Boston Business Journal articles from November 1990

Boston Business Journal archives from November 1990

Blues' HMO's move into the black. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Independent Physician Association, health maintenance organizations)
November 26, 1990... Blues' HMOs move into the black After losing $6 million just two years ago, Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Independent Physician Association network of HMOs has posted a $2.5 million profit through the first three quarters of 1990. ...

Poly-Flex molds safer circuit boards. (Cookson America Corp. Poly-Flex Circuits Inc.)
November 26, 1990... Poly-Flex molds safer circuit boards In the race among Massachusetts companies to develop environmentally safer ways to make circuit boards under the state's Toxics Use Reduction Act, a Rhode Island company is pointing the way. ...

Jumpy investors frighten small companies.
November 26, 1990... Jumpy investors frighten small companies The market has been a hostile place lately, and investors are not the only ones among the walking wounded. Stung by vicious swings in their stock price and the resulting loss of market...

New group fights to protect animal testing. (Massachusetts Society for Medical Research)
November 26, 1990... New group fights to protect animal testing Concerned that public support is eroding for the use of animals in medical testing, an industry trade group has launched a campaign to promote the positive aspects of animal experimentation. ...

Wentworth accents manufacturing. (Wentworth Institute of Technology establishes four-year bachelor's program)
November 26, 1990... Wentworth accents manufacturing In what is believed to be the first program of its kind in the country, Wentworth Institute of Technology has revamped its two-year manufacturing program into a four-year bachelor's program that will pair...

Flynn warned to enforce compensation ordinance. (Raymond L. Flynn, mayor of Boston; small businesses hurt by construction projects)
November 26, 1990... Flynn warned to enforce compensation ordinance Boston city councilors are threatening to take the Flynn administration to court if it continues to ignore an ordinance that helps small businesses hurt by construction projects. A Flynn veto...

Boston Fed's new magazine. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publishes Regional Review) (Bank Notes)
November 26, 1990... Boston Fed's new magazine The bank tries to be a better resource New England's recession is transforming many people into armchair economists eager to dish out their prognoses for the regional economy. How high will unemployment...

The fuss over Larry Kudlow: rumors trail the economist to Boston. (Stock Watch)
November 26, 1990... The fuss over Larry Kudlow Rumors trail the economist to Boston Larry Kudlow, chief economist at Bear, Stearns & Co. and a former associate director at the White House's Office of Management and Budget, was in Boston a week ago to...

Houghton Mifflin Co. (Corporate Album) (company profile)
November 26, 1990... Houghton Mifflin Co. Headquarters: Boston Stock Symbol: HTN Market: NYSE Annual Revenues: $404,359,000 Net Income: $23,010,000 Employees: 2,287...

Debra K. Brede: a brokerage of one. (D.K. Brede Investment Management Company)
November 26, 1990... Debra K. Brede A brokerage of one Disenchanted after 11 years of being among the multitude of minions that are a staple of large retail brokerage firms, Debra Brede struck out on her own. She now manages a lot of money--$150 million...

For some contractors firm is a family affair. (Focus, Construction & Design)
November 26, 1990... For some contractors firm is a family affair Operating a business that bears your family's name offers unique challenges and rewards. And it seems that construction, perhaps more than any other industry, is filled with people who are...

Mickey Finn: a new beginning. (Mickey Finn of Boston opens Mickey Finn Annex)
November 26, 1990... Mickey Finn A new beginning Mickey Finn of Boston, which filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code in May, is turning itself around after opening a new store on Summer Street earlier this month. The new...

Crane's connection. (state treasurer Robert Q. Crane to head board of Merkert Enterprises; includes other business items)
November 19, 1990... Crane's connection Robert Q. Crane, the outgoing state treasurer, announced last week he would head the board of Merkert Enterprises, a food brokerage business based in Canton. Crane wouldn't disclose the proposed salary. Crane's ties to...

Mail-order war. (dispute over Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's plan to allow prescriptions by mail; includes other business items)
November 19, 1990... Mail-order war At a State House hearing last week, Massachusetts lawmakers and members of the pharmaceutical industry disputed a plan by Blue Cross and Blue Shield to allow its 285,000 elderly customers to fill their prescriptions by mail....

Layoffs. (includes Textron Inc.'s merging of its Bell Aerospace Textron and Textron Defense Systems divisions)
November 19, 1990... Layoffs Reebok International Ltd. announced last week it laid off 59 employees to "tighten up... and focus the priorities" of the giant sneaker manufacturer, an official said. The layoffs represent less than 1 percent of Reebok's...

High-tech front. (Stratus Computer Inc. markets service to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines; includes other business items)
November 19, 1990... High-tech front Stratus Computer lined up distributors in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to expand its fault-tolerant computer services in the Asia-Pacific market. Already, Stratus sales in Indonesia and the Philippines have...

Inmagic. (Boston on the Record)
November 19, 1990... Inmagic Inmagic, developer of textbase software, recently appointed Phillip Green as president and CEO. Green had been product manager, director of systems software and director of product marketing for Lotus Development Corp. He has also...

Nynex Information Resources Co. (reciprocal sales agreement with British Telecommunications PLC) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... Nynex Information Resources Co. Nynex Information Resources Co. has made a reciprocal sales agreement with British Telecommunications. Under the terms of the agreement, NYNEX will be able to sell advertising to British Telecom's...

State Mutual Securities Trust. (Dividends)
November 19, 1990... State Mutual Securities Trust State Mutual Securities Trust has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, payable Dec. 31 to shareholders of record on Nov. 30.

XTRA Corp. (Dividends)
November 19, 1990... XTRA Corp. XTRA Corp. has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share, payable on Nov. 30 to common stockholders of record on Nov. 21.

Signet Laboratories. (acquires distribution rights for cancer monoclonal antibodies used for staining) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... Signet Laboratories Signet Laboratories, a supplier of immunostaining systems, has acquired the exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights for distribution of cancer monoclonal antibodies for staining applications in immunochemistry research. The...

Perception Technology Co. (partnership agreement with Aspect Telecommunications Corp.) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... Perception Technology Co. Perception Technology Co., a supplier of high-capacity interactive voice processing and audio text systems, has signed a partnership agreement with Aspect Telecommunications. Perception voice processing systems...

AMNET. (contract with Teleception) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... AMNET AMNET, which develops packet switching technology, has signed a manufacturer's representative agreement with Teleception, a privately held supplier of voice, telecommunications management systems. Under the agreement, Teleception...

Shaw Data Services. (joint marketing agreement with Lotus Development Corp.) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... Shaw Data Services Shaw Data Services, a portfolio-management systems vendor, has signed a joint marketing agreement with Lotus Development Corp. to cross-sell its mainframe online products with Lotus services for the business and...

Tsoi/Kobus & Associates. (receives contract from Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) (Corporate Notes)
November 19, 1990... Tsoi/Kobus & Associates Tsoi/Kobus & Associates has been selected by Massachusetts Water Resources Authority as architects for Design Package 7 on Deer Island. The firm's services, part of the $6 billion Boston Harbor cleanup project,...

Syratech: Number 1 with a silver bullet. (Wallace International Silversmiths Inc. merges with Towle Silversmiths)
November 19, 1990... Syratech: Number 1 with a silver bullet When the merger of 300-year-old Towle Silversmiths of Newburyport and East Boston silvermaker Wallace International was announced this summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided that the...

Digital to cut health costs with new HMO. (Digital Equipment Corp., health maintenance organization) (HealthNet Systems Inc.)
November 19, 1990... DIGITAL TO CUT HEALTH COSTS WITH NEW HMO Digital Equipment Corp. has unveiled a new strategy to prod its employees toward managed health care. Rather than limiting health plans - as other employers have done - Digital, the state's largest...

A natural niche for New Morn. (New Morning cereal company)
November 19, 1990... A NATURAL NICHE FOR NEW MORN Gene Fialkoff is an unabashed rip-off artist. Fialkoff, president of New Morn in Acton, makes cereals that look and taste almost like the top-selling cereals, except that his contain no refined sugar, no...

Property taxes to rocket for suburbanites: commercial values off.
November 19, 1990... PROPERTY TAXES TO ROCKET FOR SUBURBANITES Declining commercial real estate values are expected to haunt individual homeowners in the form of property-tax increases of up to 25 percent, particularly in markets where office and R&D vacancy...

Strobe shines a light on a batch of problems. (Programart's Strobe computer program fine-tunes software applications)
November 19, 1990... Strobe shines a light on a batch of problems A Cambridge software company is capitalizing on the region's sagging economy with a software "tuning" program that helps corporations put off costly system upgrades. Programart's Strobe is...

BWSC grapples with delinquent customers. (Boston, Massachusetts. Commission on Water and Sewer)
November 19, 1990... BWSC grapples with delinquent customers Burdened by millions of dollars in overdue accounts, the Boston Water & Sewer Commission (BWSC) is stepping up collection efforts with delinquent customers, including the owners of several struggling...

Deals, retailers revive dormant State Street.
November 19, 1990... Deals, retailers revive dormant State Street When Brooks Brothers started to hunt around for another location in Boston more than two and a half years ago, the traditional clothier settled on the financial district. It was a perfect fit...

Foreign-owned firms in flux, survey shows. (KPMG Peat Marwick)
November 19, 1990... Foreign-owned firms in flux, survey shows Massachusetts companies with foreign parent firms may not be expanding as rapidly as they have in the past, according to a survey released by KPMG Peat Marwick. In fact, news about foreign...

High-tech tailor alters tradition to suit clients. (Albert Andrews Ltd.)
November 19, 1990... High-tech tailor alters tradition to suit clients Albert Andrews Ltd., a Framingham-based maker of custom men's suits, is introducing some new wrinkles in the old business of tailoring. The kicker is not so much that Albert Andrews...

The state's small businesses deserve better. (column)
November 19, 1990... The state's small businesses deserve better As Governor-elect William Weld prepares to take office, two of his most important and obvious tasks are to restore the confidence of the business community in state government and to ensure that...

NorthEastern on the hot seat: Freddie Mac conducts an inquiry. (NorthEastern Mortgage Company Inc.; Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)
November 19, 1990... NorthEastern on the hot seat NorthEastern Mortgage Co., one of the top mortgage lenders in the Boston area, was temporarily suspended earlier this month from selling loans to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., the secondary mortgage...

J. Terrence Murray: envisioning number one. (CEO Fleet/Norstar Financial Group)
November 19, 1990... J. Terrence Murray Envisioning number one Fleet/Norstar Financial Group threw a social earlier this month and more than 200 clients and prospective clients showed up. Lawyers, manufacturers, high-tech executives and real estate developers...

DOR says, better get ready: service tax on schedule, unless.... (Massachusetts Department of Revenue)
November 19, 1990... DOR says, better get ready Even though Gov.-elect William Weld has asked the Legislature to repeal the sales tax on services, and even though legislative leaders have said that they will likely approve a measure to delay implementing the...

Design duo puts Limited in retail's vanguard. (Howard Elkus, David Manfredi) (monthly real estate supplement)
November 19, 1990... Design duo puts Limited in retail's vanguard The wave of the future in shopping center development is increasingly pegged to "anchorless" malls, a retail concept that presumes clusters of small specialty outlets are replacing big...

Manipulating land use rules: arbitrary officialdom, take heed. (monthly real estate supplement)
November 19, 1990... Manipulating land use rules Governor-elect William Weld is said to have little use for property use regulations - especially those that expropriate private property for public purposes under the guise of beneficent social policy. Though...

Arrow Automotive Industries. (company profile)
November 19, 1990... Arrow Automotive Industries Arrow Automotive Industries is a national precision remanufacturer of replacement parts for a variety of vehicles, including passenger cars, light and heavy trucks, farm machinery and heavy-duty equipment used in...

Summit sets its sights on cornea sculpting: rivals merge in an effort to corner market and patents. (Summit Technology Inc.)
November 12, 1990... SUMMIT SETS ITS SIGHTS ON CORNEA SCULPTING When Summit Technology Inc. patented a laser treatment for nearsightedness this summer, its third-quarter revenues soared 313 percent. The Watertown-based company tripled in size and moved to...

State Street steps up retreat from retail. (State Street Bank and Trust Co. retreating from the credit card business)
November 12, 1990... State Street steps up retreat from retail With the selling of its credit card portfolio to an undisclosed buyer for $425 million a week ago, State Street Bank shed a small but symbolic part of the bank's retail services. Once a pioneer in...

State eases rules on lead-paint insurers. (Massachusetts Division of Insurance)
November 12, 1990... STATE EASES RULES ON LEAD-PAINT INSURERS In an unprecedented move, the state Division of Insurance is expected to release a ruling later this month that will allow insurance companies to limit coverage of residences built before 1965 that...

David Egan. (Fast Track)
November 12, 1990... David Egan David Egan has been named president and CEO of Digital News Publishing, a subsidiary of IDG Communications, Egan will continue to serve as publisher of the company's biweekly newspaper Digital NEWS, a position he assumed earlier...

Instrumentation Laboratories. (Fast Track)
November 12, 1990... Instrumentation Laboratories Instrumentation Laboratories, a developer of clinical diagnostic systems, has named P. Thomas Vogel as president of the company. Previously, Vogel was president and CEO of Serono Diagnostics, and had been...

Bill Fello. (Fast Track)
November 12, 1990... Bill Fello Bill Fello has been named president and CEO at Logica Data Architects. Fello assumes his new responsibilities following a three-year tenure as president and CEO of Touch Communictions. He also served as president of Xerox...

Grove Bank for Savings. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Grove Bank for Savings The board of directors at Grove Bank for Savings has postponed a proposed holding company formation. The proposal was approved by bank stockholders earlier this year. State and federal regulatory approvals are...

Sandwich Cooperative Bank. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Sandwich Cooperative Bank The board of directors at Sandwich Cooperative Bank has voted to suspend the bank's quarterly cash dividend. This vote was precipitated by reduced income levels at the Sandwich institution, which currently has...

Prudential Capital Corp. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Polaroid Corp. Polaroid Corp. has filed a motion with the U.S. Massachusetts District Court for an amendment of the judgment on its patent suit against Eastman Kodak. If granted, the amendment will increase Polaroid's $909 million...

The Boston Five Cent Savings Bank. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... The Boston Five Cent Savings Bank The Boston Five cent Savings Bank has donated $1,500 to the Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses. FDNH is a home and center-base provider of a variety of health and social services to diverse...

Argosy Asset Management. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Argosy Asset Management Argosy Asset Management has acquired a majority interest in India Wharf Assoc. The two Boston-based firms manage over $120 million in assets for both individuals and the tax-qualified commercial clients. Argosy's...

Excel Bancorp. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Excel Bancorp Excel Bancorp, the parent company of Quincy Savings Bank and Lincoln Trust Co., has adopted a shareholder rights plan. This plan, which protects shareholders' investments in case of a hostile takeover attempt, entitles...

Bay State Gas Co. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Bay State Gas Co. Bay State Gas Co. has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.32 per common share of stock, payable Dec. 1 to shareholders of record Nov. 16.

Eastern Enterprises. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Eastern Enterprises Eastern Enterprises has declared a cash dividend for the quarter of $0.35 cents per share, payable Jan. 2 to shareholders of record Dec. 3.

BayBanks. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... BoCoEX INDEX The start of November marks the beginning of a new era in the used computer market as the first orders appeared for used computers with the 80486 processor. While there are few of these models available for sale, the fact...

Thermo Process Systems. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Thermo Process Systems Thermo Process Systems has signed a contract exceeding $1 million to furnish soil-treatment services for Fort McDill, the U.S. Air Force base in Tampa. TPS Technologies, a subsidiary of the company, will treat...

Polaroid Corp. (Corporate Notes)
November 12, 1990... Prudential Capital Corp. Prudential Capital Corp., a subsidiary of The Prudential, has completed a $150 million financing for The New England Education Loan Marketing Corp., known as Nellie Mae, a national secondary market purchaser of...

Lotus woos Samna. (Lotus Development Corp. proposes acquisition)
November 12, 1990... Lotus woos Samna Lotus Development Corp. has proposed an acquisition of Samna Corp., a software company in Atlanta, for $18.84 per share, or about $65 million. Analysts questioned the premium price the Cambridge software maker offered to...

GM bows out. (General Motors Corp. closes Framingham plant)
November 12, 1990... GM bows out General motors formally closed the Framingham manufacturing plant that has not disgorged a car in 14 months, and announced it would temporarily rehire its former Framingham workers to dismantle it. The automobile giant...

Brits implement additional layoffs. (Fenwal Inc.)
November 12, 1990... Brits implement additional layoffs More personnel contractions are occurring at Ashland-based Fenwal Inc. (see BBJ, July 2). Last week the fire-suppression products company laid off an estimated 30 employees in the Controls and Protection...

State approves reform package. (Massachusetts Department of Insurance, workers compensation premium regulation)
November 12, 1990... State approves reform package The state's Division of Insurance approved a package of proposals last week designed to help get spiraling workers' compensation premiums under control. The newregulations provide incentives for employers to...

Fire sprinkler rule stirs regulatory debate. (Massachusetts buildings must have back-flow preventer valves in fore-sprinkler systems)
November 12, 1990... Fire-sprinkler rule stirs regulatory debate Massachesutts business and building owners will have to pay an estimated $500 million to adapt building fire-sprinkler sysems to comply with a water-supply protection regulation that some charge...

Chromatography and biotech's next phase. (drug purification technology introduced in the Soviet Union)
November 12, 1990... Chromatography and biotech's next phase In the Soviet Union, where refuse insulin treatments that are often impure and result in complications, a Masschusetts biotech company is introducing chromatogrphy, a method of drug purification that...

Ben Thompson: designing places for people. (architect)(Personnel File)
November 12, 1990... BEN THOMPSON In 1968 architect Benjamin Thompson addressed the graduating class at Wayne State University in Detroit and delivered a vision of American life he called the "City of Man." It was a poetic, sensual picture of how building...

Bondholders balk at BNE swap. (Bank of New England offers stock in exchange for debt claims)
November 5, 1990... Bondholders balk at BNE debt swap Bank of New England's bondholders spurned its offer of stock in exchange for debt claims late last month, hampering the bank's latest attempt to build up its depleted capital. The offer was...

Dredging plan stirs up dumping debate. (Coastal Oil New England Inc.)
November 5, 1990... DREDGING PLAN STIRS UP DUMPING DEBATE Taking a hard stance on a series of dredging projects planned by a Boston-area oil terminal operator, local environmental groups are pushing state officials to order the company to prepare an...

New Ft. Point zoning raises concern. (Fort Point Channel)
November 5, 1990... New Ft. Point zoning raises concern The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is putting the finishing touches on zoning guidelines for Fort Point Channel, but the proposed guidelines encompass land south of Summer Street that was not...

Metapoint: sizzle out of swizzle. (Metapoint Partners of Salem)
November 5, 1990... METAPOINT: SIZZLE OUT OF SWIZZLE Paul Casey and Keith Shaughnessy are into the nuts and bolts of making braided rugs and swizzle sticks. They need to be, because their group, Metapoint Partners of Salem, owns those businesses as...

Bain & Co. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... International consultant Bain & Co. announced last week it would lay off 167 workers at its Boston headquarters as a result of a softened economy and reduced demand for its services. Ownership of the company will transfer from the eight...

Walter F. Curran. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Walter F. Curran, the former Dean Whitter stockbroker in Boston who admitted to cheating his clients out of $2 million over seven years, saw his five-year prison sentence overturned last week by the 1st District Court of Appeals. In the...

General Cinema Corp. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... General Cinema Corp. announced last week it would buy a 40 percent minority interest in Neiman Marcus Group for $14.40 per share, or about $240 million. The retail department store will become a wholly owned subsidiary of General Cinema,...

Digital Equipment Corp. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Digital Equipment Corp. bought the UK-based financial services firm of Data Logic Ltd., a subsidiary of Raytheon Co., for an undisclosed sum. The Maynard computer maker will take over Data Logic's operations, own the rights to its UNIX-based...

Amtrak. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Amtrak launched its fastest-ever express train to New York City last week. The New England Express takes just under four hours to reach Penn Station in Manhattan from Boston, stopping only at Providence and New Haven along the way. It's a...

Association for Manufacturing Technology. (Debriefing )
November 5, 1990... U.S. machine tool orders reached $264.2 million in September, down 4.6 percent from August, although demand for manufacturing technology is still up, according to a report released last week by the Association for Manufacturing Technology....

Main Street Toy Co. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Slap bracelets, one of the hottest new items in the toy business, will bring in revenues of $5 million to $8 million to the Simsbury, Conn., toy manufacturer Main Street Toy Co.. The company, created two years ago by former executives from...

Ferdinand Colleredo-Mansfeld. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... The chairman of the Vault, Ferdinand Colleredo-Mansfeld, bought the real estate investment firm of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes last week from Chicago investor Marshall Field V. Colleredo-Mansfeld has run the $500 million firm for the last four...

Bank of Boston. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Bank of Boston posted its biggest-ever loss of $255 million in the third quarter, more than doubling its loss of $125 million in the third quarter of 1989. BOB officials blamed a sagging real estate market and the downbeat regional economy...

Boston Redevelopment Authority. (Debriefing)
November 5, 1990... Single-room lodging houses for disadvantaged people were approved for seven Fenway-area buildings by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The proposal was passed despite vehement opposition by neighborhood groups, and met with support from...

Lotus may be fair game for European copycats. (Lotus Development Co.)
November 5, 1990... Lotus may be fair game for European copycats It appears Lotus Development Co. may not be able to protect its software from copycat European software programs that "look and feel" like Lotus 1-2-3 as the European Commission's software...

New capital. (Edsun Laboratories Inc. finances product development)
November 5, 1990... Edsun New capital Edsun Laboratories Inc. recently announced a second round of financing totaling $5.8 million for the continued development of products using the company's patented Continuous Edge Graphics technology. The...

Boston Thermal steamed over Edison stonewalling. (Boston Thermal Energy, Boston Edison)
November 5, 1990... Boston Thermal steamed over Edison stonewalling Boston Thermal Energy has everything in place to build its new $120 million steam generation plant in South Boston--a site, a fuel contract, the blessing of the city and even support from wary...

Raytheon's tenuous reliance on defense orders.
November 5, 1990... Raytheon's tenuous reliance on defense orders Although defense contractor Raytheon saw its projects, such as the Milstar communications satellite, squeak through the federal budget negotiations unscathed, analysts agree that that aspect of...

Law students, summer and a buyer's market. (law firm hiring)
November 5, 1990... Law students, summer and a buyer's market While major Boston-area law firms refuse to admit they are hiring fewer lawyers, job placement officers at local law schools maintain that sluggish economic conditions have slowed recruitment of...