Boston Business Journal articles from May 1992

Boston Business Journal archives from May 1992

Owners may mothball 28 State in wake of Fleet departure: leasing activity to be suspended until retrofit completed. (Cushman and Wakefield of Massachusetts, owner of 28 State St. building in Boston, Massachusetts; Fleet Bank of Massachusetts)
May 4, 1992... Faced with a daunting $50 million to $60 million in renovations, the owners of 28 State St. in Boston's financial district will likely take the 40-story tower completely off the market early next year when Fleet Bank of Massachusetts abandons the...

Baby Bells call BOB stock agent. (NYNEX Corp. and Pacific Telesis Group)(Bank of Boston Inc.)
May 4, 1992... The Bank of Boston has been appointed stock transfer agent for two of the Baby Bell telephone companies, doubling the bank's stock transfer business and adding more than 100 jobs to its Canton facility. The bank announced on April 20 that it...

IPO jitters shake local biotech cos. (initial public offering)(biotechnology industry) (Industry Overview)
May 4, 1992... Two local biotech companies have postponed their initial public offerings of stock and four others face unforeseen hurdles as the market for biotechnology stocks has turned cold. Procept and Creative BioMolecules have put their IPOs on hold,...

Mugar rumored to be selling WHDH-AM to pay off debt. (David Mugar)(radio station)
May 4, 1992... Radio station WHDH-AM will likely be sold soon to help bail owner David Mugar out of his money woes, according to sources in the radio industry. Fairbanks Communications, owner of radio stations WVBF-FM and WKOX-AM in Framingham, is the leading...

Skinless chicken challenges fast-food giants. (Pudgie's)(Boston Chicken and Kentucky Fried Chicken)
May 4, 1992... Look out, Boston Chicken and KFC: Pudgie's, the fastest growing franchise in the nation, has taken roost in Brookline. The first Pudgie's franchise began serving in Coolidge Corner late last month and the franchisee, Justine Cutler, is...

Mergers seen as natural for environmental firms. (Industry Overview)
May 4, 1992... Growth through acquisition. That's the strategy of a new Boston-based medical waste management company, and as a member of the larger environmental industry, it's not alone in its thinking. "Essentially a vehicle for consolidation" is how...

Stock analysts tout Bachman for the long haul. (Bachman Information Systems Inc.)
May 4, 1992... Despite a senior executive's sudden departure, stock that has eroded 23 points since February and last week's shoddy earnings report, analysts say Bachman Information Systems is no lemon. "I think it is short-term because I think it is largely...

Kinney campaign seems familiar to rival Reebok. (Kinney Shoe Co.)(Reebok International Ltd. Reebok Brands)
May 4, 1992... Michael Toth called it "one of those strange coincidences" of advertising. The new print campaign for Kinney shoes, just now appearing in fashion magazines, looked "very similar," he said, to the advertisements Toth created for the Bok line of...

Fleet $63M loan fund hit by housing group. (Fleet Bank of Massachusetts)(Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corps.)
May 4, 1992... A proposed agreement on a $63 million affordable housing loan fund between Fleet Bank of Massachusetts and the quasi-public agency administering the program is being attacked by the group expected to be the main beneficiary of the monies, as well...

Thomas Schumpert Jr. (Personnel File)
May 4, 1992... On the move Tom Schumpert Jr. has never been one to let success get in the way of his career goals. Throughout his professional life, the head of the Massachusetts Minority Enterprise Investment Corp. (MEIC) has found himself mastering one...

Architects turn to religion in slow market. (designing houses of worship) (Focus: Building & Construction)
May 4, 1992... No architectural legacy is more enduring than buildings born of religious beliefs. Whether mega-monuments of the Roman Catholic Church, white clap-boards of the Protestant faith or Jewish synagogues, religious structures offer reassurance and...

Tariff on Canadian wood may backfire. (Focus: Building & Construction)
May 4, 1992... It's hard to believe that a raging environmental debate over an endangered owl in the Pacific Northwest could combine with an argument between the United States and Canada over international trade to leave area builders worried about the price of...

Your dream house is the latest in video games. (Ed Tech Development's computer program)(includes related article)
May 4, 1992... Architect Paul Apkarian sits at a computer, mouse in hand, to demonstrate how quickly he can design a kitchen. Rectangular boxes arrange themselves on the screen in front of him. He fills them in, adds details, and presto--he has a...

Eastern Enterprises. (Proxy report excerpts) (Company Profile)
May 4, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Weston Stock Symbol: EFU Market: NYSE Annual Revenue: ...

Local firms frantic over diskette shortage. (software companies in Boston, Massachusetts) (Industry Overview)
May 11, 1992... The ubiquitous 5.25-inch floppy disk will soon go the way of the record album--and for PC users that means a shortage of 3.5-inch diskettes, the sturdier, denser new standard. Local software companies, caught off guard by the quick transition...

Cities mull privatizing waterworks. (trend toward private control of water utilities due to tough water-supply regulations) (Industry Overview)
May 11, 1992... The supply of safe water, long presumed to be a duty of municipal governments, may gradually return to private control if the costs of compliance with tough federal regulations continue to escalate. For municipal water districts that serve one...

Committee OKs $351m housing bond sale. (Congress and Senate's Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development approves bill for public housing development)
May 11, 1992... The Legislature's Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development last week approved a bill authorizing the sale of $351 million in state bonds to create new affordable housing and continue modernizing existing public housing. The bill's...

Eastern Utilities Associates finally sees the light; first quarter marked by strong profits and increased power sales.
May 11, 1992... Eastern Utilities Associates said its first-quarter profits jumped 49 percent on increased power sales and higher electric rates, marking another stage in the turnaround of the once-troubled utility. The Boston-based electric utility, which...

Mutual funds make pitch in Spanish. (use of prospectuses in Spanish to win more markets)
May 11, 1992... Mutual fund prospectuses are hard enough to understand if English is your mother tongue. But what if it isn't? A growing number of fund companies, including several in Boston, have taken that question to heart by publishing versions of their...

Program rescues loans caught in credit crunch. (US Small Business Administration's New England Lending and Recovery Project)
May 11, 1992... A major lending initiative to help small businesses affected by bank failures is salvaging a significant amount of bad loans managed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Recoll Management Corp. The U.S. Small Business Administration's New...

Good timing works for a pair of money managers. (Cabot Money Management and BTS/Bond Timing)
May 11, 1992... Timing the stock market is not for everyone, but for a duo of Boston area money managers, the strategy paid off big in 1991. According to a recent poll by Nelson Publications in Port Chester, N.J., Cabot Money Management in Salem and BTS/Bond...

Tecogen paves the way for natural gas engines. (TECOGEN Inc.)
May 11, 1992... Urban highways dotted with "clean" automobiles powered by natural gas is the none-too-futuristic vision of one pioneering environmental firm in Waltham. Tecogen, a public subsidiary of Thermo Electron Corp., the state's largest maker of...

Patricia A. Zinkowski: gaining altitude. (chief financial officer of Flight Time International) (Personnel File)
May 11, 1992... Patricia Zinkowski didn't want the picture above to be only of her. Although she is the chairwoman of Flight Time International, she thought the photo should include the co-founders of the air charter company, Dara Zapata and Jane McBride. And...

Automation is the newest star on TV news. (use of robotic cameras in television newsrooms) (Focus: A/V Production & Broadcasting )
May 11, 1992... Margie Reedy and R.D. Sahl are in the studio, poised to speak to 85,000 households. Harvey Leonard is upstairs finalizing the weather report. John Dennis is at Boston Garden, preparing a live remote broadcast. In the WHDH control room, the...

Boston radio stations slide down the charts. (advertising slump for radio stations) (Focus: A/V Production & Broadcasting) (Industry Overview)
May 11, 1992... As the economy of the 1980s roared, the radio business in Boston rock and rolled. Radio stations were bought and sold like investment hot cakes, thanks to deregulation and bankers who were eager to get a piece of the action. Debt service went...

Sequoia lands part in television breakthrough. (Sequoia Systems' interactive television computer that takes product orders of televiewers) (Focus: A/V Production & Broadcasting)
May 11, 1992... Interactive television technology inched closer to reality last month with the delivery at TV Answer's Reston, Va., headquarters of a Series 400 computer from Marlborough-based Sequoia Systems. TV Answer promotional materials say a recent...

Filmmakers stir up some action on Bay State streets. (Boston, Massachusetts as favorable motion picture location) (Focus: A/V Production & Broadcasting)
May 11, 1992... "Distant Justice" is a movie made for release in Japan. It may never be shown in the United States, unless it someday hits the video stores or TV screen. But people in Boston are taking notice of the film. That's because "Distant Justice,"...

Chipcom Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
May 11, 1992... Headquarters: Southborough Stock Symbol: CHPM Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: ...

Thermotrex nabs Thermo spinoff role. (Thermotrex Inc. to become the parent company of future subsidiaries of Thermo Electron Technologies Corp.)
May 18, 1992... Thermo Electron is expecting grandchildren sometime between now and 1994. The prolific Waltham-based technology concern famous for its publicly held spinoffs says that its latest creation, Thermo Electron Technologies--which will officially...

Great expectations: cash flow induced banks to take a look. (financing of the remodeling of the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts)
May 18, 1992... What finally convinced three local banks to help finance the $160 million new Boston Garden project 25 years after Mayor Kevin White first decided it was needed? The answer is simple: money. Representatives of Fleet Bank of Massachusetts, Bank...

FDA crackdown on medical devices is headache for firms. (Federal and Drug Administration)
May 18, 1992... Tougher guidelines and more audits add to production costs The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent crackdown on medical devices will soon be like salt in the fiscal wound to local manufacturers, analysts say. In response to leaking...

Summer jobs still scarce in private sector. (Boston, Massachusetts)
May 18, 1992... An increase in state funding will provide additional summer jobs for Boston youths this summer, but continued economic difficulties will keep the number of private-sector jobs well below what was provided by area employers only two years ago....

Hopes raised again for 210-acre lot in Mattapan. (inner-city industrial park development in Mattapan, Boston, Massachusetts)
May 18, 1992... In the aftermath of riots and looting in Los Angeles, minority business leaders are optimistic that state lawmakers will finally approve Boston's biggest empty lot for development of an inner-city industrial park. The 210-acre former Boston...

Waste cleanup costs pit insurers against clients.
May 18, 1992... When Hazen Paper Co., a western Massachusetts maker of decorative paper, was named partially responsible for a hazardous-waste site in South Dartmouth, company treasurer Thomas Hazen was surprised. And when he discovered his general liability...

James X. Mullen. (president of Mullen Advertising) (Personnel File)
May 18, 1992... Charting his own course The visitor to Mullen Advertising does not so much stop by an office as enter another world, a world Jim Mullen built. It is a world that is hospitable, if a bit remote, self-contained and self-defining. Not unlike the...

Prep work helps U.S. executives bound for Japan. (Focus: Business Travel)
May 18, 1992... It's not unusual for an American executive to try impressing a Japanese colleague with a solemn bow. "Americans think they have to bow with their hands together," said Eishun Maki, operations manager with DL Transnational Associates, a...

Simplicity sends shock waves through the skies. (American Airlines Inc.'s cutting of fare rates) (Focus: Business Travel) (Industry Overview)
May 18, 1992... When a giant domestic air carrier lowers its fares and dramatically simplifies its fare structure, reverberations are likely to be felt throughout business and industry. Now that a month has passed since American Airlines announced its new fare...

Hotels grab onto airlines' marketing gambits. (ITT Sheraton Corp. and Marriott Corp. Marriott Hotels and Resorts cut prices after airline cut theirs) (Focus: Business Travel) (Industry Overview)
May 18, 1992... When the Boston-based hotel giant ITT Sheraton Corp. recently announced a wholesale revision of its pricing structure on the heels of a similar announcement by American Airlines, local hotels and industry experts voiced little surprise. Many said...

Film company steps up from set-aside program. (CANTOMEDIA Corp. no longer eligible for set-aside contracts)
May 18, 1992... A few days after their "graduation," Esmeralda Santiago and her husband Frank Cantor were in New York City, but not for a post-commencement blowout. Cantor was trying to drum up financial support for a feature film the two of them would produce....

ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
May 18, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Cambridge Stock Symbol: IMUL Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $4,603,821 Net Income: ...

Tax break trend could hurt city. (projected effects of tax breaks for real estate developers in Boston, Massachusetts)
May 25, 1992... During the 1980s, members of Boston's real estate community would stop at nothing to get a piece of the city's white-hot development action. Regardless of the ante--fire stations, day-care centers or a pricey $6-per-square-foot linkage...

Local biotech stocks a hot play among short sellers. (profitability of investing in biotechnology firm stocks)
May 25, 1992... Anyone could have made out big in biotech stocks last year. But short sellers, who make money when a stock price falls, are about the only winners among biotech investors so far in 1992. If the shorts bet against, say, local biotech leaders...

Fishermen tackle consent decree. (protests against plan to reduce fishing efforts in New England waters)
May 25, 1992... Angry fisherman in ports from Gloucester to Point Judith, R.I., have forced reconsideration of new federal regulations they say would cripple the New England fishing industry. Nevertheless, by a court-ordered deadline of Sept. 1 there must be a...

Blue Cross raises non-group issue with care. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts's proposal to increase rates for individual policies)
May 25, 1992... Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts has brought the sensitive issue of runaway costs in the non-group health insurance market to the fore. But while their strategy of seeking a 30-day moratorium on a proposed 39.6 percent rate hike for...

IPL Systems holds up to its own standards. (IPL Systems Inc.'s record sales and stock performance) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... In the race to keep up with rapid changes in the computer peripherals market, IPL Systems, last year's Boston Business Journal Company of the Year, achieved record sales growth and racked up a remarkable 47.2 percent return on investment. A...

Smaller banks were first to bounce back. (growth performance of small banks in Massachusetts) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Industry Overview)
May 25, 1992... Mutual funds and financial services companies benefited from the soaring stock market in 1991. Bank revenue increased as the Federal Reserve Bank continued to lower the prime lending rate, creating a profitable spread. Larger Massachusetts...

Laura Ashley picks Boston for its American digs. (headquarter relocation of Laura Ashley Holdings PLC) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... English retailer Laura Ashley Holdings PLC is moving its North American headquarters from New Jersey to Boston by mid-July. The company will employ about 100 local workers and occupy nearly 30,000 square feet of office space on Arlington Street,...

Haemonetics profits by staying in its place. (sales performance of Haemonetics Corp.'s blood salvaging equipment)(includes ranking of health care firms) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... Haemonetics has done what every successful health care company needs to do, according to analysts: It has found a niche. "Last year the health care industry really did very well," said Helen O'Donnell, health care services analyst for Kidder,...

Enterprising bank on an upswing in Lowell. (Enterprise Bank and Trust Co. in Lowell, Massachusetts) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... While two of its competitors have died, Enterprise Bank & Trust Co. in Lowell has managed not only to survive--but to thrive. At its fourth annual meeting earlier this month, the bank reported a 71 percent increase in net income over the...

Small retailers carry the ball in a bad year. (CML Group Inc. and Filene's Basement Corp.'s growth performance)(includes ranking of retailers) (Special Edition: Taking Stock)
May 25, 1992... Last year was one of the worst in retail history. Major department stores filed for bankruptcy and shops that remained open cut their inventories to the bone. In Boston, retail space on the ground floor of skyscrapers in the financial district...

Cabot joins Arnold, holds the phone account. (Cabot Communications; Arnold Fortuna Lane Inc., New England Telephone and Telegraph Co.)
May 25, 1992... The recently announced acquisition of Cabot Communications by Arnold Fortuna Lane ended months of speculation within the Boston advertising industry over what was to become of Cabot--and of Cabot's flagship account, New England Telephone. For...

Giants prospering in depths of recession. (Polaroid Corp. and Gillette Co.)(includes ranking of manufacturing firms) (Special Edition: Taking Stock)
May 25, 1992... Massachusetts may have lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs in 1991, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, but several local manufacturers performed well during the depths of the recession. Both the Gillette Co. and Polaroid Corp. posted...

State zoning law colors town vs. gown debates. (cases on zoning restrictions on colleges and universities)
May 25, 1992... After years of wrangling with zoning authorities in Medford and Somerville, Tufts University recently used a decades-old state law to end debate. In a lawsuit brought before the Massachusetts Land Court in 1988, Tufts charged that both...

About taking stock. (standards for ranking of businesses in Massachusetts) (Special Edition: Taking Stock)
May 25, 1992... Taking Stock, the Boston Business Journal's second annual special edition examining the performance of Massachusetts public companies, is bigger, better and more comprehensive than ever. We examined the annual reports, proxies and Form 10-K...

Biotech falls to earth after its stellar year. (falling stock prices of biotechnology firms)(includes ranking of firms in Massachusetts) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Industry Overview)
May 25, 1992... After a blockbuster year, the biotech industry has come back down to reality. Record stock prices have fallen and the fledgling industry has been forced to take off its rose-colored glasses. During the early months of 1992, biotech stocks,...

High-tech must settle for slower growth rate. (high technology industry in Massachusetts)(includes tabular data on ranking) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Directory)
May 25, 1992... Howard Foley doesn't want to argue about growth and size in the high-tech industry anymore. The future, he says, is in finding the right market for products in an increasingly competitive marketplace. "We're not going to see the 35 |percent~ to...

Utilities may cash in on pollution control. (concerns of public utilities about emissions credit trading regulation)
May 25, 1992... Following the recent landmark decision by a Wisconsin utility to sell excess clean air "credits," Massachusetts utilities report interest, but no immediate plans, to jump into a still uncertain market. "It's something we're looking at. We don't...

Growing law firm makes a case for niche work. (Hanify and King's services for bankruptcy cases) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... The firm may still be small, but it's made all the right moves. A dozen years ago, attorney John D. Hanify was offered a partnership at Gaston & Snow. He turned it down, choosing instead to open a new two-person shop with James King, a fellow...

Peter S. Lynch: giving something back. (millionaire investor)
May 25, 1992... The education of Peter Lynch the citizen began the day he walked out of his office at Fidelity's Devonshire Street headquarters for the last time in May 1990. On that day, one of the most sought-after men in corporate America hung up his Quotron...

State guaranty association gets call to action. (Massachusetts Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association's help to insolvent Executive Life Insurance Co.) (Focus: Insurance)
May 25, 1992... The association that guarantees life and health insurance policies in Massachusetts is assessing its members for only the second time in its history. The Massachusetts Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association will collect more than $50...

Joint funds seen as way to control medical costs. (Focus: Insurance)
May 25, 1992... With no relief for the country's health care mess in sight, some industry observers think employers will be able to cut the cost of medical benefits if they set up health care funds that management and rank-and-file employees administer together....

Women show low profile in life insurance market. (fewer women buy life insurance policies) (Focus: Insurance) (Industry Overview)
May 25, 1992... Financial planners report there is often a great disparity between executive men and women in the amount of life insurance they purchase. According to Susan Kaplan, chief of financial planning at Conway and Davis, an insurance and investments...

Area accounting firms tote up new business. (roster of clients of accounting firms in Boston, Massachusetts) (Special Edition: Taking Stock)
May 25, 1992... A strong market for initial public offerings translated into lots of new business for the professionals that service public companies' reporting, underwriting, accounting and legal needs. Every accounting firm in the area (except Laventhol &...

Accountability is key to health care reform. (Massachusetts Hospital Association's proposed House 2485 legislation) (Focus: Insurance)
May 25, 1992... In the absence of national health care reform, some employers are taking small steps in an attempt to change consumer behavior and limit the overall rate of increase in medical costs. But there is more they can do. Most parties recognize that...

Preparing for a storm at the head of its class. (insurance services to handle effects of natural disasters) (Focus: Insurance)
May 25, 1992... Last summer's Hurricane Bob caused about $1 billion in property damage in Massachusetts alone. Nearly $500 million was covered by insurance companies. The rest, such as damage to roads and beaches, was not insured. Bob, though, was a relative...

Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Milford Stock Symbol: CPSX Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $5,168,228 Net...

Progressive company profits from its steady pace. (1992 Company of the Year awardee Stride Rite Corp.) (Special Edition: Taking Stock) (Company Profile)
May 25, 1992... In the shoe business, perception often counts for more than product. Entire companies rise and fall on the strength of celebrity endorsements. Adidas crashed when Pele's stellar soccer career ended. Nike has taken flight on the wings of Michael...