadership of WTO Chairman Michael...

Tully's faces tall order in reaching sales goals.(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Tully's Coffee Corp. chairman Tom O'Keefe hasn't ruled out an initial public offering next spring, but Tully's is lagging behind the benchmarks O'Keefe earlier set for taking his chain public. Tully's likely will fall short of its...

Spieker sells 3 local properties.
November 26, 1999... A California public pension fund has bought three of 14 Seaffle-area industrial buildings that Spieker Properties has up for sale. The California Public Employees Retirement System, with San Francisco-based Rreef Funds as its adviser,...

Redmond electronics firm heads north to Stanwood.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Index Sensors and Controls Inc., a 120-employee electronics manufacturer, will move next September to the Skagit County town of Stanwood to escape Redmond's growing congestion. Owner Steve Goldberg said he's worried Redmond's traffic and real...

Opus selected to develop downtown Tacoma project.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland has selected Opus Northwest LLC of Bellevue, one of Western Washington's most active developers, to build an office-and-retail complex on county property in downtown Tacoma. Opus Northwest offered...

Allen continues S. Lake Union acquisitions.
November 26, 1999... Paul Allen has plunked down $9.2 million for another South Lake Union property, a 1 1/4-acre parcel on Westlake Avenue at Republican Street, King County property records show. The billionaire Microsoft co-founder added the parcel to his...

Locals closer to deal for Thea Foss Waterway site.
November 26, 1999... A group of Tacoma real-estate investors is making progress in its negotiations to buy and refurbish the Totem Marina next to downtown Tacoma, and to assume the leases of three adjacent properties on the Thea Foss Waterway. Partners Ted...

Smaller public companies yearn for attention.
November 26, 1999... Jack Clifford's plan is to build ProCyte Corp.'s revenues, string together a couple of quarterly growth spurts, and then start screaming for analysts' attention. The Redmond-based biotech company, like an estimated one-quarter of the...

WTO forums will be seen on cable.
November 26, 1999... While most of the World Trade Organization action next week takes place behind closed doors, the Seattle Host Organization has several programs that will expose some of the organization's workings to public view. It has organized six...

Dorsey & Whitney picks off more attorneys.
November 26, 1999... The Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP has hired at least seven attorneys from Seed and Berry LLP, the prominent intellectual-property firm that has lost about a third of its lawyers this year. Dorsey & Whitney recently hired former...

Attorney temps taking brief assignments.
November 26, 1999... Temporary workers on contract, once found mostly in local government and the software industry, are now commonplace in the legal community. From the big downtown firms to the solo practitioners in the neighborhoods, firms are hiring...

Legal services agency gets federal funding.
November 26, 1999... The Northwest Justice Project of Seattle is assured of federal funding until the end of 2002 because of a three-year grant from Legal Services Corp., the nonprofit agency that distributes federal funds to legal-aid programs nationwide. ...

NPassage gets rolling with freight Web site.
November 26, 1999... For Seattle-based nPassage Inc., which runs a Web site for arranging and tracking shipments of heavy freight, the train may be finally pulling out of the station. After several years in start-up mode, nPassage is starting to pull in...

Business Journal names new members to staff.
November 26, 1999... The Puget Sound Business Journal has added four new staff members and reassigned another: * Stephanie Wenckus has joined the Business Journal's advertising department as a classified display account executive. She is responsible for the...

Search on for SBA's business person of year.
November 26, 1999... Do you or someone you know have what it takes to become the "Small Business Person of the Year," nationwide for 2000? If so, the U.S. Small Business Administration wants to hear from you. For the past 36 years, the president has...

Modern mail.(stamps.com acquires iShip.com)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... We all know there's no place like home when it comes to the holidays -- except when you have to leave such comforts to buy postage stamps. If you have a computer, a printer and an Internet connection, mailing holiday gifts not only got...

Karen Borgnes keeps Pacific Aero Tech flying high by focusing on its niche of refurbishing aircraft windows.(Company Profile)
November 26, 1999... When Karen Borgnes wrote a personal check to buy half of Pacific Aero Tech Inc. at liquidation prices nine years ago, she knew virtually nothing about the aircraft window industry, and she'd never run her own business. Since then she's...

Are your marketing brochures looking a little dull?
November 26, 1999... Pictures can quickly add pizzazz to lackluster materials. Unless you have a professional photographer on staff, you'll likely turn to stock photography for these images. But stock photography should be both obtained and used properly if you...

Customer service: It's how we respond to the query.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... It seems like everybody's angry about something these days: mild-mannered clerks can fall prey to road age whenever the freeways clog up; flight attendants are increasingly the victims of abuse at the hands of stressed-out passengers; and,...

Women business owners team with First Union.(National Association of Women Business Owners)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Another national business organization has formed an alliance with a for-profit partner. First Union will conduct seminars and host business forums along the East Coast for the National Association of Women Business Owners. The bank also...

Boeing plant to be reborn as concrete factory.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Stoneway Concrete Inc. plans to convert a former Boeing building in Renton to a new use as a concrete batch plant. While most such plants are ungainly contraptions of exposed mixing equipment and conveyors, the Stoneway operation will be...

Datamarine International Inc.(220 MHz radios)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
November 26, 1999... Datamarine International Inc. is shipping large numbers of 220 MHz radios, systems that are intended to be a lowcost alternative to cells phones and other types of radio. The Mountlake Terrace company so far has shipped about 30,000 sets,...

International Absorbents Inc.(new manufacturing facility)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... International Absorbents Inc. recently opened a 4,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bellingham. The Bellingham company manufactures pet care and bedding products from byproduct fibers produced by the paper-making industry. "This...

Printery Communications.(acquisition of OSD Printing)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Printery Communications, based in Port Townsend, has purchased OSD Printing of Bellevue. Printery intends to expand into the Puget Sound market through the acquisition.

Key Technology Inc.(Key Technology's acquisition of Allen Machinery's electronics division)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Key Technology Inc. of Walla Walla recently inked an agreement to acquire the assets of the electronics division of Allen Machinery. Based in Newberg, Ore., Allen's electronics division produces optical inspection and sorting systems for...

Jet Equipment and Tools Inc.(acquisition of Powermatic)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Jet Equipment and Tools Inc. of Auburn has acquired the assets of the Powermatic division of DeVlieg-Bullard Inc., based in Twinsburg, Ohio. DeVlieg-Bullard had filed for bankruptcy, leaving available for purchase Powermatic, a profitable...

Bombardier Transportation.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Bombardier Transportation of Canada has won a $17 million contract from Sound Transit to build 10 bilevel commuter rail cars. The cars will be built by Bombardier at its Barre, Vt., and Thunder Bay, Ontario, plants. This contract is an...

Flow International Corp.
November 26, 1999... Flow International Corp. of Kent has won $5.3 million in contracts for its high-pressure technology products. The contracts include equipment to be used in aerospace and automotive manufacture, two of flow's key areas.

B.F. Goodrich Aerospace.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... B.F. Goodrich Aerospace of Everett has received an "Aviation Maintenance Technician Corporate Diamond Award" from the Federal Aviation Administration. The award recognizes employees who actively undergo training, and 800 B.F. Goodrich...

Essential Foods.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Essential Foods of Seattle has won a national "special recognition award" from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Wise program.

Apartment investor moving his portfolio out.(Alan C. Fox of ACF Property Management)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... California-based real estate investor Alan C. Fox has in the past two years sold six of the 10 apartment projects he owned in the Seattle area, and has a seventh under contract to sell. "He's ahead of the curve. The other (investors)...

Hotel occupancy on the decline in '99.(Puget Sound-area hotel occupancy rates for 1999)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... As economists predicted at the year's outset, Puget Sound-area hotel occupancy rates have decreased, figures for the first nine months show. The same is happening in most metropolitan markets around the country. The Puget Sound's...

SRO sells two properties.(Sterling Realty Organization)
November 26, 1999... Sterling Realty Organization of Bellevue recently shed two properties, both acquired by neighboring landowners. One of them is a parking lot next to the Cinerama Theater in Belltown, sold to Cinerama owner Paul Allen for $2.1 million,...

Denny Regrade apartments proposed by photographer.(Wah Lui)
November 26, 1999... Photographer Wah Lui gave up his distinctive downtown Seattle penthouse condo earlier this year so the state could demolish it for expansion of the convention center. Now Lui plans to replace a Denny Regrade warehouse with six stories of...

Sales stats show Clark County needs eateries.(Washington Restaurant Association analysis of 1998 sales statistics)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Where is the best spot to open a new restaurant in our state? Fast-growing Clark County, according to the Washington Restaurant Association, which based its figuring on recently released 1998 sales statistics from the state Department of...

K2 cuts jobs at its Vashon factory sharply.(Vashon Island, Washington)
November 26, 1999... K2 Corp. said it will eliminate much of its manufacturing operaton on Vashon Island, transferring work to plants in California and China or to outside suppliers. The Los Angeles-based producer of skis, snowboards and other sporting goods has...

Thurston County will test online vote.(VoteHere.net)
November 26, 1999... Thurston County, horn to the state capital, will conduct the first countywide test of an Internet election next February, said a Kirkland-based company. VoteHere.net said the nonbinding Internet vote will run in tandem with the conventional...

Targeted Genetic tackles gene-therapy concerns.
November 26, 1999... Targeted Genetics Corp. said its method for delivering gene therapy differs from the similar-sounding technique implicated in a recent death during a gene-therapy clinical trial. The Seaffle company said it utilizes vectors derived from...

Gates Foundation donates $26M to fight tetanus.(the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation made a $26 million grant to the U.S. Committee for UNICEF for the purpose of fighting maternal and neonatal tetanus, a disease that last year was responsible for more than 300,000 deaths in developing...

Columbia Banking, Capco end acquisition talks.
November 26, 1999... Talks concerning the planned acquisition of Bellevue's Capco Financial Services by Columbia Banking System Inc. have been terminated, the two parties said. Tacoma-based Columbia said only that final terms could not be negotiated. However,...

OnHealth raises $14.7 million.(OnHealth Network Co. of Seattle)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... OnHealth Network Co. of Seattle, an online health and wellness Web site, said it netted approximately $14.7 million from a private stock. sale to institutional shareholder Van Wagoner Funds. The company sold 2.1 million shares at $7 apiece....

Allen buys rest of ZDTV.(Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures has agreed to pay $204.8 million for Ziff-Davis Inc.'s 64 percent stake in ZDTV, a cable network and Web site focused on technology. Allen already owned a 33 percent stake in the San Francisco-based company,...

Cell Therapeutics cuts 47 employees.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Cell Therapeutics Inc. of Seattle has laid off 47 people after deciding to end research on lisofylline, once its principal drug candidate. The company said the decision should reduce its annual expenditures by $16 million, eliminating 35...

Gates reports Republic Services stake.(Bill Gates's Cascade Investment L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... An investment company owned by Bill Gates reported it has accumulated a 5.2 percent stake in Republic Services Inc., the national waste-disposal company based in. Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The timing or price of the purchases was not disclosed,...

NEC buys 6 percent of Active Voice.
November 26, 1999... Active Voice Corp. of Seattle said NEC Corp. exercised an option to buy 307,692 shares of Active Voice. 'We are pleased to have our largest customer own approximately 6 percent of Active Voice stock," said Active Voice president and CEO Frank...

RealNetworks claims consumer edge.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... RealNetworks Inc. said an independent study found seven out of 10 consumers prefer the sound quality of its RealAudio or RealNetworks MP3 computer audio over the rival Microsoft Windows Media Audio. The Seattle streaming media company said...

Plum Creek passes timber audit.(Plum Creek Timber Company Inc. of Seattle)
November 26, 1999... Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. of Seattle said its 3.3 million acres of timberland were audited by an independent accounting firm under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. The company said the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit found Plum...

Many firms waiting to see if Y2K bug bites.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Up to 500,000 small businesses have decided to wait until Jan. 1 to see if they have any Year 2000 computer problems, figuring they can address any glitches after they occur, says the White House's Y2K czar. This "fixing on failure"...

Many firms also lack Y2K staffing plans.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 26, 1999... The Society for Human Resource Management finds it "alarming" that 44 percent of the businesses it surveyed have no contingency plans for Y2K problems around the New Year's holiday. Only 39 percent of the human resource professionals...

Franchise relationships back on Congress' agenda.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Legislation aimed at protecting franchise owners from being abused by franchisors was reintroduced by Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C. The Small Business Franchise Act, which failed to pass Congress last year, would establish standards of...

U.S. Chamber forms group for supply chain issues.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce formed a new Logistics Council to deal with supply chain issues impacting businesses. Third-party logistics providers have experienced explosive growth in recent years, thanks to advances in information...

Network Solutions, inc.com help SBA expand online site.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... The Small Business Administration hooked up with Network Solutions Inc. and inc.com to beef up its Online Small Business Classroom. Network Solutions, a Herndon, Va.-based registrar of Web addresses, and inc.com, the web site for Inc....

Small businesses seek break on paperwork violations.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Jack Gold, owner of an eight-person tool supply company in Edison, N.J., is still smarting from his initial encounter with the U.S. Department of Transportation. DOT inspectors visited Gold's business, Center Industrial & Maintenance...

REGIONAL STOCKS.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... REGIONAL STOCKS percent Closing price 52-week range Best performers change 11/23 11/16 High Low Applied Microsystems 26.96% 7.06 5.56...

Todd Shipyards Corp.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Todd Shipyards Corp., organized in 1916, operates a shipyard through its wholly owned subsidiary Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp. Todd Pacific is involved in the repair, overhaul, conversion and construction of commercial and military ships and...

It's harder than ever to pin down value stocks.
November 26, 1999... With all the talk about the resurgence of value stocks, pinning down the definition of "value" remains as difficult as ever. Screening for stocks with modest valuation ratios -- such as price-to-earnings (P/E) or price-to-sales (P/S) -- is...

BRIEFCASE.
November 26, 1999... ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS The following joined Cesari Response Television Inc. in Seattle: Mike Conkle, vice president of interactive media; David Newsom, director of creative and technical services; Billy Moultrie, new...

State's grape group gets a new executive director.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... The Washington Wine Grape Growers have been doing just that over the past decade -- growing. Recently, the nine volunteer board members realized they could no longer keep up with the needs of their 300-member association without professional...

Accounting Career Awareness Program.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Accounting Career Awareness Program received a $30,400 grant from the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation for underwriting the costs of a weeklong residency designed to introduce minority students to accounting, finance, economics and...

Alaska Airlines Magazine.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Alaska Airlines Magazine received a 1999 Alaskana award from the Alaska Visitors Association in recognition of the publication's more-than-20-year history of Alaska state coverage.

Andrew Hewey.(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Andrew Hewey, Seattle's Essential Foods general manager, received a Special Recognition award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Wise program for its comprehensive approach to environmental concerns.

The Harman Brewery and Restaurant.
November 26, 1999... The Harman Brewery and Restaurant in Tacoma received a gold medal for brewing excellence in the brown porter category from the Great American Beer Festival for its Puget Sound Porter.

Fred Burnstead.
November 26, 1999... Fred Burnstead, chief executive officer of Burnstead Construction, was inducted into the University of Washington's Construction Hall of Fame.

Coldwell Banker Bain agents and brokers.
November 26, 1999... Coldwell Banker Bain agents and brokers from seven Puget Sound offices volunteered labor and funds towards the construction of a Habitat for Humanity duplex townhome in the NewHolly housing development in Seattle.

JayRay Ads & PR.
November 26, 1999... JayRay Ads & PR in Tacoma received three Better Communication awards from the Northwest Public Power Association for its advertising of the Tacoma's Click! cable network.

Linda Katz.(receives award)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Linda Katz, of the Northwest Institute for Children and Families in Seattle, received the Ruben Spannaus award from the Lutheran Social Services of Washington and Idaho for leadership, excellence and vision.

Olson Sundberg Architects.(receives award)(Brief Article)
November 26, 1999... Olson Sundberg Architects in Seattle received an award of honor from the American Institute of Architects Portland chapter's Architecture + Energy awards program for its Frye Art Museum design.

Larry D. Stevens.
November 26, 1999... Larry D. Stevens, senior event coordinator of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, was selected as the National Convention Service Manager of the Year by the Association for Convention Operations Management.

Sound Ventures Inc.
November 26, 1999... Sound Ventures Inc. received an outstanding project award from the Federal Way Department of Community Development Services for the architectural and site design features of its Gold Stone office development.

Subert, Gregory & Woodstrom.
November 26, 1999... Subert, Gregory & Woodstrom, an advertising and public relations firm on Mercer Island, received seven silver awards, six gold best of category awards and the Community of the Year award from the Master Builders Association of King and...

Talking Dog Media.
November 26, 1999... Talking Dog Media in Bellevue received seven Emerald City awards from the International Television and Video Association for the following projects: cinematography excellence, City University "I Can" broadcast commercial; special event/video...

University of Washington Tacoma.
November 26, 1999... University of Washington Tacoma received a $100,000 gift from Intel to help fund the second annual Intel Science and Math Summer Institute, a teacher-training program to develop innovative methods for teaching math and science.

Western Tile and Marble Inc.
November 26, 1999... Western Tile and Marble Inc. in Bellevue received from the Marble Institute of America's Project of the Year Awards an award of excellence, residential interior, for a Bellevue residence, and an award of merit, commercial exterior, for the...