San Antonio Business Journal articles from July 1992

San Antonio Business Journal archives from July 1992

Swearingen wants up to $60 million in new financing. (Swearingen Aviation Corp.)
July 31, 1992... Swearingen Aircraft Inc. of San Antonio is in the process of arranging for as much as another $60 million in financing for its planned 800-job aircraft plant in Delaware. With the aid of a Delaware state official, Swearingen already has...

Women working together: new class of entrepreneurs anxious to test skills. (services for businesswomen in San Antonio, Texas)
July 31, 1992... For several years Juana Uresti has wanted to provide day care services in her own home; a business that would keep her close to home and her own three children, but help her and her family live a better life. But in the past her own income...

All for one. (need for manufacturers to adopt ISO 9000 quality control standards) (Special Report: Manufacturing, Quality & Production)
July 31, 1992... Manufacturers eyeing Europe are joining the ISO 9000 movement, which promotes uniform standards Manufacturers anxious to be more competitive in the European market are joining a movement to adopt a uniform standard of quality. Known as ISO...

TQM turns employee teams into quality-control sleuths. (provision of total quality management training programs for workers) (Special Report: Manufacturing, Quality & Production)
July 31, 1992... Total Quality Management, or TQM, is one of the fastest-growing approaches to management in the United States. From the broad perspective, TQM is a collection of ideas, methods and processes drawn from U.S. and Japanese academia and industry....

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 31, 1992... NASDAQ -- CFBI P.O. Box 1600, San Antonio, TX 78296 Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. is a multibank holding company with four member banks and 23 offices in five major Texas banking markets -- San Antonio, Houston/Galveston, Austin, Corpus...

More local public company CEOs take pay cuts in 1991. (San Antonio, Texas)
July 31, 1992... Seven of San Antonio's 22 highest-paid public company chief executive officers took pay cuts during 1991. Only one did in 1990. Both William Greehey of Valero Energy Corp. and Valero Natural Gas Partners and Roger Hemminghaus of Diamond...

San Antonio hotels: a blockbuster year; thanks to Fiesta Texas and summer tourists, local inns have few vacancies.
July 24, 1992... Thanks to the opening of the Fiesta Texas musical theme park, San Antonio's hotel market is having a blockbuster year, according to hospitality industry sources. "If you're going to open a theme park, you're going to get a big bang in the...

SACU gets reward for financial gains. (San Antonio Federal Credit Union)
July 24, 1992... San Antonio Federal Credit Union met a number of goals last year, which prompted the National Credit Union Administration to forgive half of its $10 million loan with the regulatory agency -- at least for now. The loan deferral allowed the...

Carson sets new course at Sea World. (Robin Carson, general manager of Sea World of Texas)
July 24, 1992... Robin Carson is bogged down with too much paper work, too many deadlines and not enough hours in the day -- just the way she likes it. "I am driven by challenge," says Carson, 37, general manager of Sea World of Texas. "It keeps me...

Comerica gains S.A. foothold with purchase of Hibernia. (San Antonio, Texas)
July 24, 1992... With the purchase of Hibernia Corp.'s Texas franchise, Comerica Inc. is expected to be the fifth multistate bank holding company with a San Antonio presence. But bank officials and industry observers say that Comerica's method of competing...

Rubloff beefs up local staff to go after bigger market share.
July 24, 1992... Chicago-based Rubloff, a national commercial real estate firm that has an asset management branch in San Antonio, has been gearing up for expansion here, according to company officials. Eighteen months ago, Rubloff decided it was time to...

Testing the waters: insurance companies are slowly returning for a dip in the previously treacherous tide of workers' comp. (workers' compensation) (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits) (Industry Overview)
July 24, 1992... Insurance companies, which in recent years backed away from the rough waters in the workers' compensation market, are going back in for a dip. Insurance agents who had been shut out by companies writing workers' compensation policies are now...

Insurance firms bear cost burden of pesky lawsuits. (Special Report: Insurance & Employee Benefits) (Industry Overview)
July 24, 1992... Despite tort reforms in 1987, the insurance industry is still bearing the brunt of civil litigation costs. Defense lawyers say there is not enough bite to Texas laws to prevent a plethora of frivolous lawsuits, and further tort reform may be...

Emily Morgan sold to investors. (Emily Morgan Hotel; Alamo Hotels Inc.)
July 17, 1992... The beleaguered Emily Morgan Hotel downtown has been purchased by Houston-based Alamo Hotels Inc., a group of U.S. and Canadian investors with other Texas interests. Alamo Hotels closed on its purchase of the Emily Morgan on Tuesday of this...

River barge drivers navigate waters of protocol. (training on customer relations of Paseo del Rio Boats' workers)
July 17, 1992... Picture riding a barge on the sleepy San Antonio River, as it meanders through downtown by festive River Walk restaurants and retail shops filled to overflowing with summertime tourists. Unfortunately, that pretty picture can sometimes turn...

Applying a tourniquet: Humana considers revamping to pump up business. (Humana Inc.)
July 17, 1992... Resolution of the conflict between San Antonio doctors and health care firm Humana Inc. is Humana's only hope to stop the defection of hospital patients and health plan members, say analysts. The board of directors of the Louisville,...

Who's who in construction. (officials of construction firms in San Antonio, Texas) (Special Report)
July 17, 1992... This week the Business Journal features another of its "Who's Who" editions, focusing -- for the first time -- on the construction industry. For reasons of space, we have confined this edition to the general commercial building contracting...

Pancho's Mexican Buffet Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 17, 1992... NASDAQ -- PAMX Pancho's Mexican Buffet operates Mexican food restaurants featuring cafeteria-style service and an "all-you-can-eat" format. At the end of fiscal 1991, the company operated 66 restaurants, including three in San Antonio....

San Antonio snubbed as site for 1,000-worker plant. (San Antonio, Texas; Environmental Chemical Groups Inc.'s insecticide facility to open in Rogers, Texas)
July 17, 1992... Local investor 'tired of tax situation' here; picks Rogers, Texas, as home for insecticide plant A San Antonio investor has chosen Rogers, Texas, over San Antonio as the site for an insecticide plant that may employ between 600 and 1,000...

Little drummer toy: Amberstar hopes kids will snare new product. (Amberstar International Inc.)
July 10, 1992... A San Antonio-based drumstick manufacturer will be marching to a slightly different beat when it enters the toy industry this month. Amberstar International Inc. has begun assembly of a practice drum kit for ages 9 to adult -- a fairly quiet...

LifeQuest stock offering to inject capital into Osteoport. (LifeQuest Medical Inc.; Osteoport, medical instrument for intravenous therapy) (Company Profile)
July 10, 1992... LifeQuest Medical Inc., a local biomedical firm, hopes to raise close to $18 million with its planned public offering of 1.4 million shares of common stock. The current estimated offering price for the shares will be between $11 and $13,...

Developer buys Sonterra lots, may also acquire Cornerstone. (Richland Properties, real estate developers; Sonterra residential development; Cornerstone Business and Industrial Park) (Company Profile)
July 10, 1992... The Florida-based development firm that just bought most of the upscale Sonterra residential development also is in the process of adding the Cornerstone Business and Industrial Park to its $15 million local portfolio, say local real estate...

Private fund fills construction financing void. (Builders Fund, construction financing company) (Company Profile)
July 10, 1992... One of San Antonio's largest home interim construction lenders is not a bank, savings and loan or credit union. It is a private company heavily backed by San Antonio business magnate Tom E. Turner Sr. Since its inception three years ago,...

Equity for all: financial institutions battle for home equity loans in the lone star state. (Texas) (Special Report: Financial Institutions) (Industry Overview)
July 10, 1992... Like many other Texas residents, Robert Harris says he resents the fact that he can use the equity in his house as collateral for a $25,000 deluxe swimming pool in his back yard, but is denied the use of those same dollars to educate his...

Credit unions not always immune from sting of bankruptcy filings. (Special Report: Financial Institutions)
July 10, 1992... Ask a credit union manager what troubles him or her most. If consumer bankruptcy doesn't top the list, it certainly will rank high up there. And you'll find this to be the case among credit unions anywhere across the country. The explosive...

Bank and S&L trade groups downsizing, joining forces. (savings and loan associations) (Special Report: Financial Institutions)
July 10, 1992... As the number of financial institutions continues to drop, and regulations for banks, thrifts, and savings banks become more alike, financial trade organizations are seeking ways to woo new members and considering mergers. The Texas Bankers...

Southwestern Bell Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
July 10, 1992... NYSE -- SBC One Bell Center, St. Louis, MO 63101-3099 Southwestern Bell Corp. operates a local telephone network. Other businesses include directory advertising and publishing, printing, cellular and paging services and equipment, business...

Cashing in as a career copycat. (Xerographic Copier Services Inc. remanufactures Xerox copiers) (Company Profile)
July 3, 1992... Five years ago Vick Meredith thought he would be a career Xerox Corp. employee who would retire as a top manager for the Fortune 500 company. Today, however, Meredith spends most of his time competing against the very company where he first...

City lags Austin, Dallas, Houston in women's ownership of business.
July 3, 1992... While Texas is second only to California in the number of women-owned businesses, San Antonio may not be pulling its weight, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau data. According to the Census Bureau, San Antonio ranks well behind Austin,...

Ergonomic forces: today's office furniture promotes good health. (Special Report: Modern Office)
July 3, 1992... Employees' low back pain costs companies across the nation up to $65 billion each year, according to consulting spinal specialist Philip Witt. Sitting is the major cause of back pain, and low-back pain remains the primary reason for lost work...

Advances in personal business equipment fuel home office trend. (Special Report: Modern Office)
July 3, 1992... Working at home is nothing new. Russian writer Anton Chekhov was known to work on manuscripts at the kitchen table after dinner while his wife and kids washed the dishes. What's new is an increasing number of people in a variety of fields...

Downtown redevelopment booms after two decades. (San Antonio, Texas)
July 3, 1992... After virtually grinding to a halt during the economic gloom of the 1970s and '80s, preserving existing downtown buildings and adapting them for new uses is back with a vengeance in San Antonio. Several such projects worth millions of dollars...