The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun articles from May 1996

The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun archives from May 1996

Car makers race for mall space.
May 3, 1996... First came the rooftops, then came the retail and now the rampant growth in the east Valley has prompted an earlier-than-expected launch of Superstition Springs Auto Mall. "I've never seen anything move this fast," said James Mullin, partner...

AmWest grounds Conway. (America West Airlines; former CEO Mike Conway)
May 3, 1996... Former America West Airlines chief executive Mike Conway has had his wings clipped, and he says the man with the scissors is America West chairman William Franke. Ousted more than two years ago from the airline he helped found, Conway...

Hospital aims at Valley hearts. (MedCath Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona)
May 3, 1996... MedCath Inc., a Charlotte, N.C., public company that builds heart hospitals nationwide, is taking the pulse of the Phoenix market, one that represents $268 million in heart procedures each year. The company's strategy is to lure away business...

Circle K execs cash in stock. (Circle K Corp.)
May 3, 1996... John Antioco led a group of six Circle K Corp. officers and directors who recently cashed in a total of $13 million worth of company stock. Antioco, chairman, CEO and president of The Circle K Corp., netted a cool $4.7 million out of the deal....

Merger costs Gazette readers. (Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette merger)
May 3, 1996... Since the newsroom merger of The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette last October, 13,000 readers have dropped their subscriptions to the afternoon Gazette. If the paper's circulation continues to drop at that rate, it could force...

Resort on Indian land exempt from state taxes. (Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe; Prescott Resort and Convention Center)
May 3, 1996... Tribal communities with hotels on Indian land won't have to pay state taxes on those operations if a recent court ruling holds up. The Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe and the Prescott Resort and Convention Center were successful in convincing the...

Three big chains eye NAU student-run hotel. (Northern Arizona University; Doubletree Corp.; Hyatt Hotels; Marriott Corp.)
May 3, 1996... Northern Arizona University wants to build a 200- to 300-room hotel and conference center through a public-private partnership between the Flagstaff college and a major hotel operator. University officials have given the go-ahead to the...

Motorola puts brains in boxes that will bring TV into future. (Motorola Inc.; set-top converter boxes)
May 3, 1996... A new gadget packed with Motorola technology and partially made in the Valley soon may make hundreds of TV channels a reality for consumers. Motorola Inc. is claiming a place as an early leader in producing the brains for the black boxes that...

City of Phoenix, unions agree to new labor deals.
May 3, 1996... Phoenix and its union workers have agreed to two-year pacts that will see most employees go without pay hikes the first year to help the city cope with reduced federal funds. Union officials said they realize the city has a fight on its hands -...

Evening papers hurt circulation at dailies.
May 3, 1996... Overall circulation has fallen about 2.5 percent at the Valley's two largest daily newspaper chains even with the customer base growing at a bustling pace. But the drop in newspaper sales comes primarily from evening publication including The...

Landis maps out national market. (Landis Info Freeway; GIS Express computer software)
May 3, 1996... Landis Info Freeway, a Phoenix company that specializes in demographic mapping for the real estate industry, is close to a deal to distribute one of its products nationally. Jerry Landis, who started the company three years ago, said he is...

Cable Systems closes $210M in 2 contracts. (Cable Systems International)
May 3, 1996... Cable Systems International, a Phoenix copper cable manufacturer, has closed two multi-year contracts worth $210 million. "Both of these contracts are major opportunities for our company," said Ted Thacker, CSI vice president of sales. Last...

Sun City concept spreads across the United States. (Del Webb Corp.'s opening of recreational facilities)
May 3, 1996... The days of labeling Sun City as a little-known retirement community far west of Phoenix are over. Today, the Sun City concept is spreading across the country, as Phoenix-based Del Webb Corp. continues to add new developments to its portfolio....

Sam, HMO sign contract. (Samaritan Health System; Intergroup of Arizona)
May 3, 1996... It was touch and go for awhile, but Samaritan Health System and Intergroup of Arizona have reached agreement on a new contract. Specific contract terms were not disclosed, but the contract, effective May 1, runs for two years. In a joint...

Car-replica empire on crash course. (Action Performance Companies Inc.)
May 10, 1996... A racketeering lawsuit against Tempe businessman Fred Wagenhals and his Action Performance Cos. Inc. is aimed at crashing the race-car collectibles empire. Two of Wagenhals' former business partners filed the suit in U.S. District Court in...

Finova seeks office home; could be lead tenant at Esplanade tower.
May 10, 1996... Finova, the Phoenix commercial finance company, likely will emerge as lead tenant in one of two new office towers now being planned, one of which could prompt developers to seek zoning for a 16-story tower at 24th Street and Camelback Road....

Delco flips over chips. (Flip Chip Technologies)
May 10, 1996... A new high-tech plant in Phoenix will get chips flipping - and moving faster, too. Flip Chip Technologies, a joint venture between Kulicke & Soffa Industries and Delco Electronics, plans to build a 38,000-square foot plant at 3107 E....

Arrow Stage Lines rolls into Coach.
May 10, 1996... After 68 years involving three generations of the Busskohl family, Arrow Stage Lines of Phoenix stands to rake in an estimated $7.8 million as it becomes part of Coach USA. Houston-based Coach USA was formed in September 1995 specifically to...

AT&T dials up winner with hotel deal. (contract with HFS Inc.)
May 10, 1996... HFS Inc., an international hotel and residential real estate franchiser, will pay AT&T $1 billion over 10 years to provide telephone service for all 11 entities of HFS. All of the telecommunications and messaging services for Parsippany,...

$35.9M in venture capital kick-starts AZ's 'huge year.' (Arizona)
May 10, 1996... Arizona pulled in $35.9 million in venture capital for the first quarter of 1996 - almost half the amount collected for all of 1995 as the state heads for a "huge year." The take for first-quarter 1996 was six times greater than 1995's draw of...

Nursing home developer forms management wing. (Unispec Development Corp. forms Physician Health Facilities of America)
May 10, 1996... Scottsdale's Unispec Development Corp.. which has built 26 nursing homes in the United States and Canada, is forming a new company to not only develop, but also manage, nursing homes for physician groups. The new company, Physician Health...

Ugly Duckling car sales files for $13.5M offering.
May 10, 1996... Ugly Duckling Corp. has filed for a $13.5 million initial public offering of 2 million shares to be sold at an estimated $6.75 per share. The Phoenix company's plans for the offering and for national expansion of its used-car dealerships were...

Pulte makes push into 50+ market. (Pulte Home Corp. creates new division to sell homes to middle-aged persons)
May 17, 1996... Pulte Home Corp. is creating a new division to target the over-50 home-buying market, and one of its projects is a 267-acre, 740-lot master-planned community in Chandler. The Chandler development, expected to begin sales this winter, is the...

CyCare chief to retire with big paycheck. (Jim Houtz, chief executive officer of CyCare Systems Inc.)
May 17, 1996... Jim Houtz, founder and CEO of Scottsdale-based CyCare Systems Inc., plans to retire now that the company is being sold to Atlanta-based HBO & Co. On Aug. 7, 1997, Houtz will celebrate his 30th anniversary with CyCare, and has decided to use...

Skin-laser spa makes mark in Scottsdale. (Candela Skin Care Centers Inc.)
May 17, 1996... A Massachusetts-based skin laser manufacturer will open a spa and laser cosmetic center in Scottsdale this fall, a prototype for a worldwide network catering for the rich and famous. Wayland, Mass.-based Candela Corp. has formed a subsidiary...

Continental gets first crack at AmWest. (Continental Airlines Inc.; American West Airlines Inc.)
May 17, 1996... Continental Airlines has first dibs on the controlling interest in America West should the company's largest stockholder decide to sell. That information was first disclosed in America West Airlines Inc. documents earlier this year, although...

Microwave use aimed at veins. (Dynamic Associates Inc.)
May 17, 1996... A small group of Valley residents is investing $5.3 million in Dynamic Associates Inc., a patent holder for microwave technology that promises to melt away troubled veins. The technology is being pitched to rival an existing approach that...

Ultrasound technology is MRI alternative. (Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Inc.)
May 17, 1996... A new Scottsdale company that promotes the use of ultrasound in place of expensive magnetic-resonance-imaging technology is poised to give MRI companies a run for their money. Advanced Diagnostic Imaging is trying to educate Valley doctors...

Old church eyed as core for redevelopment. (Sacred Heart Church, Phoenix, AZ)
May 17, 1996... The former Sacred Heart Church, an old red-bricked building that once stood as the focal point for a thriving neighborhood near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, may be getting a new lease on life. Bank of America Arizona officials...

Phoenix ranked as leader in real estate recovery.(Industry Overview)
May 17, 1996... Nearly every major metropolitan area in the country is now well into a real estate recovery - but very few are doing better than Phoenix. So concludes a study by the Urban Land Institute in its 1996 Real Estate Forecast. Of the 52 markets...

Cox switches gears to phone service. (Cox Communications Inc.)
May 24, 1996... Cable giant Cox Communications Inc. is taking a huge step in its plans to offer competitive local phone service as it shops the Valley real estate market for sites to build at least three telephone switching centers. The three centers are the...

Medical-management firm prepares for Valley toehold. (Paragon Concepts Inc.; Valley of the Sun, AZ)
May 24, 1996... Paragon Concepts Inc., a Houston company that electronically links physicians and hospitals to insurance companies in Texas and Oregon, is coming to Phoenix. The 3-year-old company also has financial backing from private investors to acquire...

Tenacity brings success to surface. (James Evans, president and CEO of Sunrise Preschools Inc.)
May 24, 1996... James Evans, president and CEO of Scottsdale-based Sunrise Preschools Inc. - and an avid scuba diver - is expanding his company at a rate just fast enough to avoid getting the bends. To avoid the nauseating and dizzying effects of nitrogen...

Avnet expansion a mystery: electronics company may double employment to 1,800. (Avnet Inc.)
May 31, 1996... Avnet Inc., the New York electronics giant that has been looking at the Valley for a possible headquarters move, is expanding again in Chandler. The latest expansion could mean doubling Avnet's 900-member Chandler workforce to 1,800, along...

Baker kneads deal for space. (Holsum Bakery Inc.'s expansion plans)
May 31, 1996... Holsum Bakery is cooking up plans for expansion that includes acquiring a local competitor's shop, in a move that could affect 65 jobs. Bob Hans, director of associate services for Phoenix-based Holsum Bakery, confirmed that his company is in...

Cerprobe, Knight growing hot. (CerProbe Corp. and Knight Transportation Inc. ranked as hot-growth companies by BusinessWeek magazine)
May 31, 1996... Cerprobe Corp. and Knight Transportation are growing fast - fast enough to earn the Arizona businesses a couple of slots on Business Week magazine's annual list of hot-growth companies. Cerprobe ranked No. 40 on the list and Knight edged into...

Samaritan layoffs looming. (Samaritan Health System)
May 31, 1996... Samaritan Health System, the state's largest health system, with 11,000 employees, is planning "limited" layoffs as one way to cut $100 million in costs over the next three years. "As we look for every opportunity to increase efficiencies and...

Ex-US West manager leads AT&T bid for local service. (US West Communications Inc.; Mary Beth Vitale)
May 31, 1996... DENVER - Mary Beth Vitale has peddled french fries, cellular phones and Coors beer. But the sale she is trying to close now could be a career-maker. Less than two years after quitting US West Communications Inc. for long-distance giant AT&T,...