Boston Business Journal articles from September 1991

Boston Business Journal archives from September 1991

UH, BI chiefs gets $100G raises. (University Hospital president J. Scott Abercombie; The Beth Israel Hospital president Mitchell T. Rabkin; $100,000 salary raises)
September 2, 1991... UH, BI chiefs get $100G raises Chief executives at two major Boston teaching hospitals were awarded $100,000 raises during fiscal year 1990, according to records on file with the state attorney general's office. J. Scott Abercrombie,...

Mass. Centers of Excellence Corp. going private. (Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corp.)
September 2, 1991... MASS. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE CORP. GOING PRIVATE The Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corp. (MCEC), a high-tech state authority created by former Gov. Michael Dukakis and touted during his 1988 presidential campaign, is quietly going...

Enron's power play gives IPPs an edge. (Enron Power Co.; independent power producer)
September 2, 1991... Enron's power play gives IPPs an edge With the last of its regulatory approvals behind it, Enron Power Co.'s natural gas-fired 149-megawatt plant in Milford is set to break ground in mid-September, making it the state's largest single-use...

GE lands jet contract. (General Electric Co. GE Aircraft Engines)
September 2, 1991... GE lands jet contract In a move that could halt the job layoff trend at the General Electric plant in Lynn, the U.S. Navy awarded the company a $15 million contract to engineer and test an advanced version of the F-404 jet engine. Plant...

Service Merchandise. (Service Merchandise Company Inc.)
September 2, 1991... Service Merchandise Service Merchandise and Wang Laboratories are teaming up for the holidays. The Nashville, Tenn.-based catalog showroom company agreed to market the Lowell computer company's new line of EXEC personal computers in the...

Airport sites narrowed. (Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission's choice of possible airport sites)
September 2, 1991... Airport sites narrowed The Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission narrowed its list of possible second airport sites from a dozen to three: the Gardner-Winchendon area, Fort Devens in Ayer, and the Uxbridge-Douglas area. Several environmental...

Bay State Gov. William Wedd. (meeting with Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui)
September 2, 1991... Bay State Gov. William Weld Bay State Gov. William Weld met with President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan to work out plans for trade and partnerships between that Asian nation and the state of Massachusetts. In particular, Teng-hui specified...

Sen. Michael LoPresti.
September 2, 1991... Sen. Michael LoPresti Mortgage and registry of deed records revealed that state Sen. Michael LoPresti (D-East Boston) and Joseph Timilty, a former Boston city councilor, were principals in Gumball Realty Trust, a financially troubled trust...

Monarch Life Insurance.
September 2, 1991... Monarch Life Insurance Co. At least four new bids for the Monarch Life Insurance Co. were filed with the state Division of Insurance last week. Adding their names to the list of hopefuls were Merrill Lynch & Co., Montgomery Ward Life...

General Cinema Corp. (plans to purchase Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)
September 2, 1991... General Cinema Corp. Newton-based General Cinema Corp. announced that a second plan to purchase Harcourt Brace Jovanovich will finally go through. A first plan was rejected by Harcourt bondholders. Under the approved $1.5 billion bid...

Banks to combine. (Quincy Savings Bank merges with Lincoln Trust)
September 2, 1991... Banks to combine Excel Bancorp announced that it will combine its two banking units: Quincy Savings Bank and Lincoln Trust Co. The newly merged unit will retain the Quincy Savings Bank name.

Northwest Airlines. (offers hourly flights between Boston's Logan Airport and Washington D.C.'s National Airport)
September 2, 1991... Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines announced that starting Oct. 1, it will begin operating hourly flights between Boston's Logan Airport and Washington, D.C., National Airport. To promote this new business attraction, frequent flier...

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (art auctions nets $250,000)
September 2, 1991... Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Although there were no Renoirs or van Goghs, a recent art auction by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. netted some $250,000. The collection, seized by the FDIC in May, belonged to the defunct Boston Bank of...

Second opinions on institutional growth voiced. (hospital and university expansions in Boston, Massachusetts)
September 2, 1991... Second opinions on institutional growth voiced Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) director Stephen Coyle has prescribed an ambitious $1.35 billion remedy for the city's economic malaise, but some critics are charging that the strategy could...

Navy Yard leads in tenant race. (Navy Yard Research Center)
September 2, 1991... Navy Yard leads in tenant race Two biotechnology start-ups are moving into the Navy Yard Research Center in Charlestown this month - the first tenants since Massachusetts General Hospital planted its research campus there four years ago. ...

Stock in Au Bon Pain shows short appeal. (company profile)
September 2, 1991... Stock in Au Bon Pain shows short appeal Short positions in Au Bon Pain's stock grew thirteenfold over the 30 days ending Aug. 15, one of the largest increases of its kind on the over-the-counter market and an indication that there are at...

Trailblazer Genzyme tries to meet expectations. (company profile)
September 2, 1991... Trailblazer Genzyme tries to meet expectations It's no wonder Gov. William Weld asked Henri Termeer to report back to him on the biotech powwow at Genzyme this Thursday. Termeer, the CEO of Genzyme, turned biotech guru when the Food and...

Stephen Gray: reversing fortune. (a principal at the Recovery Group)(Personnel File) (company profile)
September 2, 1991... Stephen Gray Reversing misfortune Workout specialist Stephen Gray is part of what you might consider a corporate SWAT team, one called into action when things are looking ugly to save a business - if it can be saved. And these days there...

Peoples Bancorp of Worcester. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (company profile)
September 2, 1991... Peoples Bancorp of Worcester THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Worcester Stock Symbol: PEBW Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $31,594,000 Net Income: ...

John Hancock Advisers. (Banking/Finance)
September 2, 1991... John Hancock Advisers John Hancock Advisers appointed Robert Freedman chief investment officer.

John Hancock Fund Services. (Banking/Finance)
September 2, 1991... John Hancock Fund Services John Hancock Fund Services appointed David King president and CEO.

BayBanks. (Banking/Finance)
September 2, 1991... BayBanks BayBanks announced several promotions. James Cosman was elected president and CEO of BayBanks Credit Corp.

Raymond Kubacki. (Health/Science)
September 2, 1991... Raymond Kubacki Raymond Kubacki was appointed vice president and CEO of Psychemedics in Boston. Kubacki leaves a position as vice president of Reliance Comm/TEC Corp. Psychemedics conducts drug-testing procedures for corporate clients.

Medical Diagnostics. (Medical Diagnostic Technologies)(Health/Science)
September 2, 1991... Medical Diagnostics Burlington-based Medical Diagnostics, a provider of magnetic resonance imaging services, named Thomas Henessey Jr. vice president and CEO. Hennessey was previously employed by PB Diagnostic Systems and Alyx Medical...

VERSYSS. (Medical Diagnostic Technologies)(Health/Science)
September 2, 1991... VERSYSS VERSYSS of Westwood named Thomas Wardell president and chief operating officer. He recently served as executive vice president of VERSYSS, a supplier of single-source computer solutions. Wardell co-founded the company in 1989.

Tom Trainer. (Manufacturing/Retail)
September 2, 1991... Tom Trainer Tom Trainer joined Reebok Brands Division Worldwide of Stoughton as president and CEO. Trainer will be responsible for the creation and implementation of a worldwide information system for customer service support.

George Curtis. (Service/Education)
September 2, 1991... George Curtis George Curtis joined the Boston law firm of Warner & Stackpole as a partner in the business law department and as head of the firm's public finance group. Curtis was previously a partner at both Gaston & Snow and at Csaplar &...

McDougall Associates, Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations. (Advertising/Communications)
September 2, 1991... McDougall Associates, Advertising, Marketing McDougall Associates, Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations has been named by Durkee-Mower Inc., parent company of Marshmallow Fluff, as its agency of record. McDougall plans a marketing plan...

Ocean Spray Cranberries. (Advertising/Communications )
September 2, 1991... Ocean Spray Cranberries Ocean Spray Cranberries has chosen Creamer Dickson Basford/New England's Consumer Group to manage one of its marketing programs. Ocean Spray will introduce a new adult juice drink, called Ocean Spray Refreshers,...

Hearst Corp. (Advertising/Communications)
September 2, 1991... Hearst Corp. A joint venture between the Hearst Corp. and Continental Cablevision will produce a new cable channel. The New England Cable NewsChannel, scheduled for a March 1992 launch, will provide 24-hour news, sports and weather. The...

73 Amateur Today. (Advertising/Communications)
September 2, 1991... WGE Publishing 73 Amateur Radio Today, a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts, has experienced a 20 percent increase in ad sales over the last year. The growth has inspired its publisher, WGE Publishing of New Hampshire, to launch a new...

Sieberco. (Advertising/Communications)
September 2, 1991... Seiberco Seiberco, a manufacturer of motion control hardware and software solutions for factory automation, has named Advertising Assistance of Weston as its agency of record.

Prime Computer. (Hight Technology)
September 2, 1991... Prime Computer's Prime Computer's Computervision business unit received a $34 million, three-year contract from the Rover Group, Britain's largest car manufacturer. Computervision's systems will reduce the time it takes to bring a car to...

ON Technology Inc. (High Technology)
September 2, 1991... ON Technology Inc. ON Technology Inc. announced the 2.0 version of its Macintosh desk accessory ON Location. The new software reduces the time it takes to find and view files. New functions of the software include searching for numbers in...

Bitstream. (Services/Education)
September 2, 1991... Bitstream Bitstream of Cambridge will be establishing a wholly owned Australian subsidiary to service the Pacific market.

Hexon Communciations Pty. Ltd. (Services/Education)
September 2, 1991... Hexon Communications Pty Ltd. Hexon Communications Pty Ltd. has been granted distribution rights for the Bitstream Typeface Library for the Macintosh in Australia and New Zealand.

North Shore's news you can use. (North Shore Recycled Fibers wins contract to recycle newspapers for other uses)
September 9, 1991... When Boston kicks off its newspaper recycling program next week, the newsprint left on neighborhood curbs could return to city households as part of a game board or cereal box. Those are a couple of the items that Salem-based North Shore...

Fleet Bank of Massachusetts. (Boston Garden sports arena expects financial package from Fleet Bank of Massachusetts)
September 9, 1991... Although officials at Fleet Bank of Massachusetts neither confirmed nor denied a report that they would offer $80 million in credit toward the new Boston Garden sports arena, sources at Boston City Hall told the Globe and the Herald they expect a...

Neighborhood finds Allston Landing plan palatable. (residents approve Boston Redevelopment Authority's plan to persuade Genzyme Corp. to build its manufacturing plant in Allston Landing)
September 23, 1991... The Welcome Wagon is out for possible Genzyme deal A mile or so west of Fenway Park, where the Red Sox are unexpectedly battling for a division title, Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) director Stephen Coyle is pursuing an impossible dream...

Quant firm plays it by the numbers. (Numeric Investors uses quantitative method for picking stocks) (company profile)
September 23, 1991... John C. Bogle Jr. and Langdon B. Wheeler are glad that the stock market isn't always perfectly efficient. Their firm, Numeric Investors in Cambridge, depends on it. At Numeric, Bogle and Wheeler, along with partner James Sloman, have been on...

Heartbreak hotels: foreclosure checks in. (Bank of Boston and Fleet/Norstar Financial Group foreclose hotels and motels)
September 23, 1991... New England banks, realizing that owners of troubled hotels and motels can't overcome their problems, will foreclose on dozens of properties by the end of the year to protect their investments. Facing the grim reality that the hotel industry is...

Lawyers pound pavement. (number of unemployed lawyers increases)
September 23, 1991... About 40 percent of the 400 graduates from the 1991 class at Boston University Law School still don't have jobs. "There's a significant increase in the amount of people unemployed at graduation," said Michael Leshin, director of the school's...

Westin Hotel. (and Marriott Copley Place face competition against John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center as a holiday hot spot)
September 23, 1991... Hotel managers at the Westin Hotel and the Marriott Copley Place are irked that the state-run John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center is pitching itself as a holiday hot spot for company Christmas parties. The hospitality industry is...

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. (spurs public protest after releasing statements that it may reduce the level of treatment for waste water)
September 23, 1991... A small armada of private boats attempted to close Massachusetts Bay last week to protest a $400 million sewage outfall pipe that they claim will send Boston pollution south to Cape Cod. State officials were surprised by the outpouring of anger,...

Aetna Life & Casualty. (and Carmen W. Elio are under investigation for possible conflict of interest violations)
September 23, 1991... A consulting arrangement between Aetna Life & Casualty of Connecticut and Carmen W. Elio--an adviser to 20 city, town and county pension boards--that gave Aetna a $125 million leg up in the Massachusetts market has come under scrutiny for...

Government Accounting Office. (reports that insider loans in Bank of New England could cost the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $185 million)
September 23, 1991... The Government Accounting Office reported that insider loans to directors and executives of the defunct Bank of New England could cost the FDIC, which insures bank deposits, as much as $185 million. The report, released by the U.S. Senate's...

NYNEX Corp. (plans to lay off managers by the end of the first quarter)
September 23, 1991... NYNEX Corp. announced it may lay off as many as 1,900 managers by the end of the first quarter. In New England, between 325 and 425 managerial jobs will be cut. The move came shortly after the company and its unions said they had worked out a new...

Fleet/Norstar Financial Group. (plans to acquire banks put out to bid by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)
September 23, 1991... Five New Hampshire banks were put out to bid last week by the FDIC and among those shopping the Granite State for bargains was Fleet/Norstar Financial Group. Neither Bank of Boston nor the Harvard Management Group participated in the bidding....

Uzi Katz. (and his wife Ruth Katz were arrested for committing fraud)
September 23, 1991... Boston real estate investor Uzi Katz, his wife Ruth Katz and Dolphinvest Ltd., a company Katz directs, executed more than 20 real estate "flips" in the Back Bay and Brighton. Ruth Katz was arrested last week as she signed papers in an allegedly...

Gaston & Snow. (8 more lawyers resign from the law firm)
September 23, 1991... Eight more lawyers resigned at the troubled Boston law firm of Gaston & Snow. Meanwhile, the firm has entered discussions with Francis Musselman, a New York-based legal troubleshooter.

Incinerator debates hinge on garbage data. (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection turns down Browning-Ferris Industries' environmental impact report)
September 23, 1991... Browning-Ferris Industries warned state regulators last week that if new incinerators are not built in Massachusetts, the state will have almost 1 million tons of excess garbage on its hands by the year 2000. Fresh from the Sept. 13 rejection...

Fidelity presses roll. (Bay State Newspaper Company, controlled by Fidelity Capital, will publish Medford Citizen newspaper)
September 23, 1991... Medford Transcript Bay State Newspaper Company, which is controlled by an investor group that includes Fidelity Capital, an arm of the mutual-fund giant, will make good on its threat to the Medford Transcript that it would begin a competing...

Council has say. (Boston City Council will participate in lawsuit filed by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce against the city)
September 23, 1991... Waterhouse bill The Boston City Council will have its say in a lawsuit filed by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to overturn an ordinance passed last summer that restricts an employer's ability to hire replacement workers during a strike...

Shredders pay up. (Prolerized New England Company and Patriot Metals Company pay $125,000 for improper handling of hazardous wastes)
September 23, 1991... Environment Two of the largest automobile shredders in New England have agreed to pay a $125,000 civil penalty in a suit filed by the state attorney general alleging that they improperly handled hazardous waste and illegally transferred it to...

Vertex hitches ride on the space shuttle. (Vertex Pharmaceuticals develops protein crystals in space)
September 23, 1991... Vertex Pharmaceuticals sent up kits to grow protein crystals on the five-day space shuttle flight last week to help develop an anti-rejection drug for organ transplant patients. The Cambridge-based biotech company will use the crystals to...

Hancock wants Patriot Group. (John Hancock Mutual Funds signs letter of intent to acquire the Patriot Group)
September 23, 1991... John Hancock Mutual Funds announced last week that it had signed a letter of intent to acquire Boston-based mutual fund firm the Patriot Group and its three closed-end mutual funds for an undisclosed amount. The sale is expected to resolve a...

Green industry shows fertility. (survey shows that the environmental services industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Massachusetts)
September 23, 1991... The state's $13 billion environmental industry, which is growing at a rate of 15 percent a year, will be one of the fastest growing industry segments in Massachusetts in the 1990s, according to a report scheduled to be released this week by the...

Biotech is stunted by a shortage of laboratory space. (difficulty in getting loans prevents Ariad Pharmaceuticals from building a laboratory in Massachusetts)
September 23, 1991... Ariad Pharmaceuticals, one of the hottest biotech start-ups in the country, now leans toward locating in Rhode Island, New York or North Carolina because the region's credit crunch has made financing for building a site difficult in Massachusetts...

Drug agent delivers MacroChem from obscurity. (MacroChem signs deal giving Upjohn Co. licensing rights to SEPA)
September 23, 1991... A tiny Bay State biotech company has injected some life into its bottom line with a drug-delivery agent that helps minoxidil, the hair-growth drug, soak deeper into balding scalps. Billerica-based MacroChem signed a multimillion dollar deal...

Kathleen McDermott: living in the past. (a principal in the Winthrop Group, writes corporate histories)
September 23, 1991... Position: Principal, The Winthrop Group Education: B.A., Alfred University, 1978; J.D., School of Law and Jurisprudence, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1981; LL.M., Harvard Law School, 1982 Age: 35 Kathleen McDermott, a...

A burning question on cleaning up toxics. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds new methods to clean up contaminated hazardous waste disposal sites)(Focus: The Environment)
September 23, 1991... Burning environmentally damaging waste to clean up toxic dump sites in Massachusetts is generating a new kind of fire: Activists contend the method creates new dangers. Some environmentalists are calling for new cleanup technology that eliminates...

New trust fund covers gas tank spills. (the Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Statute provides cleanup funds in case of environmental contamination)(Focus: The Environment)
September 23, 1991... Massachusetts gas station owners are breathing a sigh of relief over new legislation that provides cleanup funds in the event of environmental contamination by their underground storage tanks. But they, along with other industry observers, are...

Banks at risk from liability laws. (hazardous substances damages)(Focus: The Environment)
September 23, 1991... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Congress and the Massachusetts Legislature are tangling with the same problem: how to define banks' liability for hazardous wastes when they act to protect their interest in a property that...

SofTech. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (company profile)
September 23, 1991... THE BUSINESS SofTech Headquarters: Waltham Symbol: SOFT Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: ...

Richard Borel. (Advertising/Communications)
September 23, 1991... Richard Borel was appointed executive vice president/chief operating officer of Boston-based Target Productions. He has previously served the audio/video production company as its vice president of sales/marketing and chief administrative...

Cambridge NeuroScience. (Health/Science)
September 23, 1991... Cambridge NeuroScience appointed Philip Holberton to chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration. He recently worked for General Cinema Theatres, where he served as vice president of finance and treasurer. Cambridge...

GenRad. (High Technology)
September 23, 1991... Concord-based GenRad selected Robert Aldworth to serve as the company's vice president-finance and chief financial officer. He recently worked for New Hampshire-based MPB Corp., where he held a similar position. Aldworth is a certified public...

Boston Technology. (High Technology)
September 23, 1991... Boston Technology named David Gergacz as president and chief operating officer. He has worked for US Sprint's network systems division. Boston Technology develops and manufactures enhanced voice-processing platforms for Regional Bell Operating...

Cohasset Savings Bank. (Earnings)
September 23, 1991... TABULAR DATA OMITTED

Collaborative Research. (Earnings)
September 23, 1991... TABULAR DATA OMITTED

Omni Management Corp. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... OMNI MANAGEMENT CORP., 121 High St., Boston 02110. Investment advising. Pres. and treas: Michael Delduchetto, same as bus.

Pigeon Cove Land Corp. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... PIGEON COVE LAND CORP., c/o Broude & Hochberg, 75 Federal St., Boston 02110. Real estate. Pres: Alvin Hochberg, 51 Prospect Ave., Newtonville 02160. Treas: Daniel Bakinowski, 19 Balcarres Rd., West Newton 02165.

Today's Child. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... TODAY'S CHILD, 2 Carolina Pl., Boston 02130. Wholesaler. Pres. and treas: Jeffrey Shaffer, 57 Strawberry Hill Ave., Norwalk, Conn. 06855.

Cambridge Management Systems. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, 101 Main St., 17th Fl., Cambridge 02142. Software and hardware. Pres: Massimo Grimaldi, same as bus. Treas: William Bordiuk, same as bus.

Jero Construction Corp. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... JERO CONSTRUCTION CORP., 44 Mattakeeset St., Mattapan 02126. Contractors and subcontractors. Pres: Jerome Golafaie, same as bus. Treas: Debra Roy, P.O. Box 1095, Derry, N.H. 03038.

Melia Travel Service. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... MELIA TRAVEL SERVICE, 860 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge 02139. Travel consulting services. Pres: Gerardo Fernandez, 934 Watertown St., Newton 02165. Treas: Alba Avarez, 934 Watertown St., Newton 02165.

Metro Alliance. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... METRO ALLIANCE, 220 Boylston St., Suite 1218, Boston 02116. General commodities, sales and trading. Pres. and treas: Ashiya Dudhia, Four Seasons Place, 220 Boylston St., Boston 02116.

Rub Tracks Recording Services. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... RUB TRACKS RECORDING SERVICES, 314 C St., South Boston 02127. Recording studios. Pres. and treas: Jimi Randolph, same as bus.

Clarendon Construction Company. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... CLARENDON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, c/o Vena, Truelove, Lahey & Domestico, 253 Summer St., Boston 02210. Contracting and engineering. Pres. and treas: Edward Vena, P.O. Box 31 S.H.S., Duxbury 02332.

CPR Franchising Company. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... CPR FRANCHISING COMPANY, 280 Lincoln St., Boston 02134. Personal wireless communication devices. Pres. and treas: Philip Webster, 47 Miller Hill Rd., Dover 02030.

Peter Griglik. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... PETER GRIGLIK, 40 St. Botolph St., Unit #28, Boston 02116. Interior design. Pres. and treas: Peter Griglik, same as bus.

T & S Auto Body & Storage Co. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... T & S AUTO BODY & STORAGE CO., 38/40 Norfolk Ave., Roxbury 02119. Auto body and repair. Pres. and treas: Domingos Pereira, same as bus.

Alltruck and Equipment Co. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... ALLTRUCK AND EQUIPMENT CO., 525 LaGrange St., West Roxbury 02132. Automobile and truck repair. Pres: John Blay, 152 High Range Rd., Londonderry, N.H. 03053. Treas: Paul Kaminga, same as bus.

Danvers Saturn. (Incorporations)
September 23, 1991... DANVERS SATURN, 1575 V.F.W. Parkway, Boston 02132. Motor vehicle dealers. Pres. and treas: James Clair, same as bus.