The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun articles from September 1998

The Business Journal - Serving Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun archives from September 1998

Internal squabbles taint firm. (Interactive Flight Technologies Inc.)
September 4, 1998... Executives at Interactive Flight Technologies Inc. once harbored dreams of designing electronic game systems to make air travel more entertaining. Now they are in a turbulent ride of their own as mounting losses, irate shareholders and a...

Patent suit stays very much alive. (Medical, Education and Research Foundation LP's lawsuit against 26 semiconductor companies)
September 4, 1998... Even death couldn't stop Jerome Lemelson from suing corporate America. The Nevada estate of the independent inventor, who died in 1997 at age 74, still is pursuing companies that its attorneys allege have profited from his ideas. On July...

Media deals could double NFL lending. (National Football League)
September 4, 1998... Reaping the benefits of huge media contracts, the National Football League plans to increase dramatically the money it can lend to league teams. The NFL's lead bank, Nations Bank Corp., is developing a league credit facility of $600 million to...

People the focus at Go-Video. (television set manufacturer Go-Video Inc.)
September 4, 1998... Momentum built on 9 straight profitable quarters Roger Hackett strolls through Go-Video Inc.'s warehouse, wondering aloud where he's going to find room to store the company's first-ever digital televisions, set to ship in October. Even here,...

Phoenix company helps keep air travel health safe. (MedAire Inc.)
September 4, 1998... A 38-year-old pregnant woman was flying from Cairo. Egypt, to Los Angeles when she started feeling contractions. She was six months pregnant and rapidly losing blood. A doctor was on board. He checked her blood pressure and gave her oxygen. But...

Dramatic impact: developers follow freeway route across north Valley. (Phoenix, Arizona)
September 4, 1998... In less than a year, commuters will have a world of fewer stoplights from Interstate 17 east across north Phoenix to 56th Street. They will have a new and faster cross-town route when an interim roadway is opened by next July along the...

Cutter Aviation sees future in Deer Valley. (Phoenix-Deer Valley Municipal Airport)
September 4, 1998... It was a new freeway, not a runway, that lured an aircraft company to Deer Valley Airport. Last year, anticipating a business boom around the north Phoenix airport because the state is building the Loop 101 freeway nearby, Will Cutter moved...

Tower Plaza marks next demolition phase. (shopping center to be replaced by new commercial center)
September 4, 1998... The next phase of demolition of Tower Plaza is set for January, as Koll Development Co.'s 500,000-square-foot Desert Palms Power Center rises in the site of the former shopping mall, according to Koll partner Greg Mickelson. "The project's...

If you build it ... (Nordstrom's new store in Scottsdale, Arizona)
September 11, 1998... Customer service, reputation sure signs shoppers will come Customer service is widely recognized as Nordstrom's forte, but Blake Nordstrom shies away from analyzing it. "We're hesitant to talk about it because we know how fragile it is,"...

Central Avenue bustling: new hotel set for city core. (planned hotel at the Central Corridor in Phoenix, AZ)
September 11, 1998... For the first time in seven years, a major building is going up in the Central Corridor. It's part of a trend of increasing activity in the business district, which spans Central Avenue from McDowell to Camelback roads. A three-story hotel...

New bank opening in Tempe. (Bank of the Southwest in Arizona)
September 11, 1998... You can't be all things to all people - but that won't stop one banker from trying. Tom Gryp, 41, a former Citibank Arizona executive, has applied to open a bank in Tempe that he says will combine the high-touch service of community banks with...

Cox telephone service launches in Chandler. (Cox Communications Inc; Chandler, AZ)
September 11, 1998... After months of cable upgrades and testing, Cox Communications is formally launching its digital telephone service in parts of Chandler, marking the first time residential users have had a big-name alternative to US West's monopoly. Only a few...

Aerial photo company has new vision. (AirPhotoUSA's PhotoMapper software)
September 11, 1998... Housed in a jumbled collection of office space with other, only slightly related businesses owned by J.R. Robertson, AirPhotoUSA clearly is an upstart technology firm. Inside, near a poster that reads "Photos Don't Lie," a single CD-ROM...

Hotels consider child care benefits program.
September 11, 1998... Led by executives of Marriott International Inc., a group of human resource directors is planning something that's rare for the hospitality industry: a low-cost day care center for low-income employees. Child care still is considered a...

Critics help push Phoenix to bright future. (Arizona)
September 11, 1998... Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza says some of the city's best friends are its critics. He said downtown Phoenix wouldn't be what it is today, undergoing revitalization of its commercial districts and residential areas, if not for critics who have...

Turning over new leaves keeps bookstore in blossom. (Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ)
September 11, 1998... Sometimes Scott Curry ventures into the immense expanse of a chain bookstore. But he'd rather delve into the offerings of Changing Hands Bookstore at 414 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe, a 5,000-square-foot shop that sells books, aromatherapy candles...

Arrowhead facing Medicare loss. (Arrowhead Community Hospital, Glendale, Arizona)
September 18, 1998... Less than a year after its sister hospital in Bullhead City lost its Medicare certification, Arrowhead Community Hospital in Glendale is in jeopardy of losing its Medicare license. Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City...

On a rescue mission: Rural/Metro tries to douse financial fire. (fire and ambulance company Rural/Metro Corp.)
September 18, 1998... Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Rural/Metro Corp. is ablaze in a controversy that executives hope to extinguish soon. The international fire and ambulance company with roots in Scottsdale is faced with a tumbling stock price, low...

Company makes case for attorney. (Rural/Metro Corp.'s, lawyer and chief executive officer John Furman)
September 18, 1998... John Furman has the right background to deal with one of the problems fitting Rural/Metro Corp. Furman is an attorney, and a shareholder lawsuit against his company will be occupying a good bit of his time. Furman took the reins of the...

Cox, US West race to lure customers.
September 18, 1998... Randy Frantz concentrated on "smiling more" as he gave a staged demonstration last week of Cox Communications' digital television service to a handful of the Cox faithful in a Chandler apartment complex. It was a dress rehearsal he had...

Web design firm brings business online instantly. (APPS Software International)
September 18, 1998... As a computer hardware reseller, Thomas Worth doesn't need convincing that electronic commerce - particularly the kind made possible by the Internet - could become the biggest advance in decades for small businesses. But for all the hype about...

Coffee Plantation brews plans for franchising.
September 18, 1998... When Tom Twitchel started working for Coffee Plantation, he loved telling people about his job and having them respond enthusiastically about the coffee house's original location on Mill Avenue. "Everybody's got a story about 'I proposed to my...

W. Valley affordability lures development. (West Valley of the Sun, Arizona, residential development)
September 18, 1998... A new residential development company is focusing much of its work in the West Valley to take advantage of lower land costs and city fees. Newport Development, founded one year ago, is busy with five of its nine projects in, southwest Phoenix....

Yoshi's rice bowls taking a chop out of burger business. (Japanese fast food restaurant Yoshi's Franchise Corp.)
September 18, 1998... Waiting in a long line for lunch at a Burger King in San Francisco in 1989, Yoshihiro Natori wasn't thinking about what to order, but what he couldn't order. "Why not (serve) Japanese quick-food instead of all burgers?" the then chef at a...

Banking on retail: discounters jump into finance with branch sites. (Rocky Mountain Bank branch at Wal-Mart)
September 18, 1998... Towels, toiletties, office supplies, dishes, socks, pantyhose - and a construction loan? Shopping at Wal-Mart is about to get more financial, as Rocky Mountain Bank prepares to move into a Wal-Mart store in north Phoenix. The move comes as...

It's in the cards for one Valley distributor. (greeting card distributor Commonwealth Services, Valley of the Sun, Arizona)
September 18, 1998... "When you care enough to send the very best," Mesa greeting-card distributor Commonwealth Services wants the sentiment to celebrate Arizona sports. Commonwealth has teamed with Bernie Kosar Greeting Card Co. of Cleveland to stock Valley stores...

Stock options adrift. (potential benefits of employee stock ownership plans)
September 25, 1998... Despite jitters, workers benefit Mike Ellis' stock options are under water, but his dreams of a big payoff are still afloat. Ellis is a software engineer for Microtest Inc. Like many Valley employees, he has a stake in his company's share...

Arizona's economic future still bright.
September 25, 1998... Financial and economic experts continue to paint a rosy picture of Arizona's future - at least for two more years. They say the combined impact of near-record low interest rates, the increasing buying power of baby-boomers, record low...

Campaign pushes health insurance. (business groups' support for the Campaign for Coverage program of the American Hospital Association)
September 25, 1998... Sixteen hospitals and health systems are working together to help 15,290 people in Arizona obtain health insurance coverage by the end of the year. The Arizona hospitals have joined the American Hospital Association's Campaign for Coverage...

Pygmy owl proposal poses threat to builders. (protection of the habitat of pygmy owls from destruction that may be caused by real estate development)
September 25, 1998... Federal concern over the pygmy owl could bring development in the Valley's fastest growing regions to a screeching halt, according to some developers and their attorneys. A recommendation by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service could delay...

Skater turned architect leads community trend. (views of landscape architect Michael McIntyre on building skate parks in Phoenix, Arizona)
September 25, 1998... Landscape architecture seems an unlikely career for someone who has become a role model for Valley youths. But Michael McIntyre, who works for the local office of Carter Burgess, fits the bill. The soft-spoken, 29-year-old Californian refers to...

Engineering, golf course design married at CMX. (profile of CMX Group Inc.)(Company Profile)
September 25, 1998... Darrell Wilson used to play golf every day, but he doesn't have time to putt around anymore. He's busy designing golf courses for CMX Sports, a division of CMX Group Inc. of Phoenix. Wilson in 1992 joined CMX Group, a top civil engineering...

It's hard work puttin' on the Ritz. (profile of Ritz-Carlton Phoenix General Manager Kate Monahan)
September 25, 1998... Always a lady not afraid to roll-up her sleeves On a Thursday evening, the guests arriving at the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix hotel are greeted by general manager Kate Monahan, who is bailing out the short-handed valet parking staff by manning the...