Sacramento Business Journal articles from February 1999

Sacramento Business Journal archives from February 1999

JPSnet to merge with new firm.
February 26, 1999... OneMain.com would roll up 17 Internet service providers nationwide Four years after he started JPSnet Corp. in Marysville, 28-year-old Brad Jenkins is about to feather his nest with stock for his company that he hopes will be worth $18...

End of the world sale.(self-heating meal provider AlpineAire Foods is experiencing increased sales because of the year 2000 problem)
February 26, 1999... Y2K worriers store up freeze-dried food AlpineAire Foods is experiencing phenomenal growth. Sales are on pace to jump by nearly 800 percent over just three years. Why? It's simple: Y2K. No, AlpineAire doesn't squish computer bugs....

ThermoGenesis nabs key FDA approval.(biotechnology company)
February 26, 1999... A Rancho Cordova biotechnology firm that's never posted a profit in 12 years received federal clearance this month for a product that has a potential annual market of $100 million. ThermoGenesis Corp.'s new CryoSeal system harvests...

Reversal for Kaiser: keep Morse Ave. hospital.(Kaiser Permanente Health Plan Inc.)
February 26, 1999... After stunning losses two years in a row, Kaiser Permanente has embarked on a turnaround strategy that brings the unexpected to the Sacramento Valley - tens of millions of dollars to be invested in new staff, hospital maintenance and...

Biotech companies swarm two new venture funds.(in the Greater Sacramento, California area)
February 26, 1999... Two emerging venture-capital funds with about $100 million apiece - including a new fund soon to be unveiled by a veteran of the Davis biotech scene - are looking for opportunities among local ag biotech companies. Their interest could...

A rush for the exit.(The Money Store employees leaving)
February 26, 1999... Money Store workers not waiting for cuts For years, local banks and financial companies had their employees recruited away by The Money Store. Now the migration is going the other direction. "My fax machine is on fire," said the...

Belo swaps Channel 10, $55 mil for Austin station.(A.H. Belo Corp.)
February 26, 1999... Gannett Co. Inc., best known as the owner of USA Today, announced yesterday it plans to acquire KXTV-Channel 10 in Sacramento by swapping it for a station in Austin, Texas. Gannett will take over Channel 10 from Dallas-based A.H. Belo...

Street-widening plan divides Carmichael businesspeople.(Sacramento, California)
February 26, 1999... George Tsakopoulos and his son walk along Fair Oaks Boulevard where it borders their Carmichael Village shopping center. They are coatless in a frigid February wind. But neither seems to notice the chill. They are too hot over how they...

Level One Communications aims to hire 200 in '99.
February 26, 1999... Level One Communications Inc., coming off a sizzling year of growth in 1998, is moving full speed ahead this year. The company plans to hire 200 more electrical engineers, high-tech marketers and administrators. By the end of this year,...

Thermal wear maker says ex-employee took secrets.(Maxit Designs Inc.)
February 26, 1999... The owner of a local thermal wear manufacturing company claims that a former employee used trade secrets to help develop a rival firm. The rival, a start-up company that sells clothes primarily to snowboarders and skiers, denies any...

Access Health still booming amid great change.
February 26, 1999... Two years and several corporate changes later, a company that employs 310 people in Sacramento giving medical advice on the phone has regained a big piece of business from Foundation Health Systems Inc. The news has two meanings: *...

Business booms for area banks.(Sacramento, California)
February 19, 1999... The good times continued in 1998 at area banks and thrifts, although all are preparing for a possible slowdown in the national economy by the end of this year. With the year-end numbers in, area banks are flush with money. So are...

Sutter merger probed by FTC.(Sutter Health Systems' proposed merger with Summit Medical Center; Federal Trade Commission)
February 19, 1999... The Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust investigation into the proposed merger of Oakland's Summit Medical Center into the Sutter Health system. Sutter wants to merge the troubled Summit hospital with Alta Bates Medical...

UCD involved in local venture with Shanghai.(University of California at Davis; Shanghai, China)
February 19, 1999... In China, where 85 percent of the population lives on farms, there are millions of pigs, cows and chickens that could benefit from the animal vaccines and agricultural technology that's been developed in the West. In the West, there are...

Builders not sticking necks out for hotels: South Natomas hotel plans fall by wayside.
February 19, 1999... A Modesto development company has dumped its plan to build a 121-room hotel in South Natomas. Rim Corp. decided to walk away from an upscale Homewood Suites, even though the city of Sacramento has granted the project an extension on its...

Roseville puts out call for conference center.(Builders not Sticking Necks Out for Hotels: South Natomas Hotel Plans Fall By Wayside)(Roseville, California)
February 19, 1999... Roseville is looking for a hotel and conference center - again. Developers and hotel companies that will receive the city's formal request for qualifications next month are supposed to provide a ballroom, meeting rooms and at least a...

Capital could lose half of its SFO flights.(commuter flights between San Francisco International and Sacramento International Airport)
February 19, 1999... The 22 daily commuter flights linking Sacramento International Airport with San Francisco International could be cut nearly in half. Drastic reductions in the number of commuter flights allowed in and out of San Francisco were proposed...

Wholesale leasing firm setting up direct conduit to Wall Street.(BanCorp Financial Services Inc.)
February 19, 1999... Fast-growing BanCorp Financial Services Inc. is just weeks away from tapping into Wall Street's capital markets. BanCorp is a wholesale leasing company based in Sacramento that does business nationally. It buys leases from equipment...

Evergreen grows in Roseville with first jumbo office.(Roseville, California)
February 19, 1999... The Evergreen Co. has started building the first office park in Roseville with jumbo floors. The work means one of Sacramento's successful office builders thinks Roseville is ready to step up from mostly small offices to big...

Telestream nears dream: plans to get video-transfer system to market in April.
February 19, 1999... Dan Castles learned a thing or two about the TV industry in his past life as the head of Grass Valley Products in Nevada City. One thing he learned is that the way broadcasters swap video from one city to another is straight out of the...

Few swap HMO plans: Kaiser, others have stable open-enrollment at PERS.(includes related article on the rising costs of Viagra)(health maintenance organization; Kaiser Permanente Health Plan Inc.; California Public Employees Retirement System)
February 19, 1999... Despite getting hit with a rate increase of almost 11 percent, most of Kaiser Permanente's customers covered by the state Public Employees' Retirement System stuck tight when they had a chance to change health plans last fall. The...

Coke, Raley's spark Natomas zoning fight.(protests against the rezoning at North Natomas in Sacramento, California requested by Raley's and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. for a proposed shopping center)
February 12, 1999... City planners, environmentalists and developers are ready to do battle with Raley's and Coca Cola Bottling Co. over a proposed shopping center in North Natomas. The two companies want to rezone a piece of land they own jointly. It's now...

Whistleblowers file suit.(lawsuit against UC Davis Health System filed by four employees)
February 12, 1999... Four claim retaliation by UC Davis Health System Four employees have filed a multimillion-dollar whistleblower lawsuit against the UC Davis Health System, claiming that university officials retaliated against them after they complained...

One hotel goes to court, while another gets early check-out time: Radisson files suit over billing system screw-ups.(lawsuit filed against Radisson Hotel Sacramento)
February 12, 1999... The owners of the Radisson Hotel Sacramento are suing the national hotel chain over screw-ups with a billing system they were required to install that wreaked havoc with customer credit cards. In addition to suing Radisson Hotels...

$8.1 million sale looks like Beverly Garland's farewell.(One Hotel Goes to Court, While Another Gets Early Check-out Time)(offer of Prime Medical Facilities to buy the Beverly Garland hotel)
February 12, 1999... The Expo Heritage Inn - better known as the Beverly Garland - might be bought out of bankruptcy by a Southern California company that wants to turn the 205-room hotel into a home for assisted living. Owner Ron Pitamber put the hotel into...

Steele rings a bell.(real estate development by Steele Enterprise Inc.)
February 12, 1999... With a new manager, company puts $55 million into office projects and $15 million into new golf courses Steele Enterprises Inc. is investing a hefty $70 million in the development of a string of office, retail and golf-course projects...

Vacaville biotech firm buys Eastern company.(Biosource Technologies Inc.'s purchase of Large Scale Biology based in Rockville, Maryland)
February 12, 1999... Biosource Technologies Inc. of Vacaville finished buying an East Coast biotechnology company Thursday, adding to the Sacramento Valley's growing reputation as a contender in the industry. Biosource, an up-and-coming biotechnology company,...

Fee could stick businesses with higher trash bills.(plans of the Sacramento County, California to request the Solid Waste Authority to charge a franchise fee from waste haulers)
February 12, 1999... Business and commercial customers might have to pay 10 percent more to get rid of their garbage in Sacramento County starting later this year. It's not a done deal. But Sacramento County staff has set the plan in motion by asking the...

National medical practice managers gain a toehold.(Dr. Bradley Chipps' merger of his practice with Pediatric Physician Alliance in Sacramento, California)
February 12, 1999... Sacramento doctor one of eight founders of new national medical alliance A Sacramento doctor is one of eight founding physician shareholders in a new practice management firm that seeks to build a national network of children's...

Another insurance outfit quits `24-hour coverage.'.(Innovus Integrated Benefit Services LLC based in Concord, California)
February 12, 1999... Another insurance company is dropping its effort to sell a combined package of health, disability, life and workers' compensation coverage. Innovus Integrated Benefit Services LLC will be dismantled by the end of March, officials...

Different fates for rival dating services.(Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filed by Together Dating Service; expansion of Great Expectations International in Sacramento, California)
February 12, 1999... One of Sacramento's two big-name matchmaking firms is wrestlIng with heartbreak, while the other is loving the town. Together Dating Service is seeking to rebound after filing for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S....

Home shopping network.(increasing publicly-traded companies in Sacramento, California)
February 12, 1999... When looking for the right investment, many look no farther than their own neighborhood company Investment nirvana may be as close as your own back yard. With yet another Sacramento-area company, Valley Media Inc. of Woodland,...

Frog dogs development: threatened species endangers Placerville shopping center.(Sundance Plaza shopping center in Placerville, California, threatens habitat of jumping frogs)
February 5, 1999... The red-legged jumping frog that Mark Twain made famous in 1865 could croak development of the Sundance Plaza shopping center near Placerville. Red-legged frogs may live around a creek that Sundance Plaza's developers want to pave over...

Microwave telecom firm takes on fiber-optics.(Teligent Inc competes with fiber-optic cable companies in Sacramento, California)
February 5, 1999... A Virginia telecommunications company that uses microwave signals to compete against fiber-optic cable companies is beaming in on the Sacramento market. Teligent Inc., backed by a stock market value of $2 billion, will begin selling...

Natural gas fields sell for $58 mil.(Sheridan Energy Inc. leases natural gas fields from Amerada Hess Corp.)(Statistical Data Included)
February 5, 1999... The Texans are tiding into town. Sheridan Energy Inc. of Houston has leased portions of five natural gas fields in the Sacramento Valley from Amerada Hess Corp. for $58 million. With natural gas prices low, major oil and gas...

Fireman's Fund gives Franklin room to restructure.(Franklin Resources Inc's restructuring facilitated by transfer of Fireman's Fund Insurance out of building)
February 5, 1999... Franklin Resources Inc. expects to add up to 100 workers locally as part of a restructuring that will slash 560 jobs companywide. The mutual fund giant, which employs 1,750 in Rancho Cordova, will add 90 to 100 people locally this year,...

Gottschalks unveils University Mall plans.(department store chain to expand in Davis, California)
February 5, 1999... Gottschalks has its hopes set on Davis. The Fresno-based department store chain plans to set up shop in Davis' University Mall before Christmas of this year, said Jim Famalette, president and chief operating officer. The retailer does not...

Blue Diamond puts lid on membership.(Blue Diamond Growers)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
February 5, 1999... Last week, Blue Diamond Growers closed its membership to new almond growers for the first time in its 89-year history. In the three months since the state's largest almond marketer announced it would close ranks, almond growers have...

Mercy ax now falls on doctor side of business.(Mercy Healthcare Sacramento lays off doctors)(Statistical Data Included)
February 5, 1999... The other shoe dropped at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento last week. Three weeks after announcing it would lay off 50 people to help stem a budget deficit of up to $20 million on the hospital side of the business, Mercy turned its scalpel to...

Sex talk keeps ex-FBI agents busy.(Steve Keller and Dave Howard of A&E Groups teach sexual harassment prevention)(Company Profile)
February 5, 1999... The two former FBI agents couldn't resist a few cracks about timing. It was the first week of Bill Clinton's impeachment trial before the Senate - and here they were, giving a sexual harassment seminar near Roseville. "We're living...

Commercial construction continues to rise sharply.(Sacramento, California)(Industry Overview)
February 5, 1999... Sacramento's developers are on their biggest commercial construction binge since the building boom of 1990 ended. Industrial development is taking off like flushed quail. To a lesser extent, office and retail projects are taking wing too....

River City Petroleum snaps up Vegas company.(buys assets of D&G Oil Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 5, 1999... Low oil prices have meant hard times for some fuel companies - and opportunities for others. River City Petroleum Inc. of West Sacramento on Monday bought out the assets of D&G Oil Co. of Las Vegas for $2.5 million. Benefiting from...

Developers pitch new lot for parking-hungry downtown.(Grove Investments plans for parking lot in Sacramento, California)
February 5, 1999... The developers who want to build an office park on Richards Boulevard have found another use for part of their land a big parking lot for downtown workers about to get socked with a parking shortage. The city of Sacramento is getting...

Dentists Insurance enjoys slow, steady growth.(The Dentists Insurance Co.)
February 5, 1999... The Dentists Insurance Co., a Sacramento carrier that writes dentists' malpractice and property insurance in three states, knows how to be patient. And safe. Conservative. Solid. So it's probably no surprise that the 20-year-old...