Boston Business Journal articles from September 1992

Boston Business Journal archives from September 1992

Elevator accidents on the rise. (includes related article) (The Public Gets the Shaft)
September 7, 1992... At the Brockton Enterprise one night last winter, building maintenance worker Doug Wedge stepped into an empty elevator shaft when faulty doors opened on the second floor; he fell to the top of a car one floor below. Suffering nerve damage in his...

BNE bondholders take aim at FDIC in courtroom showdown. (Bank of New England Corp.; Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp.)
September 7, 1992... Bondholders of the former Bank of New England Corp. will go to court this week alleging that federal regulators wrongly withdrew more than $700 million from the corporation before seizing its three subsidiary banks on Jan. 6, 1991. Documents...

16 new hires for a backlog of 16,000. (Massachusetts Office of Public Safety hires 16 inspectors) (The Public Gets the Shaft)
September 7, 1992... Safety Free Fall Year Accidents Deaths 1981 15 1 1982 18 5 1983 7 1 1984 8 - 1985 12 3 1986 16 - 1987 ...

Logan hoping British air deal flies. (Logan International Airport; British Airways PLC's pending acquisition of USAir Group Inc.)
September 7, 1992... British Airways PLC's pending offer to acquire a $750 million stake in ailing USAir Group could lead to a significant expansion of the two airlines' operations at Boston's Logan International Airport. USAir (NYSE: U) has lost almost a billion...

Fleet makes plans to set up sequel to Recoll. (Fleet Financial Group; Recoll Management Corp.)
September 7, 1992... Fleet Financial Group has applied to the Federal Reserve to establish a consulting-like subsidiary business that would help other companies renegotiate loans and manage repossessed assets and collections. The concept, which is still in its...

Consultant gets its cut of the blame at Bay State. (Birch and Davis Associates Inc.; financially ailing Bay State Health Care Insurance Co.)(includes related article)
September 7, 1992... Calling its recovery plan "unrealistically optimistic," Bay State Health Care chairman Dr. Samuel Nussbaum last week criticized former management consultants Birch & Davis for its performance while overseeing operation of the fiscally troubled...

Lead paint still a danger for laborers. (construction workers face overexposure to lead)
September 7, 1992... Massachusetts' strong lead paint law and lax enforcement of state and federal safety regulations has created a new class of victim: those who do the deleading. Workers in construction are facing a "serious and widespread overexposure" to lead,...

Analysts see halt to slide in bank stocks. (Massachusetts companies' stocks)
September 7, 1992... Investors have been dumping bank stocks on the speculation that interest rates will soon rise. Not to worry, analysts say, since an economic recovery will likely stoke the fires of these once high-flying stocks. Bank issues, considered the...

John L. Tocci. (president of Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts and owner of Tocci Building Corp.)
September 7, 1992... Foundation builder Having been around job sites since he was a toddler, John Tocci knows the construction industry well enough to realize its members don't accept change very easily, nor do they lose much sleep worrying about stepping on each...

Efficiency programs can create windfalls. (Massachusetts' manufacturers reap benefits from recession-busting energy efficiency programs) (Focus: Energy)
September 7, 1992... For the Piantedosi Baking Co. in Malden, it was like being handed a check for $60,000. At Digital Equipment Corp., the windfall exceeds $57,000 annually. And for the 180 employees at a Sealtest ice cream plant in Framingham, the changes were...

M/A-Com. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
September 7, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Wakefield Stock Symbol: MAI Market: NYSE Annual Revenue: $382,138,000 Net Income: ...

DEC and Data General dive into PC market. (Digital Equipment Corp.; personal computer)
September 14, 1992... After a decade of ignoring the personal computer joy ride, Data General and Digital Equipment Corp. are pushing into the $44.4 billion PC market with faster, cheaper machines. Their timing is perfect, according to analysts--as long as the aging...

Morse Shoe CEO has checkered history as fixer. (Malcolm Sherman)
September 14, 1992... Mergers, bankruptcy make up Sherman's legacy to retailers Depending on whom you talk to, Malcolm Sherman is either the kiss of death or the archangel Gabriel. Sherman is currently serving as CEO of troubled Morse Shoe, which is engaged in...

Party may be over for utility stocks. (dramatic increase in prices)
September 14, 1992... Investors in staid utility stocks have had a nice run in 1992, but the party may be just about over. With interest rates at 30-year lows and other investments performing sluggishly, utility stocks--always preferred by conservative investors...

Early retirement plan for Hub workers is floated. (Boston City Council's Ways and Means Committee's program)
September 14, 1992... A hearing to be held this week by the Boston City Council's Ways and Means Committee on establishing an early retirement program has generated considerable interest from city employees, committee chairman Thomas Menino said last week. But critics...

Busy year is a mixed blessing for travel agents. (includes related article) (Industry Overview)
September 14, 1992... For Deborah McNulty, owner of Marblehead-based Warwick Travel, and thousands of other travel agents across Massachusetts, it's been a long, stressful and not-so-profitable summer. Recent volleys in the intermittent fare wars between major...

Banks pitch mutual funds to keep corporate clients. (Industry Overview)
September 14, 1992... Local banks are boosting the returns of corporate cash management accounts by investing the money in higher-yielding mutual funds instead of the traditional money market accounts, whose interest rates have plummeted in recent months. State...

Neighborhood HMO plans boost for health centers. (health maintenance organizations)
September 14, 1992... Officials at Neighborhood Health Plan, swamped by the response to its $2 million loan program to fund capital improvements to community health care centers, are hoping to expand it to a $23 million program by involving two public finance...

Stop & Shop bets house on superstore concept. (Stop and Shop Companies Inc.)
September 14, 1992... Boston-based Stop & Shop Cos., hampered with significantly less debt thanks to the spinoff of its Bradlees subsidiary, is aggressively moving to reposition itself as a chain of superstores. The concept, designed to offer consumers one-stop...

Squeezed hospitals hunting for space in Fenway. (Fenway Park)
September 14, 1992... It began rather inauspiciously nearly a decade ago, when Children's Hospital officials looked for warehouse space and stumbled upon a former Jeep factory at 109 Brookline Ave., a 300,000-square-foot property just a peanut's throw from Fenway...

Apollo's children prosper from their own start-ups. (former Apollo Computer engineers build new firms)
September 14, 1992... Less than a year after Stardent Computer shut down, a new company is thriving on its salvaged software--the same way Stardent catapulted from the now-defunct Apollo Computer in the '80s. Nine-month-old Advanced Visual Systems expects to turn a...

Thomas G. Stemberg. (chairman and CEO of Staples)
September 14, 1992... Cut-rate scientist It is hard to imagine that this leader of the new generation of oversized, underpriced retailers initially wanted to be a scientist, a profession that conjures up images of micro-precise tedium. But he was humbled by the...

Accounting firms see consulting services as new route to growth. (Focus: Accounting) (Industry Overview)
September 14, 1992... Accounting firms in Boston and across the country aren't what they used to be. In addition to their traditional audit and tax services, the firms--especially the Big Six--now offer a broad range of consulting services. The traditional...

DynaGen. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
September 14, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Cambridge Stock Symbol: DYGN Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenue: $743,993 Net Income: ...

Shawmut still suffering from identity crisis. (Shawmut National Corp.and Connecticut National Bank)
September 21, 1992... New presidents are expected to bolster image with customers In the past four years, Shawmut National Corp. has combined with Connecticut's largest bank, fended off a merger with the Bank of Boston and experienced its worst annual losses in more...

Westwood's bad debts coming due. (Westwood Group)
September 21, 1992... The Westwood Group, which owes contractors and vendors nearly $5 million from its $8 million renovation of the Foxboro Park racetrack earlier this year, has a history of not paying its contractors and vendors in full, according to court documents...

Chicken farm cashes in on compost biz. (Westminster Farm)
September 21, 1992... Bill Mason's recipe is simple: Measure one part chicken manure to 30 parts cranberry husks and paper pulp. Add water, mix well, and bake in the sun for 38 days. When the Westminster chicken farmer's mixture is right--not too wet or too...

Hotels struggle to cope with convention drought. (Industry Overview)
September 21, 1992... A drop in Boston's convention business next year is forcing the city's major hotels to compete more ferociously for remaining small meeting and business travel markets, according to industry players. The city has booked only 16 conventions for...

Flynn seeks change in Inspectional Services job. (Mayor Ray Flynn)(Inspectional Services Departments)
September 21, 1992... The Flynn administration has submitted an ordinance to the Boston City Council seeking to negate a requirement that the commissioner of the city's Inspectional Services Department have a background in the building trades. Sponsors of the measure...

Face lifts accompany Filene's-Fox merger.
September 21, 1992... The Filene's that most New Englanders know today may look very different five years from now. The Boston-based department store chain will likely carry hard lines, including appliances, housewares and possibly furniture, although company...

Kronos carries the time clock into the future. (Company Profile)
September 21, 1992... Raves from analysts have pumped shares of Kronos stock up by nearly 25 percent since its IPO earlier this summer. The stock (NASDAQ: KRON), offered for $12 in June, added nearly $4 per share since the offering. The issue has gained momentum,...

HMOs fear cost of Bay State bailout. (health maintenance organizations)
September 21, 1992... Several HMO executives said last week they are worried that their organizations are going to shoulder part of the cost of the Bay State Health Care debacle. Earlier this month, more than 60 hospitals became reluctant benefactors in Blue Cross...

Gillette's global push is a hit on Wall Street.
September 21, 1992... Investors have been clamoring over stock in Gillette (NYSE: G), which has added more than $13 per share since mid-June. Despite warnings from analysts that the market has become vastly overvalued, Gillette has been a hit on Wall Street thanks...

Parsons Main tackles $800M job in Pakistan. (Parsons Main International)
September 21, 1992... Parsons Main International, a Boston engineering firm, is finishing an $800 million expansion to the world's largest earth-filled dam. Over the past seven years the firm has built two 432-megawatt hydroelectric generators for the Tarbela Dam on...

Providence and Worcester Railroad Co. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
September 21, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Worcester Stock symbol: PWRR Market: NASDAQ Annual revenue: ...

Weld faces energy crisis at DPU. (Gov. William Weld)(Department of Public Utilities)
September 28, 1992... The abrupt resignation last week of Gov. William Weld's top energy regulator has exposed the administration's failure to produce a new energy policy that meets its dual goals of economic development and environmental protection. An abundance...

Stride Rite ups day care; upsets image. (Stride Rite Corp.)
September 28, 1992... Stride Rite Corp.--cited last week as one of the best 100 companies to work for by Working Mother magazine for its focus on work and family issues -- scrapped a recently proposed 40 percent rate hike in its day-care programs in the face of...

Scudder lease heralds uptick in office market. (Scudder, Stevens and Clark)
September 28, 1992... Brokers seek to bag a covey of megatenants for Class A properties Led by Scudder, Stevens & Clark's search for up to 200,000 square feet, several large lease deals are circulating through the Boston office space market, prompting some brokers...

Ambulance cos. chase consolidation. (Industry Overview)
September 28, 1992... The local ambulance company, long a familiar fixture in many cities and towns, may soon go the way of the neighborhood grocer as a wave of consolidation sweeps over the industry. Natick's Chaulk Ambulance Service has acquired six companies in...

Foxboro's fate hangs over bid for new racetrack. (Foxboro Park)
September 28, 1992... Concern about the future of Foxboro Park may sidetrack a proposal to build a new $10 million harness-racing facility near the Rhode Island border in Northbridge. The proposal, which had a public hearing in front of the Legislature's Joint...

Lab shortage squeezing Cambridge biotech firms.
September 28, 1992... Cambridge, the incubator of the biotechnology industry, is losing biotech companies to a shortage of lab space, thanks to the credit crunch. "You have a burgeoning, growing, exploding industry that has no place to hang their hat," said Joseph...

Bloom is off the rose for Genzyme's Allston project. (Genzyme Corp.'s planned relocation to Allston, Boston, Massachusetts)
September 28, 1992... Genzyme Corp. executives and community activists say the city of Boston and state agencies have failed to follow through on numerous promises made to lure Genzyme Corp.'s $85 million biotech manufacturing facility to the Allston section of...

DEP overhaul called helpful but incomplete. (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management)
September 28, 1992... Bay State businesses are applauding Department of Environmental Protection efforts to streamline its bureaucracy, but concerns remain over the lack of resources for full-scale enforcement of environmental laws. DEP inspections fell by 22...

Economy kills appetite for restaurant stocks.
September 28, 1992... Massachusetts restaurant stocks are struggling from summer crashes after peaking in late February and March. Analysts and industry observers attribute the decline to disappointing same-store sales figures, increased competition and lack of...

MHA has bad reaction to new Medicaid contract. (Massachusetts Hospital Association)
September 28, 1992... Charging that reimbursement rates do not adequately cover costs, Massachusetts Hospital Association officials said last week that they are considering a legal challenge to the Weld administration's fiscal 1993 Medicaid contract for the state's...

Fed funding for campus research takes new path. (National Science Foundation)
September 28, 1992... New policy directions for the leading federal source of basic scientific research funding, and a more intense scrutiny of awards, have left some scientist concerned about the future of campus-based research activities. Following renewed...

Bid for disciplinary reform evokes mixed feelings. (Focus: The Legal Profession)
September 28, 1992... A proposal to open lawyers' disciplinary hearings to the public, which drew criticism and limited support from different sectors of the legal community this summer, is about to make its way back to the Supreme Judicial Court without significant...

BGS Systems. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
September 28, 1992... THE BUSINESS Headquarters: Waltham Stock symbol: BGSS Market: NASDAQ Annual revenue: $25,338,457 Net income: ...