Boston Business Journal articles from July 1992

Boston Business Journal archives from July 1992

Small banks shine during lackluster second quarter. (Stock Watch)
July 6, 1992... Investors are hard-pressed to find value in technology sectors Small banks picked up steam, but their momentum was not enough to spark enthusiasm among investors who decided to play it safe in the second quarter of 1992. Banks fell into...

Businesses jump aboard Sail Boston promo. (Boston, Massachusetts companies marketing strategy of associating their products with the Sail Boston 1992 celebration)
July 6, 1992... While official sponsors of Sail Boston have shelled out as much as $50,000 apiece to use the Sail Boston logo and associate themselves with the event, countless other companies and vendors are using the event--sometimes in far-reaching ways--to...

Marketer targets ad industry's color gap. (Jack E. Robinson's Robinson and Robinson Advertising Group to serve a racially and ethnically diverse consumer market)
July 6, 1992... Starting a new business is always a risky move. Opening an advertising agency during an ad slump and in the wake of many agency closings and mergers is riskier still. But Jack E. Robinson knows that at least there is a business vacuum waiting...

MHA hits pay delay. (Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare criticized by Massachusetts Hospital Association for delays of payment for outpatient Medicaid services)
July 6, 1992... Charging that lengthy payment delays for outpatient Medicaid services are crippling many hospitals' ability to pay their own bills, the Massachusetts Hospital Association last week blasted the state Department of Public Welfare for its inability...

Hub finally drops below limit on liquor licenses. (Boston, Massachusetts)
July 6, 1992... For the first time in more than a half-century, the city of Boston has begun issuing all-alcohol liquor licenses to local clubs and restaurants, effectively ending a "black market" situation that at one point had some licenses selling for as much...

Keystone Group plays up investing down under. (Keystone Group Inc. offers Australian funds)
July 6, 1992... The key to global investing in the 1990s is selectivity. Two Boston-based mutual funds, offered through The Keystone Group, have outperformed many, if not all, diversified world income funds in 1992 by investing primarily in Australian "AA" and...

Growing TSI sheds pair of transgenic projects. (TSI Corp. drops research programs due to financial difficulty)
July 6, 1992... After a three-year acquisition binge that brought eight drug testing companies under its roof, TSI Corp. has run out of cash to fund the two research programs it was founded upon in 1987. Following two quarters of eroding profits, the...

Bank pulls support for Danvers business park. (First Essex Bancorp Inc. attempting to foreclose Wadsworth Village in Danvers, Massachusetts)
July 6, 1992... Frederick R. Schaeffer, a visionary Christian who wanted to create jobs and spawn businesses for the town of Danvers, searched for a community bank that would help finance an "incubator" there for entrepreneurs. He thought he found just what...

Analysts give good odds to 10 Bay State banks. (Massachusetts) (Focus: Midyear Economic Report)
July 6, 1992... After the economic shellacking the region has been through, it might be said that a "good" bank in Massachusetts is any bank that is still open for business. But observers of the banking industry here are peeking over the edge of the crater...

Confidence growing that the worst is over. (real estate industry) (Focus: Midyear Economic Report) (Industry Overview)
July 6, 1992... Last year at this time, many real estate agents in Greater Boston would have said the market was pushing up daisies, and recovery was nowhere in sight. Residential sales weren't exactly rewarding, development was sluggish at best, and the...

Makers of network gear lead a limited recovery. (computer industry) (Focus: Midyear Economic Report)
July 6, 1992... Recent trends in Massachusetts high-tech companies, toward networking and increased competition, have intensified in the first half of this year in a market that continues to be tight, industry observers and executives said. Posting strong...

Production may be up, but jobs are still scarce. (manufacturing industry) (Focus: Midyear Economic Report)
July 6, 1992... The Massachusetts economy is now emerging from a painful, three-year recession. Consumer spending is rebounding, residential real estate markets are strengthening, and employment is stabilizing after a steep decline. Yet the steady erosion of...

Lifetime Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 6, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Boston Stock Symbol: LFT Market: NYSE Annual Revenue: ...

Banned in NY, polluter sets sights on Hub. (New England Services Inc. transfers operation from New York City to Boston, Massachusetts)(includes related article)
July 13, 1992... A family that controls a web of marine services companies that were ordered out of New York Harbor two years ago for dumping sludge, negligently sinking an oil-laden barge and ignoring U.S. Coast Guard violations is aggressively building up its...

A volatile market makes picking a winning fund tough. (stock market report for the second quarter of 1992) (Mutual Funds)
July 13, 1992... Fidelity fund manager John Hickling warns that investors should not focus too much on short-term performance. But despite his advice, Hickling could not hide his glee over the news that his funds outperformed most of the market in the second...

Court muddies the waters over land-use restrictions.
July 13, 1992... A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on land takings has left both sides of the issue in Massachusetts--property rights' advocates and land-use regulators--claiming partial victories and steeling themselves for future challenges. "The court...

High-tech alchemists change dirty soil to asphalt. (petroleum-contaminated soil being converted into asphalt for use in paving roads and parking lots)
July 13, 1992... A technology that turns petroleum-tainted soil into cold asphalt for use in paving roads and parking lots is being touted as an innovative recycling response to contamination from underground storage tanks. The so-called stabilization...

Door slams shut on big plans for Hinge Block. (development project for Hinge Block in Boston, Massachusetts fails)
July 13, 1992... After more than a year of denial, the Boston Redevelopment Authority appears to have accepted defeat on its drive to develop Chinatown's so-called Hinge Block, at least in one tidy package. The city has abandoned the "megaproject strategy" and...

Faculty find it harder to scare up consulting jobs. (decrease in the demand for consultation services of college teachers)
July 13, 1992... A weak business economy and fierce competition from other academics and the private sector has recently made outside consulting a tougher second job for faculty on campuses across the state. While this drop-off is more evident in high-tech...

Kiddie bug repellant boasts less chemicals. (insect repellant Skedaddle!)
July 13, 1992... It's summertime in New England and the typical hot sellers on seasonal product lists have returned--charcoal lighter fluid, suntan lotion, Styrofoam coolers and, of course, insect repellent. But it's not just any insect repellent this year....

Bertucci's. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 13, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Woburn Stock Symbol: BERT Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $37,400,000 Net Income: $3,300,000 Employees: ...

Jockeying for payment: troubled Foxboro track owes contractors $500,000. (Foxboro Park Inc.)
July 20, 1992... Already reeling from low betting revenue and an equine virus that has shut down its racing program, newly reopened Foxboro Park is now facing impatient demands for payment from contractors involved in the track's $8 million renovation this...

Nutter Investment hooks up with Howell to grow business; move showcases trend as law firms seek to diversify services. (Nutter Investment Advisors; James Howell)
July 20, 1992... James Howell, onetime chief economist at the Bank of Boston and head of the economic consulting group that bears his name, has teamed up with Nutter Investment Advisors (NIA), a subsidiary of the law firm of Nutter, McClennen & Fish. Formally,...

Lafayette hits chop on ships promo. (Lafayette Swissotel investigated for misleading advertisement)
July 20, 1992... The Massachusetts Attorney General's office is looking into allegations that the Lafayette Swissotel in Boston used fraudulent advertising to attract guests during the Sail Boston celebration last week. In connection with its official...

Nurses picket MetroWest over pay raise. (MetroWest Medical Center)
July 20, 1992... Following six months of stalled contract negotiations, some 300 registered nurses at the Leonard Morse campus of MetroWest Medical Center in Natick formed an informational picket line last week to protest what they say is the hospital's refusal...

Ties to Milken land ex-Fidelity manager in court. (Michael Milken; Fidelity Investment Inc.; Patricia Ostrander)
July 20, 1992... Junk-bond king Michael Milken is expected to testify in the trial of Patricia Ostrander, an ex-Fidelity fund manager accused of taking payoffs from the convicted securities dealer in exchange for buying junk bonds through Drexel Burnham Lambert....

Bank of Boston touts its affairs in Latin America.
July 20, 1992... Still smarting from losing its position as New England's largest bank to Providence upstart Fleet, the Bank of Boston is trying to distinguish itself from Fleet and Shawmut by promoting its international business, the third largest network of...

Antsy investors eye Biogen's drug trials.
July 20, 1992... Biogen is closer to taking a drug of its own from petri dish to pharmacy shelves, but analysts are doubtful as to whether the Cambridge biotech firm holds as much promise as better-known peers Genzyme, Amgen and Genentech. Early in June,...

Bank failures put board directors on the spot.
July 20, 1992... Bankers and industry observers from across the state say potential directors and officers of financial institutions still readily accept the honorary positions. But maybe they shouldn't. Consider this: The federal government suspects that...

Bay State steps up efforts to attract business. (Massachusetts) (Focus: Business Relocation)
July 20, 1992... When Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp. came within a DNA strand of moving a proposed manufacturing plant out of state last November, it reopened the charge that Massachusetts had fallen as a location conducive to business and industrial development....

Low rents prompt short moves by Boston firms. (relocations within Boston, Massachusetts) (Focus: Business Relocation)
July 20, 1992... Corporate relocation no longer means moving from one city to another in order to save money while upgrading office space. More and more businesses are relocating within the Boston market because of the protracted slump in the commercial real...

Movers adding quality control to their cargo. (Clark and Reid Co.) (Focus: Business Relocation)
July 20, 1992... A Burlington-based moving company is trying to carve out a unique niche in the $15 billion corporate relocation industry by assigning a team of movers and a coordinator to track every move from start to finish. The corporate market is a...

Mitek Surgical Products. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 20, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Norwood Stock Symbol: MYTK Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $8,384,703 Net Income: ...

Olsen's exit sets DEC rumor mill grinding. (founder Kenneth H. Olsen to depart from Digital Equipment Corp.)
July 27, 1992... Since founder Kenneth H. Olsen announced his departure from Digital Equipment Corp. two weeks ago, The Mill in Maynard has been grinding out gossip. Digital's internal electronic-mail network for employees, DECNET, is burning with rumors. Some...

State to save $25M via new health plan. (Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission votes to revive employee health system)
July 27, 1992... Projecting annual savings between $20 million and $25 million, the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission has voted to revise the state's employee health system by instituting stricter case management, adding a preferred provider organization...

Corp tax battle looms. (corporate; petition filed by Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts for businesses to disclose tax payments)
July 27, 1992... With the necessary signatures on file and a court challenge turned away, the initiative petition filed by the Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts (TEAM) to force banks, insurance companies and publicly traded corporations to disclose what they...

Maritime businesses reeling from tax on boats. (Massachusetts Department of Revenue's tax policy)
July 27, 1992... A 60-year-old marine services company that is laying off 28 workers for the first time blames the state Department of Revenue for its fiscal woes. Boston Towing & Transportation, which ties six barges and 12 red-and-peach-striped tugboats to...

Teamsters brew boycott against Miller distributor. (International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Burke Distributing Corp.)
July 27, 1992... The Teamsters union has organized a boycott of Miller beer that the union hopes will put the squeeze on Burke Distributing Corp., the brew's only Boston-area distributor. Union officials and Burke employees charge that the Randolph-based...

LRBP seen as heavy meal for Eskandarian. (acquisition of Lawner Reingold Britton and Partners by Arnold Fortuna Lane and Cabot; Ed Eskandarian)
July 27, 1992... The rumored acquisition of Lawner Reingold Britton and Partners by Arnold Fortuna Lane and Cabot will be the high-water mark in a tide of advertising-agency consolidation that has been rising for the past two years. And no one has been riding...

Parts suppliers face toughening standards. (Massachusetts original equipment manufacturers) (Industry Overview)
July 27, 1992... Massachusetts manufacturers are cutting down the number of their suppliers and increasing the pressure on them to produce quality goods in order to meet new quality standards being set by the European community. Local original equipment...

Developers see bright future for assisted living. (real estate developers; assisted living housing for senior citizens in Massachusetts) (Industry Overview)
July 27, 1992... Spurred by an ever-aging population and tighter state guidelines on nursing home eligibility, Massachusetts is beginning to see a groundswell of activity in the development of so-called assisted living housing for senior citizens. The area is...

Bonnie Ulin. (president of Bonnie Ulin Inc., landscape design firm) (Company Profile)
July 27, 1992... Designs for living Landscape designer Bonnie Ulin likes to thank Radcliffe College for making her what she is today, but some at the school say the accolades ought to be reciprocal. When Ulin began attending the venerable Cambridge...

Local firms hit the big time with TV graphics. (Boston, Massachusetts' television broadcasting industry) (Focus: Printing and Graphics) (Industry Overview)
July 27, 1992... Bumpers, breaks, promos and show-opens are little spots with big tasks in today's crowded television marketplace. They entice viewers to watch more, change the channel less, and hang in there through commercial breaks that often last up to five...

Shawmut National Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 27, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Boston and Hartford Stock Symbol: SNC Market: NYSE Annual Revenue: ...