The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun articles from June 1999

The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun archives from June 1999

Sign of the times: $8.3 billion sale displays Outdoor's success.(Outdoor Systems Inc. acquired by Infinity Broadcasting Corp.)
June 4, 1999... The $8.3 billion deal that Twill make Outdoor Systems Inc. an independent subsidiary of Infinity Broadcasting Corp. is more than just another consolidation in the outdoor advertising industry. It's a success story for the Phoenix company,...

AOL buys Nullsoft.(America Online buys tiny Sedona software company)
June 4, 1999... Company part of $400M deal A tiny Sedona software company that helped turn up the dial on Internet-downloaded music has become part of the world's largest online service in a $400 million deal. America Online Inc. purchased Nullsoft...

All systems go for merger, say hospital chiefs.(Samaritan Health System; Lutheran Health System)
June 4, 1999... Jim Crews sits relaxed and comfortable in his chair when he mentions a public hearing June 7 to discuss the merger of his Samaritan Health System with Lutheran Health System. The merger will go through, as far he is concerned. And if...

Four Seasons planning mid-December check-in.(Four Seasons to build luxury resort in Scottsdale, AZ)
June 4, 1999... It's been about 10 years since Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels began scouting the Valley as a destination to build a luxury resort. Now, at the base of Pinnacle Peak, the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North is taking shape. The...

NationsWay trucking firm is stalled in bankruptcy.(NationsWay Transport Service Inc.)
June 4, 1999... This summer, an Arizona bankruptcy court will sift through the wreckage of a derailed transport company whose demise forced about 125 people locally and 3,000 nationwide out of their jobs. NationsWay, based in Denver and founded by Colorado...

Iron maker wrought with success.(Iron Factory)(Company Profile)
June 4, 1999... A scheduled interview to discuss the success of Sheldon Nitzky's 3-year-old Iron Factory retail outlet in Scottsdale turned out to be more of a field trip when the meeting turned into a one-hour tour of his manufacturing plant in Mesa. ...

US West merger opens door to new opportunities.
June 4, 1999... US West Inc.'s $37 billion planned merger with Global Crossing Ltd. is aimed squarely at the business market, a top executive with US West's data operations says. "The merger is very much business-centric," said Rick Fresia, US West...

Spider Direct climbs onto Web through spinoff from Intech.(Spider Technologies Inc.)
June 4, 1999... Spider Technologies inc. is using the web to help its clients snare customers and keep them in the fold. The Denver-based Spider Technologies, which recently was spun off from parent company Intech Information Inc., develops software for...

Handbook headaches.(Arizona Supreme Court's ruling on employee handbooks)
June 11, 1999... Court decision creating chaos Human resources executives and labor law attorneys are scrambling to review employee handbooks to determine if old company policies are still valid in light of a recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling. The...

More snags for electric competition.(Arizona's electricity regulations)
June 11, 1999... Power providers have been waiting years to sell electricity to Arizona customers in an open market, but some are warning that rules being considered by state regulators could make it all for naught by scaring away competitors. "There needs...

Merged firms face tough industry.(AlliedSignal Inc.'s merger with Honeywell Inc.)
June 11, 1999... Wall Street is praising the merger of AlliedSignal Inc. and Honeywell Inc., but the aerospace industry ultimately will decide whether their Phoenix operations have a smooth takeoff. Cycles in the commercial aviation industry and troubles...

Small-business group drops CIGNA for Premier.(Arizona Small Business Assn.'s contract with Premier Healthcare of Arizona)
June 11, 1999... The Arizona Small Business Association has dropped CIGNA Healthcare of Arizona as its health insurance carrier because of rate increases. The group has turned to Premier Healthcare of Arizona, the only locally owned and operated health...

Lincoln seeks bond issue to redo debt and expand.(John C. Lincoln Health Network)
June 11, 1999... John C. Lincoln Health Network, a health system expanding its presence in north central Phoenix, is looking to issue a $40 million tax-exempt bond offering. Lincoln will appear before the Arizona Health Facilities board to obtain...

Mesa food franchiser adding out-of-state sites.(New York Burrito Gourmet Wraps)
June 11, 1999... A Mesa-based franchise operator is hoping to wrap up 40 locations across the country by the end of the year, which would bring its restaurants total to 100. New York Burrito Gourmet Wraps has 60 locations in 18 states. There are...

Arizona developer plots 'lifestyle communities': hospitality group joins for San Antonio project.(International Consolidated Investors Corp.'s joint venture with Carlson Hospitality Worldwide)
June 11, 1999... Hospitality group joins for San Antonio project An Arizona developer and a well-known hospitality group and are teaming up to develop and manage as many as five "lifestyle communities," a concept that combines full-service resort hotels...

Money search lands Internet service firm in court.(Lynxus Inc. sues Investor Media)
June 11, 1999... Lynxus Inc., a fast-growing Atlanta-based Internet service provider, has gone to court against a company that claims it is entitled to acquire a 49 percent stake in Lynxus. The problem is that Lynxus wants to sell the stake to other...

Holding court: Valley job market is red hot for qualified paralegals.(high employment opportunities for legal assistants in Phoenix, AZ)
June 11, 1999... Donna Horwitz has been around the block more than a few times when it comes to zoning. In her 18 years at Phoenix law firm Fennemore Craig PC, she has done work for the likes of deceased liquor magnate Kemper Marley, worked the early part...

Licensed attorneys required to pass ethics course.(Arizona Supreme Court ruling)
June 11, 1999... The old saying, "Don't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch," applies to Arizona attorneys as the legal community looks for ways to polish its reputation. Although a minority of lawyers has left a sour taste, the Arizona Supreme Court has...

MicroAge denies sale, plots comeback strategy.
June 18, 1999... MicroAge chief executive Jeff McKeever denies his company is up for sale but admits he has plenty of work ahead of him in restoring profitability to the ailing tech firm. Executives at the Tempe company, one of only a handful of home-grown...

Homebuilder Elliott seeks sites in central Phoenix.(Elliott Homes Inc.)
June 18, 1999... Harry Elliott III, a third-generation homebuilder active in Arizona and northern California, is thinking about jumping his business forward by moving back. Although only in the concept stage, Elliott is considering adding "infill" housing...

Qwest envisions US West as high-growth company.
June 18, 1999... If phone companies were cars, one could equate US West Inc. to a model that was built on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend. But Qwest Communications International Inc. doesn't see it that way. Rather the Denver...

Tempe Web-design firm maps out public offering.(Integrated Information Systems)
June 18, 1999... Jim Garvey says he can remember his earliest days in the networking business, dreaming of a time when every computer was connected to every other computer anywhere in the world. He got what he wished for - and then some - less than a decade...

American Family expands service in Western states.(American Family Mutual Insurance opens Denver regional headquarters)
June 18, 1999... The economies of the Western states are booming and Madison, Wis.-based American Family Insurance doesn't plan to miss out. As part of its expansion, the nation's 11th-largest property/casualty insurer is opening an $18 million office...

U.S. cotton industry sheared by small 1998 crop.(Industry Overview)
June 18, 1999... While most industries, and the economy overall, are crowing about another banner year in 1998, the cotton industry is dealing with its smallest domestic crop in 11 years. That means less cotton to trade, less seed to crush and less work...

Catering to high-flying clients.(Aero Jet Services LLC)(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... If high-powered clients are a measure of air charter success, Mike Aaby's Aero Jet Services LLC at the Scottsdale Airpark will be soaring for years. Entertainers, sports figures, politicians, Fortune 500 CEOs, drag racers - even human...

Pretty as a picture: running gallery is a fine art.(Suzanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ)
June 18, 1999... It is a sunny Friday afternoon in downtown Scottsdale. Scottsdale Road has its share of afternoon traffic; while people wander up and down the sidewalks on Main Street. The street is lined with art galleries, a testament to Scottsdale's...

AlliedSignal.(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... AEROSPACE AlliedSignal Inc. 101 Columbia Road, P.O. Box 4000 Morristown, NJ 07962 973-455-2000 www.alliedsignal.com Arizona employees: 10,000 1st qtr. 1999 revenue: $3.6 billion 1st qtr. 1998 revenue: $3.6...

In search of angels: local Internet firm snares $20 million.(Visitalk.com)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... Another day, another $20 million Internet investment. Visitalk.com, a 40-person Phoenix company that hopes to popularize voice chats over the Internet, is closing in on the last $2 million of a $20 million round of financing. It's the...

5 companies still seek funding help.(In Search of Angels)(small Arizona-based companies seek investors)
June 25, 1999... Five small Arizona companies are acutely aware that without her fairy godmother, Cinderella still would be sweeping ashes at the hearth. Unfortunately for the start-up firms, which attended an angel investor forum last month in Scottsdale,...

Former employees flock back to Lamb's new bank.(Raymond Lamb's First Bank of Arizona)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... When Raymond Lamb was forced to sell his community bank to Norwest Bank last July, he left Arizona much like the animal that bears his name. But on the anniversary of his departure, Lamb has returned to open a new bank - and he is taking...

Triumph quietly expands roster to 700 in valley.(Triumph Group Inc.)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... The upcoming AlliedSignal-Honeywell merger is generating a national buzz, but a Pennsylvania manufacturer quietly has been making similar moves locally, snatching up five Valley aerospace firms and eyeing several more. Wayne, Pa.,...

Phoenix law firm battles Nevada State Bar over name.(Lewis and Roca)
June 25, 1999... A planned expansion into the Las Vegas market has attorneys from Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP tied up in court suing the Nevada State Bar. Nevada regulators told the Arizona-based firm it must operate under a different name because...

Developers map Van Buren's future.(East Van Buren Street)
June 25, 1999... Conni McDonough dreams of an East Van Buren Street redeveloped into a bustling Phoenix marketplace, where the four lanes are rebuilt into two. Her dreams are fueled by developers who, because of rising property prices elsewhere in the...

Arizona tribe's ballpark offer still interests Dodgers.(Fort McDowell Indian Community's plan to build a ballpark to serve as the spring-training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers)
June 25, 1999... If the Los Angeles Dodgers abandon their spring-training home in Florida, it will be for a dramatically scaled-down version of the complex originally proposed to lure the team to Arizona. The Fort McDowell Indian Community has presented the...

Biersch bottles up retail plan to sell lagers throughout state.(Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.)
June 25, 1999... Lovers of traditional German beers from the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. - once available locally only at the company's Tempe microbrewery and restaurant - now can find the brews as close as the nearest grocery or convenience store, bar or...

Trailblazing Wells Fargo spurs online competition.(bank has almost one million online customers)
June 25, 1999... Wells Fargo & Co. is approaching a milestone - 1 million online financial services customers - with competitors nipping at its heels. Pressure is coming from all sides. Online brokerage E-Trade Group Inc. unveiled a merger June 1 with the...

On top of his game: Anderson known as 'father of desert golf.'.(developer Lyle Anderson)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... Anderson known as 'father of desert golf' It was a close encounter of the celebrity kind, and it sparked a smile on the face of developer and host Lyle Anderson. The celebrity visitor was Michael Jordan, former star of the Chicago...