Boston Business Journal articles from September 1990

Boston Business Journal archives from September 1990

Instron. (Dividends)
September 24, 1990... Instron The board of directors of Instron declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share on the company's common stock, payable Oct. 5 to shareholders of record on Sept. 14. This is the 69th consecutive quarterly dividend...

The Reece Corp. (Dividends)
September 24, 1990... The Reece Corp. The Reece Corp. reported that its board of directors voted to omit the second-quarter dividend of $0.05 per common share. The company manufacturers and distributes specialized apparel machinery for the clothing industry...

Image Microsystems. (Growing High-Tech Companies; no full text - tables only)
September 24, 1990... Image Microsystems Company & Phone No. Description Sales Emp # Percentage Image Microsystems Manufacturer of $4.5m 37 76 Billerica laser equipment (508)663-7070

Endogen. (Growing Massachusetts High-Tech companies; no full text - tables only)
September 24, 1990... Endogen Growth Company & Phone No. Description Sales Emp # Percentage Endogen Producer of $3m 20 66 Boston biotech...

SatCon Technology Corp. (Growing High-Tech Companies; no full text - tables only)
September 24, 1990... SatCon Technology Corp. Company & Phone No. Description Sales Emp # Growth SatCon Technology Corp. Research $3.5m 30 Percentage Cambridge and (617)661-0540 development ...

Voicetek Corp. (Growing High-Tech Companies; no full text - tables only)
September 24, 1990... Voicetek Corp. Growth Company & Phone No. Description Sales Emp # Percentage Voicetek Corp. Manufacturer of $10m 60 20 Chelmsford ...

Sotas International. (Growing Massachusetts High-Tech Companies; no full text - tables only)
September 24, 1990... Sotas International Growth Company & Phone No. Description Sales Emp # Percentage Sotas International Publisher of $4.7m 40 11 Haverhill ...

Dukecare to face court challenge. (Massachusetts Restaurant Association; Massachusetts health care system)
September 24, 1990... Dukecare to face court challenge The board of directors of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) voted last week to move forward with plans to file a challenge in federal court to the state universal health-care law later this...

Housing group uses CRA to hammer bank merger. (Waltham Alliance to Create Housing; federal Community Reinvestment Act; Waltham Savings Bank; Lexington Savings Bank)
September 24, 1990... HOUSING GROUP USES CRA TO HAMMER BANK MERGER A Waltham community group is trying to hold Waltham Savings Bank's $25.5 million proposed merger with Lexington Savings Bank hostage to the bank's funding of affordable housing programs. ...

Power brokers double clout and cash flow. (Northeast Management and Marketing; Bay State Investors to merge)
September 24, 1990... POWER BROKERS DOUBLE CLOUT AND CASH FLOW In a move that will fuse political clout just as surely as business interests, marketing specialist Pamela McDermott and former lieutenant governor Thomas P. O'Neill III are merging their consulting...

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
September 24, 1990... Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts said last week it will soon provide its members with a mail-order subscription drug program. Senior citizens are expected to participate most in the...

Ionics Inc. (Debriefing)
September 24, 1990... Ionics Inc. Watertown-based Ionics Inc. got the green light in a $25 million to $100 million, five-year contract to provide a seawater desalination plant for the city of Santa Barbara, Calif. Water production is scheduled to begin in the...

Reebok International. (Debriefing)
September 24, 1990... Reebok International Reebok International announced last week it would open three retail stores, including one on Newbury Street, this year. The retail business is not expected to influence the Stoughton sneaker maker's sales.

Nike Inc. (Debriefing)
September 24, 1990... Nike Inc. Reebok rival Nike Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., announced record revenues of $833.61 million for the first quarter ended Aug. 31, compared to revenues of $602.65 million the year before. Net income of $99.65 million, or $2.62 per...

Cumberland Farms Inc. (Debriefing)
September 24, 1990... Cumberland Farms Inc. Cumberland Farms Inc. last week denied charges that officials fired 30,000 convenience store employees on fabricated theft charges. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cumberland tried to systematically recover...

No upsets in contest for Blue Cross contract. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Medco Containment Services of New Jersey) (Debriefing)
September 24, 1990... No upsets in contest for Blue Cross contract If last week's selection of a mail-order pharmacy by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts had been a lottery pick, Jerry O'Mahoney of Flex Rx in Pennsylvania would have been a big winner....

Video One: acquired. (video production studio) (Follow on the News)
September 24, 1990... Video One Acquired Video One, a Boston-based production studio striving for financial stability after a rocky 1989, was acquired by Videoproduction Network of America, headquartered in Los Angeles. Video One, which joined other firms...

Fish inspections. (Follow on the News)
September 24, 1990... Fish inspections The U.S. Senate adopted a mandatory fish inspection plan on Sept. 12 that would put the federal Department of Agriculture out front in regulation of the seafood business. Under the bill, the agriculture department...

Takeover diet fuels growth of biotech firm. (Transgenic Sciences Inc.)
September 24, 1990... Takeover diet fuels growth of biotech firm When Transgenic Sciences Inc. went public in May 1989, it had no products, no revenues and no profits. In the past 18 months, the Worcester-based biotech company has built up a lucrative...

Industry group balks at tab for Toxic Use Act. (Associated Industries of Massachusetts)
September 24, 1990... Industry group balks at tab for Toxic Use Act Faced with potentially huge fee increases next year for the commercial use of dangerous chemicals, the state's manufacturing trade association is rethinking its support for the Toxic Use...

New England loses its edge in salary hikes.
September 24, 1990... New England loses its edge in salary hikes Troubles with the region's economy have begun to filter down to employee paychecks. In the last year New England has gone from being the leader in salary increases to just keeping pace with the...

Applause for BayBanks. (BayBanks Boston)
September 24, 1990... Applause for BayBanks Pam Dizo heard a commotion a few stores away on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan last week. Three motorcycle cops and the police chief from Area B were standing around. So were several dozen people in pinstripe suits....

Patrick McGovern: high tech's town crier. (International Data Group)
September 24, 1990... PATRICK MCGOVERN High tech's town crier In 1967, some people said Patrick McGovern was chasing butterflies. Naysayers whispered that the computer newspaper McGovern launched that year, Computerworld, lacked an audience, that there was no...

Check-in is brisk at Boston's deluxe hotels. (Hotels and Motels)
September 24, 1990... Check-in is brisk at Boston's deluxe hotels Despite gloomy forecasts for the regional economy, Boston's luxury hotel market is strong and could even support another upscale hotel, according to industry analysts. "The luxury market in...

Hotel dining takes a casual turn. (Boston, Massachusetts) (Hotels and Motels)
September 24, 1990... Hotel dining takes a casual turn When the Sheraton Boston Hotel and Towers opened Apley's four-star gourmet restaurant in 1981, it launched a trend in hotel dining. Apley's became the Sheraton's calling card, the first restaurant in town...

CEO guide cites salaries, heroes. (guide to chief executive officers in Massachusetts) (CEOs of Massachusetts) (directory)
September 24, 1990... CEO GUIDE CITES SALARIES, HEROS Here is the second CEOs of Massachusetts, a guide to the leaders of the state's largest publicly owned companies. To compile this survey, we sent questionnaires to the top executives of the Bay State's...

CEO bonuses rise modestly in '90. (chief executive officers) (CEOs of Massachusetts)
September 24, 1990... CEO Bonuses Rise Modestly in '90 Bonuses paid to senior executives in 1990 for 1989 performance were moderately higher than those earned by the same group last year for 1988 performance, according to Hewitt Associates, a consulting firm...

Small businesses to get a break on health insurance.
September 17, 1990... SMALL BUSINESSES TO GET A BREAK ON HEALTH INSURANCE State eyeing plans from BCBS, HMOs and other insurers The state Department of Medical Security (DMS) is expected to propose a major restructuring of small-group health insurance...

A bitter pill to swallow for corner drug stores. (Blue Cross plans to offer mail-order drug service)
September 17, 1990... A bitter pill to swallow for corner drug stores Claiming that the corner drugstore is facing extinction, a coalition of pharmacists has begun an intensive campaign to stop Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts from handing its $8...

ComFed banking on penniless program. (ComFed Savings Bank, Open Thrift Assistance program) (company profile)
September 17, 1990... COMFED BANKING ON PENNILESS PROGRAM Troubled ComFed Savings Bank is counting on a new federal assistance program to save it from being taken over by the regulators. The only hitch is that the program has no money. For months, Jack...

Candela blazes brightly in down market. (Candela Laser Corp.'s stocks) (company profile)
September 17, 1990... CANDELA BLAZES BRIGHTLY IN DOWN MARKET In honor of the dermatology laser that represents an $80.9 million market for Candela Laser Corp., a color photo of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev hangs in Gerard Puorro's Wayland office. ...

Tech that spied Titanic searches for cancer. (Imaging Technology Inc.) (company profile)
September 17, 1990... Tech that spied Titanic searches for cancer Imaging Technology Inc. is braving the machine-vision market--worth $300 million and growing--with a commercialized version of the technology that located the sunken luxury liner H.M.S. Titanic...

Merger knot tied. (Harvard Community Health Plan, Rhode Island Group Health Association)
September 17, 1990... HCHP Merger knot tied Four months after Harvard Community Health Plan (HCHP) announced its acquisition of Rhode Island Group Health Association (RIGHA), the two institutions officially tied the knot in a signing ceremony at RIGHA's...

On the offensive. (Healthco International)
September 17, 1990... Healthco On the offensive It has been a busy week for Healthco International (NASDAQ: HLCO) and its pursuer, Gemini Partners (see BBJ, Aug. 6). After an announcement that the dental supply firm was to merge with a division of...

Clubs ante up. (nonprofit organizations like the YMCA must now add 5% service tax to memberships)
September 17, 1990... Taxes Clubs ante up If you want to stay fit in Massachusetts, you're going to have to pay the price--no matter where you choose to work out. According to a technical amendment included in the final state budget passed in...

At Rebecca's Cafes, only the name remains. (company profile)
September 17, 1990... At Rebecca's Cafes, only the name remains Rebecca Caras's name may still be on Rebecca's Cafes, but that is the only thing she left behind. As of late last month, Mario Nicosia and his partners became the owners of the five Rebecca's Cafes...

IMC tackles import paper chase. (IMC Systems Group Inc.) (company profile)
September 17, 1990... IMC tackles import paper chase Someday, IMC Systems Group Inc. hopes to turn trade catalogs into full-color, three-dimensional images on internationally connected PC screens. But it's a challenge to find an overseas export agent with a...

Boston's dailies vie for the bottom linage.
September 17, 1990... Boston's dailies vie for the bottom linage The Boston Sunday Globe is stepping up coverage of business and real estate news on the heels of a similar move by its local rival, but it is bailing out of a joint publishing project with four...

BNE parries rumor and debt; the bank woos nervous bondholders. (Bank of New England)
September 17, 1990... BNE parries rumor and debt The bank woos nervous bondholders Since rumors ignited in the investment community a few weeks ago that the government was closing Bank of New England, pushing its stock to a record low of $1 a share, the...

Deborah C. Jackson; a strong will at Goodwill. (Personnel File)
September 17, 1990... Deborah C. Jackson A strong will at Goodwill "It's a business that we're growing, but there's really a combined objective here, and you've got to balance those two. We are motivated to make money because those dollars help support...

The market's vicissitudes. (Stock Watch)
September 17, 1990... The market's vicissitudes Must what goes down come back up? While the vagaries of the stock market continue to pound stock prices of some local companies, others may have hit bottom and are headed upward. Last week,...

Reebok. (Dividends)
September 17, 1990... Leading footwear maker Reebok, Stoughton, declared a regular cash dividend of $0.75 per share on its common stock. The dividend is payable Oct. 3 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 12.

Bradley Real Estate Trust. (Dividends)
September 17, 1990... Bradley Real Estate Trust announced a regular quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, payable Sept. 21, to shareholders of record Aug. 31. The company was founded as a Massachusetts business trust in 1961 and is the country's oldest...

Truckers win diesel surcharge.
September 10, 1990... Truckers win diesel surcharge Acknowledging that the state's trucking companies have been hit hard by rising diesel prices, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has approved a 1.5 percent emergency fuel surcharge...

Red Sox say si to new ad revenues. (ad time purchased during Spanish language broadcasts)
September 10, 1990... Red Sox say si to new ad revenues This summer's move by the Boston Red Sox to reach the region's Hispanic market appears to have hit advertising pay dirt. The initial response from national advertisers has exceeded expectations, and there...

Taking a bite out of Domino's slice of pie. (Papa Gino's) (company profile)
September 10, 1990... TAKING A BITE OUT OF DOMINO'S SLICE OF PIE Papa Gino's is escalating its battle with Domino's Pizza for a bigger slice of one of the nation's fastest-growing food sectors, the $25 billion pizza market. The company's latest weapon: a...

Grossman's big shareholders await advisory. (stocks) (company profile)
September 10, 1990... Grossman's big shareholders await advisory A report due out today for institutional shareholders of Grossman's (NASDAQ: GROS), the Braintree-based building materials retailer, may change the company's future. Depending on the...

Fat fight. (fat substitute)
September 10, 1990... Fat fight Alpha-Beta Technology of Worcester announced promising pre-clinical results last month with Fibercel, a fat substitute derived from food-grade yeast that will compete with LITA, a similar fake fat under development by...

Takeover eluded. (Healthco International)
September 10, 1990... Takeover eluded A definitive merger agreement between Healthco International (NASDAQ: HLCO) and a Dallas-based investment company has apparently concluded a protracted fight for control of the company (see BBJ, Aug. 6). Gemini...

The jewels are copies; the profit is authentic. (company profile)
September 10, 1990... The jewels are copies; the profit is authentic Lars Messler is visiting some of the Soviet Union's most famous art museums this week in order to make some counterfeits. No, Messler isn't an art forger. He's the president of Brookline-based...

Tom Spalding; reinventing the brick. (Personnel File )
September 10, 1990... TOM SPALDING Reinventing the brick Tom Spalding has a certain affection for his Brick. He croons to it, pats it and refers to it as "little guy." Spalding should love The Brick. This year, his Peabody-based company, Ergo Computing, expects...

Handmade instrument market still humming.
September 10, 1990... Handmade instrument market still humming Musical instruments may not immediately spring to mind as a key component of the manufacturing sector. Several niche musical manufacturers, however, are playing their part in the Massachusetts setts...

New, old firms make waste their business.
September 10, 1990... New, old firms make waste their business Two years ago, Matt Costello logged more than a dozen phone calls trying to find a recycling center that would accept the two boxes of outdated reports that sat in his Boston office. The state, city...

Mixed prognosis for backbone industries.
September 10, 1990... Mixed prognosis for backbone industries Like a balloon pricked by a pin sometime during 1985, the Greater Boston manufacturing sector continues to slowly deflate. Particularly hard hit by government cutbacks and a nationwide slowdown have...

Taking stock in the desert; ionics, water and the Middle East. (Stock Watch)
September 10, 1990... Taking stock in the desert Fresh water. There isn't much of it in the deserts of the Middle East, which makes that area of the world a perfect market for Ionics (AMEX: ION), a Watertown company that builds water desalination plants to...

Lighthouse Communications Group. (Fast Track: Advertising/Communications)
September 10, 1990... Light-house Communications The following promotions and new hires are in effect at Light-house Communications Group: Peter T. Savage has been promoted to president of Jordan-Savage Direct; Stuart R. Jordan is now vice chairman and COO of...

Stations cash in on campaigns. (political advertising on Boston television stations)
September 3, 1990... Stations cash in on campaigns Regardless of who emerges victorious from the upcoming Democratic and Republican primaries, this year's hotly contested political races have already proven to be a victory for Boston-area television stations....

Commercial abatements set to surge. (applications for commercial tax abatements in Boston)
September 3, 1990... Commercial abatements set to surge Applications for commercial tax abatements are expected to soar this fall as developers and landlords challenge the city on the true market value of their office buildings. Bargain rents and rising...

General Cinema Corp. (earnings) (Debriefing)
September 3, 1990... Earnings slump General Cinema Corp. General Cinema Corp. last week posted third-quarter net earnings of $5.7 million, or 8 cents per share, blaming the 78 percent drop on slow retail sales, a hefty tax bill and a dearth of summer movie...

Carroll Reed of New England. (sold to Swire Pacific Ltd.) (Debriefing)
September 3, 1990... Carroll Reed of New England Carroll Reed of New England, the women's clothing chain, was sold by Acton-based CML Group to Swire Pacific Ltd., located in Hong Kong. The price for the 54-store chain was about $10 million.

Stratus Computer. (contract with Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) (Debriefing)
September 3, 1990... Stratus Computer Stratus Computer won a $2.3 million contract last week to supply fault-tolerant computers to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), a group of financial institutions in Brussels. The...

Bottlers challenge state over loose change. (Massachusetts suits over unclaimed bottle and can deposits)
September 3, 1990... Bottlers challenge state over loose change The ongoing battle between the state and the bottling industry over who is entitled to $24 million a year in unclaimed bottle and can deposits will come to a head next month thanks to two lawsuits...

Computer Corp. of America: revenues up.
September 3, 1990... Computer Corp. of America Computer Corporation of America (CCA) announced record revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30 last week, crediting increased software sales, the company's new focus on consulting services and an increasingly...

Bankruptcy silences The Talking Phone Book.
September 3, 1990... Bankruptcy silences The Talking Phone Book Last month, The Talking Phone Book stopped talking. An involuntary bankruptcy case was filed on March 12 against Needham-based InfoPlus Inc., publisher of The Talking Phone Book. The action is...

Edsun's gambit seeks to redefine PC graphics. (Edsun Laboratories Continuous Edge Graphics chip)
September 3, 1990... Edsun's gambit seeks to redefine PC graphics Graphic designers aspiring to full-motion videos, color photo scanning and even holograms need look no further than their PC screen - with the help of a new computer chip from Edsun Laboratories....

DOT study considers safety of Boston Harbor. (Dept. of Transportation)
September 3, 1990... DOT study considers safety of Boston Harbor Sparked by the Exxon Valdez disaster, the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) is conducting a study to determine whether Boston Harbor warrants a system to monitor ship movements. Boston is...

At the mercy of the market: a Concord thrift walks a fine line. (Co-operative Bank of Concord)
September 3, 1990... At the mercy of the market With almost all of its loan portfolio linked to the real estate market, the future of The Co-operative Bank of Concord depends heavily on the recovery of the Massachusetts economy. The Co-operative Bank...

Arnold Relman: a keeper of the profession. (editor of New England Journal of Medicine)
September 3, 1990... ARNOLD RELMAN A keeper of the profession In his modest office at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Dr. Arnold Relman sat back in a large red chair and reflected on his 14-year term as editor of the New England Journal of...

Norwood Cooperative Bank. (Fast Track)
September 3, 1990... Norwood Cooperative Bank Norwood Cooperative Bank has elected Ronald W. Mallette bank president. He succeeds Ronald B. Tatro who retired for health reasons earlier this year.