Boston Business Journal articles from January 1992

Boston Business Journal archives from January 1992

SOMWBA's delays vex women. (Massachusetts' State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance's certification of women business enterprises) (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1992... Until she is certified as a woman business enterprise by the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA), contractor Helen Casoli will not be able to bid on state or federal jobs under affirmative action privileges....

New Tech makes a tasty profit translating English to Chinese. (sales of New Tech Information System's bilingual software program)
January 6, 1992... A software program that changes English words into Chinese characters is ushering Chinese restaurants into the computer age and translating into profits for Boston-based New Tech Information Systems. Though the recession has recently slowed...

Harrods plans NE shopping spree. (marketing of items manufactured in New England)
January 6, 1992... As part of a yearlong promotion celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' journey to America, Harrods Ltd., the London-based department store, is on a quest to bring New England back to the old. This week, a Harrods...

Anthony loses appeal. (restaurateur Anthony Athanas to pay damages for breach of contract) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Restaurateur Anthony Athanas could be ordered to pay up to $160 million in damages under a ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court that said he willfully and knowingly breached a contract for the Fan Pier development project in 1987. The court...

UST Corp. (consent agreement with state and federal regulators) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... US Trust's parent company, UST Corp., has followed the lead of Bank of Boston Corp. and Shawmut National Corp. in entering into a consent agreement with state and federal regulators to improve the institution's financial health. UST Corp. expects...

Wang Laboratories. (selling of Network Services unit to Cable and Wireless Communications Inc.) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Lowell-based Wang Laboratories plans to sell its Network Services unit to Cable & Wireless Communications Inc. for $11 million as part of the company's divestment of businesses not directly related to its computer software production and service...

Federated Department Stores. (Jordan Marsh's sales for the past holiday season) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... The partnership that owns Jordan Marsh outlets, Federated Department Stores and Allied Stores Corp., said it expects its sales figures for this past holiday season to show a drop of about 2 percent from 1990. The results, although disappointing,...

Zale Corp. (Chapter 11 bankruptcy) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Zale Corp. of Texas was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week by several bondholders. The jewelry retailer's debts included a $52 million interest payment owed to bondholders since Dec. 2. The company had already said that it will close 400...

Tage Inn Corp. (acquisition of Ramada Inn in Andover, Massachusetts) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Tage Inn Corp., owner of 11 Burger King restaurants and the Tage Inn in Milford, bought the Ramada Inn in Andover from the Neworld Bank. Company CEO and president Joseph Tagliente said the hotel will be converted to a second Tage Inn.

Big job loss. (New England's jobs in 1991) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... New England lost 4.0 percent of its jobs in 1991, the largest annual drop in employment since 1945, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' year-end assessment. Many of the 266,000 jobs lost in New England were in Massachusetts, which...

Purity Supreme. (plan to close distribution center) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Purity Supreme plans to close its distribution center in Billerica next March. C&S Wholesale Grocers of Brattleboro, Vt., will assume the distribution operations, which accounted for 5 percent of Purity's employees, or roughly 650 jobs. By...

Sanborn. (acquisition of Centrifuge Consultants and Phoenix Machining Corp.) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Wrentham-based Sanborn has acquired Centrifuge Consultants and its subsidiary Phoenix Machining Corp., both of LaPorte, Texas. The acquisition adds to Sanborn's environmental waste separation and recycling services diversification.

Savings Bank Life Insurance. (rating) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... Standard & Poor's has given Savings Bank Life Insurance of Woburn a "AA-" rating, largely due to the company's profitability, quality assets and position as the state's only company licensed to sell life insurance products through Massachusetts...

Scott Harshbarger. (lawsuit settlement) (Brief Article)
January 6, 1992... An agreement has been reached between state Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and Waltham-based Guaranty First Trust Co. to settle a lawsuit involving the Edgewood Condominiums in Mansfield. The bank recently purchased one-third of the units and...

Biotech firms cry foul over waste-hauler bill. (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1992... A bill before the Legislature that would license infectious-waste handlers unfairly singles out the biotech community and would create a monopoly among infectious-waste haulers, according to biotech companies. If approved, the bill's...

MEIC likes being the lender of last resort. (Massachusetts Minority Enterprise Investment Corp.) (Company Profile)
January 6, 1992... Thomas Schumpert Jr. doesn't mind having his lending organization play second fiddle. In fact, he wouldn't have it any other way. At a time when the region's credit crunch is affecting companies of all shapes and sizes, the problem has become...

Builders claim DEP is overprotecting wetlands. (Department of Environmental Protection)
January 6, 1992... Despite an arid construction climate, efforts by environmentalists to tighten Massachusetts wetlands regulations will not go unchallenged in the coming year, real estate industry members vowed last week. "We believe the existing law already...

Lechmere offers short cut to its shoppers. (implementation of express self-shopping machine)
January 6, 1992... Lechmere, New England's largest electronics and housewares retailer, has implemented an express self-shopping machine designed to make purchasing large items quick and easy--and possibly to help trim the chain's personnel expenses. Although...

Unions shrug at Peabody's gain of Deer Island job. (awarding of contract to Peabody Construction Company Inc. at Deer Island sewage treatment facility)
January 6, 1992... But for a few private grumbles, most construction trade groups say they anticipate no troubles by the recent awarding of a $10 million contract to Peabody Construction Co. at the Deer Island sewage treatment facility in Winthrop. Although...

Engineers want to be judged on merit, not prices. (Focus: Architecture and Engineering) (Industry Overview)
January 6, 1992... If you needed open-heart surgery, would you look first at the fees or at the qualifications and experience of a surgeon? This question is what members of the engineering industry pose, saying the only proper way for state agencies to choose...

SpecTran Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 6, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Sturbridge Stock Symbol: SPTR Market: OTC Annual Revenue: $10,544,000 Net Income: $984,000 Employees: ...

Small cap funds: more bang for your buck in '91.
January 13, 1992... Mutual funds that invested in small stocks continued their year-long roll during the fourth quarter, many of them turning in double-digit returns. Funds whose fortunes were tied to the prices of oil or gold did the poorest. Fidelity's Select...

Contractors press state to relax its big dig guidelines. (laws on hazardous wastes) (Industry Overview)
January 13, 1992... Bidders say waste removal rules are too strict for $90m job Private contractors have pressured state officials to relax hazardous-waste guidelines in excavating 9.8 million cubic yards of materials from beneath Interstate 93 as part of the Big...

Ballen builds a winner on tabloids and baseball cards. (John Ballen of Massachusetts Financial Services Co.)
January 13, 1992... Would you feel comfortable trusting your money to a man who reads the National Enquirer, buys baseball cards and joins home shopping clubs? You would if that man were John Ballen. At 32, Ballen is portfolio manager of Massachusetts Financial...

Joy ride for stocks in fourth quarter.
January 13, 1992... Massachusetts-based stocks soared 14.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 1991, boosted by lower interest rates and an eternal optimism that the nation's dismal economy will be brighter in the upcoming months. The fourth-quarter performance...

Bachman buys firms. (Bachman Information Systems Inc.) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Burlington-based Bachman Information Systems acquired three businesses in France, Italy and England for sales and support of its software products in Europe. The companies are now known as Bachman France SARL, Bachman s.r.l. and Bachman...

Data General Corp. (sued for misleading stockholders) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... A class-action suit against Data General Corp. of Westborough for allegedly misleading stockholders about the company's financial position was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge. The charges claimed that company officers and directors made...

Division of Insurance. (of Massachusetts to take legal action against Coopers and Lybrand Inc.) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... The state Division of Insurance will decide by March 2 whether to take legal action against accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand for its role in the collapse of American Mutual Insurance Cos. The accounting firm serviced American Mutual for eight...

Purity Supreme. (lays off employees) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Supermarket chain Purity Supreme laid off 200 employees last week as a result of the company's effort to divest itself of its distribution network. The funds saved by the reorganization will be used for expansion and renovation of the Purity...

Jordan Marsh. (president of Sam Simons to resign) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Jordan Marsh president Sam Simmons said he will resign on Feb. 1, after more than a year of rumors to that effect. Jordan's parent company, Allied Stores Corp., said the news of the resignation was not a surprise. Simmons has been an executive at...

Benefits fund set up. (Allied Stores Corp. and Federated Department Stores to establish funds for non-union employees) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Allied Stores Corp. and Federated Department Stores, both units of Campeau Corp., have agreed to establish an $80 million health-benefits fund for nonunion employees who retired before the companies filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. (plans to implement technology to decrease staff) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Chicago-based Sears, Roebuck & Co. plans to implement technology that would allow the country's third largest retailer to decrease its staff by thousands of employees nationally. The cuts this spring would affect mostly part-time employees who...

Motorola Codex. (lays off 200 employees) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Computer components maker Motorola Codex of Mansfield cut more than 200 jobs in Massachusetts through layoffs and voluntary resignations. In December, 166 workers left voluntarily. Motorola has 2,000 employees in Massachusetts in plants in Canton...

The Dodge Group. (receives financing) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Frank Dodge of The Dodge Group said he received $2 million in venture capital financing to underwrite sales and marketing of a new financial and accounting software program. The new software company received most of its financing for the Open...

Cambex Corp. (earnings) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Record earnings at Waltham-based Cambex Corp. came as a surprise to Wall Street. Stock prices jumped more than 9 percent when the maker of information storage systems posted revenue of $11.2 million for the quarter ending Nov. 30 compared with...

Apartments sold. (Essex Partners buys apartments from John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Boston's Essex Partners bought 1,442 apartment units in Pasadena, Baytown and Galveston, Texas from John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. The deal is believed to be worth more than $20 million and is one of the largest in recent history....

Alpha-Beta Technology. (wins approval to test new drug) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Alpha-Beta Technology of Worcester announced it has won approval to test a new class of infection fighting drugs on human beings. BetaFectin has a carbohydrate structure that differs from most other drugs, which have a protein molecular structure...

Desperate developer sues BOB for $560 million. (Carabetta Enterprises, Bank of Boston Corp.)
January 13, 1992... Carabetta Enterprises, the Meriden, Conn.-based developer and general contractor, is suing the Bank of Boston for approximately $560 million, according to a 20-count complaint filed late last month in New Jersey Superior Court. The suit...

Trading places doesn't help Hub vacancy rate. (office space market)
January 13, 1992... Boston's office space market has suffered its first full year of negative absorption ever, with the financial district's vacancy rate hitting a record 18.4 percent by the close of the fourth quarter in 1991, according to figures compiled by...

Leo R. Breitman: staying power. (president and CEO of Fleet Bank of Massachusetts, includes brief biographical sketch) (Personnel File)
January 13, 1992... Position: President and CEO, Fleet Bank of Massachusetts Education: B.B.A., George Washington University, 1963; M.B.A., Boston University, 1965 Age: 50 It has not been a phoenix-like rise: He never languished in the ashes. He never even...

Lawyers see benefits from hospital reform. (Focus: The Legal Profession) (Industry Overview)
January 13, 1992... The new hospital regulations signed into law by Gov. William Weld last month will allow hospitals to engage in price competition and negotiate their own contracts with insurers. The reform is viewed as one way to control spiraling health-care...

BPI Environmental. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 13, 1992... Headquarters: Taunton Stock Symbol: BPIE Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $16,204,116 Net Income: ...

Pilot Executive Software. (High Technology) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Boston's Pilot Executive Software appointed William Nelson as president and CEO. He previously served as president, CEO and director at On-Line Software International, a $100 million manufacturer of software products and services. Pilot Executive...

Foley, Hoag & Eliot. (Services/Education) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Foley, Hoag & Eliot appointed Peter Coogan and Barry White as managing partners. Coogan, who most recently served as administrative partner, concentrates his practice in banking and corporate finance areas. White, formerly the chairman of the...

Sametz Blackstone Associates. (awarded design projects) (Advertising/Communications) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Boston's Sametz Blackstone Associates was awarded three new design projects from Little, Brown and Co. The graphics firm will create "Our National Parks," a 128-page Ansel Adams book; "Grounds For Change," which features landmark gardens of the...

Duval & Partners. (adds new client) (Advertising/Communications) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Duval & Partners of Boston added OCCAM Research Corp. to its client roster. Duval will provide advertising, direct marketing and collateral material development to the software development company. OCCAM's budget with the agency is reported to be...

United Asset Management Corp. (Dividends) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... United Asset Management Corp.'s board of directors voted to declare a quarterly dividend on its common stock of 14.5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31, 1991. Boston-based United Asset Management provides...

MGI Properties. (Dividends) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... MGI Properties of Boston announced a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share for the fourth quarter ended Nov. 30, 1991, payable on Jan. 10 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 3.

Augat. (Dividends) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Augat's board of directors voted to suspend the quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share on the manufacturer's common stock. The next regularly scheduled dividend would have been payable on Jan. 31 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 10. The...

West Newton Savings Bank. (Dividends) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... West Newton Savings Bank's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 4 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 1.

Raytheon Co. (Dividends) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Raytheon Co.'s board of directors voted to increase its quarterly dividend by 5 cents to 65 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Jan. 31 to stockholders of record as of Jan. 3.

The Neiman Marcus Group. (opens new store) (Manufacturing/Retail) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... The Neiman Marcus Group, based in Chestnut Hill, recently announced plans to open a Neiman Marcus store in Honolulu. Scheduled to open in 1993, the 160,000-square-foot store will be located in the Ala Moana shopping center. General Cinema Corp....

Bose Corp. (Manufacturing/Retail) (Brief Article)
January 13, 1992... Framingham's Bose Corp. announced the formation of a new wholly owned subsidiary in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bose A/S will support sales and marketing efforts throughout Scandinavia. The company was previously represented in Denmark by distributor...

State won't help restrain cost hikes. (Massachusetts' hospital industry) (Industry Overview)
January 20, 1992... Having failed in efforts to set a systemwide limit on health-care costs, employer groups worry that the state's new hospital payment system could leave them footing the bill for unrestrained price increases. While they support price...

Prognosis is bright for health giants. (Massachusetts' new health insurance legislation favors managed care than indemnity insurance) (Industry Overview)
January 20, 1992... In the cradle of liberty, freedoms of many kinds have long been assured in Massachusetts, whether it be freedom of speech, freedom of religion or freedom of political preference. And for the most part, residents needn't be concerned about losing...

Managers offered equity stake in Batterymarch. (Batterymarch Financial Management)
January 20, 1992... LeBaron names new CEO but remains as firm's chairman Dean LeBaron, the iconoclastic chief of Batterymarch Financial Management, is releasing his iron grip on the firm and allowing key personnel to gain an equity interest in his investment...

Industry gets freedom it long wanted. (Massachusetts' new hospital-finance law) (Industry Overview)
January 20, 1992... With the passage of the state's new hospital-finance law--Chapter 495--true competition has finally come to the state's hospital industry. The question now is, will true savings follow? At this early point, the issue remains mostly a...

BNE fallout suit. (Bank of New England) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Bank of New England creditors filed suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., claiming that it improperly seized assets worth $700 million when BNE failed last year. Court-appointed trustee Benjamin Branch represents the creditors, who...

Digital Equipment Corp. (contracts) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... The sales staff at Digital Equipment Corp. of Maynard may now sell Cray Research supercomputers. A deal between the two computer companies gives customers access to Cray computers through the Digital distribution and sales force in 80 countries....

Microcom. (earnings) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Software company Microcom of Norwood reported profits of $1.1 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a $1.3 million loss for the same quarter a year earlier. Microcom, which also produces communications equipment, credits the increase...

TSI Corp. (teams up with CytoTherapeutics) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Worcester's TSI Corp. has teamed up with CytoThetapeutics of Providence, R.I., to provide rapid evaluation of biopharmaceutical products undergoing testing. The companies agreed to provide an advanced research testing system, based on membrane...

Andover Bank. (layoffs) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... A high level of nonperforming loans and financial losses in 1991 contributed to Andover Bank's decision to reduce its staff by 10 percent. The reduction was achieved through attrition and layoffs and will save the bank $500,000 a year.

U.S. Supreme Court. (rules on state right to decide types of insurance policies for businesses) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that each state has the right to decide what type of businesses may offer insurance policies. Insurance companies have argued that the Federal Reserve Board, rather than state regulators, should have the...

Reliance returns. (Reliance Insurance Co.) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Reliance Insurance Co. said it will return to Massachusetts to write a full line of insurance, nearly four years after it left. Reliance cited $10 million in annual losses on its auto policy business as the primary reason it abandoned...

National Telemarketing Association. (fraud case against Robert Aaron and Rae Holzman who ran the association) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Robert Aaron and Rae Holzman are under investigation by state officials for their roles in an alleged scam charity operation. Aaron ran National Telemarketing Association which raised funds for the Massachusetts Homeless Foundation by selling...

Procter & Gamble. (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Procter & Gamble of Cincinnati has agreed to stop running an advertisement the state attorney general called misleading; as part of the settlement, it has also agreed to become a corporate sponsor for a program to benefit Massachusetts high...

Filene's Basement. (expansion plans) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Wellesley-based Filene's Basement plans to continue its Midwest expansion by opening up to five stores in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Most of Filene's profits last year came from new stores in upstate New York and Chicago.

Glenn Monteiro Jr. (fraud case) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Alleged land-flip artist Glenn Monteiro Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud for his role in 15 land flips in Brockton. Monteiro could serve up to five years in jail or pay a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in March.

Northwest Airlines. (new services) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Northwest Airlines announced service between Logan Airport and Paris, with connections from 26 U.S. cities. Service will originate in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Westin's new jewel. (Westin Hotel Co.) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... The Westin Hotel Co. and the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority will enter a joint agreement to build and operate a 500-room hotel adjacent to a new international jewelry trade center in Providence. Choosing to collaborate with the Westin...

Green groups hope for busier year on Beacon Hill. (environmental issues in Massachusetts' legislative session)
January 20, 1992... For the first time in recent memory, a Massachusetts legislative session failed to pass any major environmental initiatives, according to veteran advocacy groups. And in many ways the toughest resistance in 1991 came not from a Republican...

Ready to buy. (Harrods Ltd. buys goods for their christmas promotion) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Buyers from Harrods Ltd., the London-based department store, will be arriving in Boston before the end of the month to choose the goods for their "New England Christmas" promotion. The store is looking for foodstuffs, toys, apparel, housewares...

Wins contract. (General Ship Corp.) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Boston-based General Ship Corp. got a rare but welcome bit of news last week when the Navy awarded it a $4.4 million contract to repair an Aegis cruiser that had served in last year's Gulf War against Iraq. The job to fix the USS Leyte Gulf is...

Hires consultants. (Bay State Health Care) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Officials at Bay State Health Care--still leaderless following the ouster of three top executives last August--have selected a Maryland firm to temporarily oversee operations at the state's second largest health maintenance organization (HMO)....

Plant nixed. (Boston Edison) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... In a preliminary review last week, the staff of the state Energy Facilities Siting Council recommended that the full council reject Boston Edison's plans to build a 306-megawatt, gas-fired generation facility in Weymouth. In the nonbinding...

Hotels offering less wasteful hospitality. (Industry Overview)
January 20, 1992... In the Boston hotel industry, where rigid service expectations still associate excess with excellence, managers are beginning to incorporate environmental standards into traditional operations. The programs, most initiated within the past 18...

Georgette switches to Newbury Street. (returns to former home)
January 20, 1992... After seven years at the Copley Place mall, Georgette, the haute couture bridal shop, has returned to its old home at 131 Newbury Street. Georgette Zuckerman, designer and owner of the 17-year-old company, said lower-than-expected rents and...

Agencies say now is the time to advertise. (Massachusetts' advertising industry) (Industry Overview)
January 20, 1992... In the advertising industry, 1991 was the year of the big slash. Nationwide, ad spending declined for the first time in 20 years as most advertisers stayed at home, applying their savings in soft ad dollars to very hard bottom lines. But not...

Garrett J. Nagle. (Garrett Nagle and Co. president)
January 20, 1992... Hit record Position: President, Garrett Nagle & Co. Education: B.S. and B.A., Babson College, 1955 Age: 57 Quote: "We tend to avoid any one style because the different methods tend to go in and out of favor. We're more stock pickers."...

Bitstream unlocks its treasury of typefaces. (CD-ROM Type Treasury) (Focus: Printing and Graphics) (Product Announcement)
January 20, 1992... Bitstream, the Cambridge company known for its design of electronic typefaces, is taking on its competitors with a compact disc library of 1,040 fonts for the Macintosh computer. The firm was set to roll out the CD-ROM "Type Treasury" at MacWorld...

New software link promotes design tips by fax. (Focus: Printing and Graphics) (Product Announcement)
January 20, 1992... A new design service offering critiques via fax is winning customers across the country after its recent linkup with a major software company. In July the membership base of Design Line, a service of Invision of Framingham, expanded from about...

Boston Acoustics. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 20, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Lynnfield Stock Symbol: BOSA Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $29,781,387 Net...

Pilot Executive Software. (High Technology) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Pilot Executive Software of Boston appointed William G. Nelson as president and CEO. Prior to that, he was president, CEO and director of On-Line Software International, a manufacturer of software products. Nelson earned his M.B.A. from the...

Michael C. Ruettgers. (Manufacturing/Retail) (Brief Article)
January 20, 1992... Michael C. Ruettgers was named CEO of EMC Corp. in Hopkinton. He is the former senior vice president of Keane Inc. and has held a number of senior management positions at Raytheon. EMC is a supplier of storage products for mainframe and midrange...