South Florida Business Journal articles from February 1997

South Florida Business Journal archives from February 1997

Restaurateurs team to take Max's Grille public.
February 7, 1997... Dennis Max, one of South Florida's most successful restaurateurs, is taking his Max's Grille concept to Wall Street. Max and longtime partner Burt Rapoport are teaming with West Palm Beach stockbroker Joseph Visconti, president of Joseph...

Nemo, Big Pink owners invade Fashion Island. (restaurateurs Myles Chefetz and Michael Schwartz to open new restaurant at a South Florida shopping mall)
February 7, 1997... AVENTURA - The owners of Nemo, an acclaimed South Beach restaurant, and Big Pink, its dressed-down sister, will open a third eatery this spring at Loehmann's Fashion Island in Aventura. Partners Myles Chefetz and Michael Schwartz have signed a...

State may revamp rules on contractor licensing. (Florida)
February 7, 1997... To Boca Raton builder Paul Del Vecchio of Associated Construction, Florida's hodgepodge of contractor licenses is an illogical way to monitor one of the state's largest industries. Roofers, plumbers, electricians and other contractors long have...

Deadlock ends talks to set Memorial's legal boundaries. (Memorial Health Care System)
February 7, 1997... It's left to the courts to decide whether Memorial Health Care System can continue doing business outside its geographic boundaries. A yearlong effort by the Florida League of Health Systems to negotiate a settlement with Memorial is at a dead...

Reaching out for profits. (South Florida hospitals offer new services to entice patients)
February 7, 1997... Patience doesn't bring patients - but new marketing efforts do If you've always thought of a hospital as a big building full of sick people, think again. These days, South Florida hospitals are reaching out to their markets and offering new...

Medical savings accounts: new benefit means multiple options.
February 7, 1997... Since Jan. 1, insurance companies have been overwhelmed with inquiries about medical savings accounts. The pilot project will test the accounts impact in the marketplace for taxable years beginning Jan. 1 and ending in 2000. The project is...

Task force nixes cyber-tax. (Florida Telecommunications Taxation Task Force)
February 7, 1997... Draft report opposes tax on Internet, e-mail and online services - but will lawmakers go along? TALLAHASSEE - Good news,"net heads" - you'll continue to be able to surf the Internet tax-free, if the recommendations of a task force appointed by...

Vital Pharma tackles new plant, new markets.
February 7, 1997... The goal: Becoming a leader in blow-fill-seal RIVIERA BEACH - With a 22,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in operation and a 150,000-square-foot facility on the drawing board, Vital Pharma Inc. is primed to become a leader in the...

Employers should take a close look at mental health benefits.
February 7, 1997... A stressed-out employee has been arguing with co-workers and his supervisor for months. During a performance evaluation, he admits to a substance abuse problem and being depressed, so you refer him to a case manager at the company's health care...

Killing the messengers? (small Florida courier firms fight for market share as big industry conglomerates start their local operations)(Industry Overview)
February 7, 1997... Courier conglomerates have small messenger services fighting for their lives Historically a cottage industry, South Florida courier and messenger services increasingly are having to go up against multimillion-dollar conglomerates that are...

Contractors seeking simpler, state-wide building code, too. (Florida)
February 7, 1997... Florida's construction industry, already pushing for a simpler contractor-licensing system, is tackling another issue that could prove even more contentious: building codes. Like contractor-licensing regulations, the state's building codes are...

Beautiful, bold, lots of billings. (Ocean Drive magazine)
February 14, 1997... Ocean Drive is growing fast, but faces new competition MIAMI BEACH - Beautiful faces stare coolly from pages of Ocean Drive magazine, a glossy tribute to South Beach and all its romp and circumstance. Tribute, as well, to the advertisers who...

BeachPlace bonanza for Las Olas. (Fort Lauderdale's newest waterfront shopping and restaurant complex)
February 14, 1997... Merchants say glitzy BeachPlace isn't taking their shoppers - it's bringing more in FORT LAUDERDALE - It's Saturday night, and State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale is clogged with cars trying to find a spot at the city's latest attraction:...

Candlewood jumps into extended-stay fray. (Candlewood Hotel Co. Inc. enters extended-stay hotel market)
February 21, 1997... South Florida's extended-stay hotel market will get even more competitive this year with the arrival of Candlewood Hotel Co. Inc., a new chain from the founder of Marriott's Residence Inn. Candlewood, a Wichita, Kan.-based company with a narrow...

A call to savings: cybernetics software helps call centers dial up savings.
February 21, 1997... Telephone calls pour in around the clock to airlines, cruise companies, hotels, banks, catalog retailers and customer service centers of major companies throughout the world. And every one of these inbound call centers faces the same dilemma:...

Marlins settle dispute over television schedule. (Florida Marlins reaches scheduling agreement with Sunshine Network and SportsChannel)(includes related article on SportsChannel executives)
February 21, 1997... Just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training, Fort Lauderdale's SportsChannel, the Orlando-based Sunshine Network and the Florida Marlins settled a fracas that nearly landed in court. The settlement means Sunshine will be able to...

Gamma knives cut a profit; critics made dire predictions when two Dade hospitals bought expensive gamma knife machines - but three years later, the knives are looking sharp.
February 21, 1997... In 1994, Dade County became the first region in the nation to have two multimillion dollar, high-tech gamma knives. Jackson Memorial Hospital and HealthSouth Doctors' - just miles from each other - could have pooled their resources and set up...

Microtel Inns plans three South Florida franchises.
February 21, 1997... Microtel Inns, a new budget hotel chain launched by the former president of Holiday Inns Worldwide, is making its move into South Florida. Developer Morris Jaffe, who has signed on as Microtel's first Florida franchisee, has two Dade sites...

Air Ambulance takes off with new contracts. (Air Ambulance Professionals Inc.)
February 28, 1997... FORT LAUDERDALE - Brian Weisz knows what it's like to get a small business off the ground. The president and owner of Air Ambulance Professionals Inc. in Fort Lauderdale started his company in 1989 with one leased plane and about $10,000 in...

Cigar success prompts new offerings from Skarco Press. (publishing house)
February 28, 1997... Smoking definitely allowed COOPER CITY - Skarco Press is smokin'. The year-old Broward publishing house is turning regional magazine South Florida Smoker into a statewide vehicle called Florida Smoker. Skarco also recently launched Greater...

Technical Chemicals launches home health tests. (Technical Chemicals and Products Inc.)
February 28, 1997... POMPANO BEACH - Jack Aronowitz has known what he wanted to be since he was a kid. At 17, he was working in a lab preparing for a career as a chemist. Forty years later and just a few credits short of his doctorate, the founder and chief...