Austin Business Journal articles from January 1991

Austin Business Journal archives from January 1991

High-tech sector to grow more. (Austin, Texas) (1991 economic forecasts)
January 7, 1991... High-tech sector to grow more Industry analysts predict growth in 1991 for Austin's high-tech companies, including those that have been in a slump during the last year. "Motorola is planning its semiconductor business fairly...

Healthcare providers optimistic. (Austin, Texas) (1991 economic forecasts)
January 7, 1991... Healthcare providers optimistic Sally Gillam works at the heart of one of Austin's major ongoing growth industries: Health care. As director of nursing at the South Austin Medical Center, Gillam is not only among the first to witness the...

Vanguard income up. (Texas Vanguard Oil Co.) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Vanguard income up Texas Vanguard Oil Co., headquartered in Austin, recently announced a net income of $29,129 or 2 cents per share for the third quarter of 1990. Net income for the same period in 1989 was $22,666. The company operates 150...

Prime revenues dip. (Prime Medical Services Inc.) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Prime revenues dip Austin-based Prime Medical Services Inc. announced that revenues for the third quarter of 1990 decreased to $3.174 million, as compared to $3.498 million during the same period in 1989. Net profit totaled $393,000 or 5...

Insurance board acts. (Texas. Board of Insurance) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Insurance board acts The State Board of Insurance recently issued a list of disciplinary actions taken by Insurance Commissioner A.W. Pogue, which became final during November. The list includes the following from Austin: Vickie Ann...

Air traffic up for year. (Robert Mueller Airport) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Air traffic up for year Traffic at Robert Mueller Airport increased by 2.69 percent during the first 11 months of 1990 over 1989. However, passenger and cargo activity both decreased for the month of November as compared to the same...

Longhorn in the MUDs. (Longhorn Disposal, municipal utility districts) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Longhorn in the MUDs Longhorn Disposal of Austin recently announced that it has won contracts to pick up trash for the Anderson Mill West and Wells Branch Municipal Utility districts. Longhorn will provide each residence in the...

Lockheed wins contract. (Lockheed Austin, U.S. Air Force, Milstar, global communications system contract) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Lockheed wins contract Lockheed Austin has received an $8 million contract to design and produce a prototype mobile ground station for the U.S. Air Force Milstar global communications system. Milstar is a satellite communications system....

Exports big in Texas. (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Exports big in Texas Texas exports accounted for nearly 11 percent of all U.S. export sales, totaling $38 billion, in 1989, according to the office of the state comptroller. Exports in recent years have grown about 2 1/2 times faster...

Unemployment up again. (Texas) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Unemployment up again The November unemployment rate for Texas was 6.8 percent. Texas Employment Commissioner Mary Scott Nabers said 7,941,300 Texans were out of work in November. She called the October dip in unemployment, to 5.3...

Racal secures border. (Racal-Chubb Security Systems, contract for Mexican border security systems) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... Racal secures border Racal-Chubb Security Systems, based in Austin, has won $250,000 in contracts for U.S. border patrol stations in Laredo, Presidio and Columbus. The company will provide closed-circuit television cameras and "duress...

EGP changes name. (Eppler Guerin and Turner, The Principal/Eppler Guerin and Turner) (News Briefs)
January 7, 1991... EGT changes name Eppler, Guerin & Turner Inc., an investment banking and securities brokerage firm, is changing its name to The Principal/ Eppler, Guerin & Turner Inc. The company was acquired by The Principal Financial Group in 1986.

Cold snap made registers ring. (Austin, Texas Christmas business)
January 7, 1991... Cold snap made registers ring The weather outside was frightful, but for retailers the cold front that hit Austin the weekend before Christmas proved delightful. Shoppers who had been reluctant to buy big ticket, winter merchandise when...

Banking facing new laws but gradually recovering. (Austin, Texas) (1991 economic forecasts)
January 7, 1991... Banking facing new laws but gradually recovering The first quarter of 1990 brought Texas banks their first profit since the last quarter of 1985, to the great relief of the bankers. The end of that five year drought, as well as other...

Retailers share positive vision. (Austin, Texas) (1991 economic forecasts)
January 7, 1991... Retailers share positive visions Jerry Jones, general manager of the Dillard department store at Barton Creek Square, expects sales to increase slightly until the middle of 1991 followed by "a banner second half." "A lot of questions...

Real estate to have healthy and unhealthy sectors in '91. (Austin, Texas) (1991 economic forecasts)
January 7, 1991... Real estate to have healthy and unhealthy sectors in '91 The statistics and surveys indicate a gradually improving real estate market in the Austin area, but industry insiders remain cautious when making projections about the health in the...

James B. Skaggs. (Newsmakers)
January 7, 1991... JAMES B. SKAGGS JAMES B. SKAGGS has been named president and chief executive officer of Tracor Holdings.

Philip W. Barnes. (Newsmakers)
January 7, 1991... PHILIP W. BARNES PHILIP W. BARNES has been named commissioner of insurance by the State Board of Insurance.

Incubator broke. (Southeast Business Incubator)
January 14, 1991... Incubator broke Success may be killing the Southeast Business Incubator. When it opened in March 1989, the incubator was committed to helping eight small businesses within its first year. Instead it had taken on 23 by last spring and now...

Buy Austin huge success. (Buy Greater Austin, purchasing of Austin, Texas products campaign)
January 14, 1991... Buy Austin huge success As local leaders urged companies and consumers to "Buy Greater Austin" last year, officials of the City of Austin and Sematech vowed to shift as much of their purchasing as possible to local suppliers. Sematech...

Southern Union grows. (acquires South Texas Utilities Co.) (News Briefs)
January 14, 1991... Southern Union grows Southern Union Co. has entered into a contract with Palm Beach County Utilities Corp. to purchase the South Texas Utilities Co. natural gas distribution and transmission facilities. The acquisition will add about...

PCR opens office. (PCR Personal Computer Rentals Inc., Austin, Texas) (News Briefs)
January 14, 1991... PCR opens office PCR, a national network of 62 computer rental stores, is opening an Austin location at 9101 Burnet Road. PCR specializes in short-term computer rentals. The company will deliver, set up and pick up its equipment.

Light makers merge. (V.L. Service Lighting, Duro-Test Corp.) (News Briefs)
January 14, 1991... Light makers merge Austin-based Lighting Solutions announced that its supplier, V.L. Service Lighting, has merged with the Duro-Test Corp. The V.L. name eventually will be replaced with Duro-Test, however all of V.L. products will...

Consultants change name. (McClelland Consultants, Southwest, Inc., Fugro-McClelland, Southwest, Inc.) (News Briefs)
January 14, 1991... Consultants change name McClelland Consultants (Southwest) Inc. is changing its name to Fugro-McClelland (Southwest) Inc. The company, which is headquartered in Austin, was doing business in Austin and San Antonio as Bryant-McClelland...

Switching improves. (American Telco Inc.) (News Briefs)
January 14, 1991... Switching improves American Telco Inc., a Texas-based long distance carrier, recently spent $1 million to quadruple the capacity of its primary switching center. The improved system will speed calls by allowing the switching center to...

Dolce signs with resort. (Dolce-Marenzana Partnership to manage Harrison Conference Center/Inn, Southbury, Connecticut) (News Briefs )
January 14, 1991... Dolce signs with resort The Dolce-Marenzana Partnership signed a contract in December to manage the Harrison Conference Center/Inn in Southbury, Conn. The Dolce Co. manages Lakeway Resort and Conference Center.

Foreign trade zone would cut business taxes. (Austin, Texas)
January 21, 1991... Foreign trade zone would cut business taxes A group of area business and city government officials is seeking to get portions of the Greater Austin area designated as a foreign trade zone by the federal government. Foreign trade zone...

Telemarketer hiring. (SM Long Distance) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... Telemarketer hiring SM Long Distance plans to hire 250 part-time employees by April 1 to staff its new telemarketing division in San Marcos. The company solicits donations for non-profit organizations such as the American Heart...

KXAN going to Llano. (KXAN, Austin, Texas, television, Llano, Texas) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... KXAN going to Llano KXAN Channel 36 has received a construction permit for the KLNO Channel 14 TV site in Llano. The station plans to build a transmitter facility, news bureau and sales facility at the site. Regular Austin news shows and...

MicroACH available. (Banc One Corp., MicroACH electronic fund transfer system) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... MicroACH available Bank One now provides MicroACH, which allows smaller businesses to make electronic funds transfers through their personal computers. MicroACH allows direct payroll deposits and automatic payments and collections...

JanCom goes to Fiesta. (Fiesta Texas Theme Park contract) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... JanCom goes to Fiesta Austin-based JanCom Inc. will provide professional engineering services for the Fiesta Texas Theme Park, now under construction in San Antonio. The design will include voice, data and television monitoring systems,...

Vista sales volumes up. (Vista Chemical Co.) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... Vista sales volumes up Vista Chemical reported that sales volumes increased by 6 percent in fiscal year 1990, while prices were down 14 percent. Earnings per share were $5.53, as compared to $8.73 in fiscal 1989.

System provides backup. (Hastings Telephone Answering Service Inc.) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... System provides backup Hastings Telephone Answering Service Inc. has completed the installation of a new uninterruptible power system at its downtown Austin office. The combination battery backup and generator system provides continuous...

World's yummiest pralines. (Lammes Candies Since 1885 Inc.) (company profile)
January 21, 1991... World's yummiest pralines Every week Lammes Candies sweets-making plant in Austin spoons out five tons of its familiar pralines that its makers claim are the best in the country. Now, one of the nation's top candy connoisseurs has lent...

Skaggs' job: to save Tracor. (James B. Skaggs, Tracor Holdings Inc.) (interview)
January 21, 1991... Skaggs' job: To save Tracor James B. Skaggs was recently named president and chief executive officer of Tracor Holdings Inc. He was interviewed Jan. 10 by Stephanie Reynolds, an Austin Business Journal staff writer. Tracor, an...

Paving the way for Austin exports. (TUV Rheinland of North America Inc., Austin, Texas) (Company Profile) (company profile)
January 21, 1991... Paving the way for Austin exports Paul Schultze cut a nasty gash in his leg several years ago when he banged into an open desk drawer. Now he works at a desk of his own design with rounded corners on all the drawers. Furniture-making is...

Austin manufacturer unveils 'significant' new work station. (Texas Instruments Inc., 1500 line of multi-user computers) (product announcement)
January 21, 1991... Austin manufacturer unveils `significant' new work station Texas Instruments last week unveiled the newest Austin-made product in its 1500 line of multi-user computers. The 1507, like previous models, uses an enhanced version of AT&T's...

Cable co. expands. (Austin CableVision acquires Milwood Cablevision Inc.) (Snippets)
January 21, 1991... Cable co. expands Austin CableVision has purchased Milwood Cablevision Inc., which serves customers in the north Austin subdivisions of Milwood and Anderson Mill West.

Bomb threats shake firms. (Motorola; Sematech; Pharmaco; Travis County Courthouse; IBM)
January 28, 1991... Bomb threats shake firms A flurry of bomb threats, some possibly inspired by the war in the Persian Gulf, has a few Austin businesses making improvements in security, but a police spokeswoman said the problem is not serious. "We're not...

TV lawsuit could hike rates. (Austin CableVision disputes Travis Central Appraisal District's appraisal of its property's worth)
January 28, 1991... TV lawsuit could hike rates Attorneys for Austin CableVision and the Travis Central Appraisal District are preparing to go back to the courtroom after an aborted attempt to settle a two-year-old lawsuit over the value of the company's Travis...

City cuts red tape. (McDonald's at Austin)
January 28, 1991... City cuts red tape When McDonald's was looking to build a fast-food restaurant in North Austin in 1989, it ran smack into what had been the nemesis of small and large businesses alike -- the city's intricate development process. ...

Fax for more info. (TeleTalk's Fax Express)
January 28, 1991... Fax for more info TeleTalk has come up with another use for the fax machine. The company will provide consumers with information prepared by a business about its products. The customer reads about the Fax Express service in...

But where is Elvis?
January 28, 1991... But where is Elvis? Technology Works is shipping GraceLAN. The software package with the unusual name is a network management tool for the Macintosh that allows managers to remotely access each device on an AppleTalk network. ...

Sematech not tax exempt.
January 28, 1991... Sematech not tax exempt Sematech agreed to a court-approved settlement Jan. 19 that calls for taxing real property but exempts some of the consortium's personal property. The case filed by the computer chip research consortium had been...

Austin-made product hits $1 billion in sales. (IBM RISC System/6000)
January 28, 1991... Austin-made product hits $1 billion in sales Sales of the IBM RISC System/6000 family of workstations topped a billion dollars in 1990, senior vice president C. Michael Armstrong told an industry trade show last week. The system is...

Hibernia posts loss.
January 28, 1991... Hibernia posts loss Hibernia Corp. has announced an $11 million net loss for 1990, but chairman Martin C. Miler says the company remains strong. "The core operating earnings capacity of Hibernia continues to grow and is strong. It rose...

Radian cleans up. (environmental services firm)
January 28, 1991... Radian cleans up Radian will be looking at ways of cleaning the wastewater produced by pesticide manufacturers. The company will be examining wastewater technologies under a $10.8 million contract with the Environmental Protection...

MicroStep users meet. (Syscorp International's software)
January 28, 1991... MicroStep users meet Syscorp International is inviting Austinites to take a few MicroSteps into the future. The MicroStep Users Group will meet quarterly to discuss common business problems that can be addressed by the Syscorp software....

Richard C. Reed, III.
January 28, 1991... RICHARD C. REED, III, has been named a partner, and MATTHEW J. SULLIVAN, an associate in the Austin office of the law firm of Haynes and Boone.