Sacramento Business Journal articles from January 1999

Sacramento Business Journal archives from January 1999

Placer Savings on selling block.(Placer Savings Bank)
January 29, 1999... Thrift has put out offering circular Placer Savings Bank is believed to be in play. The Auburn thrift is being pressed to sell by a group of shareholders who have waited through several years of disappointing earnings, and has...

AgraQuest: once moew to the well.(AgraQuest Inc. to sell $7 mil a private stock offering)
January 29, 1999... AgraQuest Inc. has hit the fund-raising trail again, this time offering to sell $7 million in a private stock offering so it can launch the company's first real moneymaking product. It's the third round of financing for the Davis...

Tahoe airport still hoping to land commercial airline.(lake Tahpe Airport: Tahoe Air)
January 29, 1999... Lake Tahoe Airport has been promised service this summer by a start-up airline, Tahoe Air. But South Lake Tahoe tourism officials aren't holding their breath. A coalition of city and business leaders expects to hear shortly whether...

F.Y.I. acquires Copy House, sends owner shopping.(F.Y.I. Inc.; Copy House Inc.)
January 29, 1999... Gary Spohr got an offer he couldn't refuse. Spohr, who has owned The Copy House in Sacramento since 1993, was given a couple of interesting propositions late last year by fast-growing F.Y.I Inc. of Dallas. How would he like his...

Omni to shift 52 jobs from Stockton to capital.(Omni Healthcare Inc.)
January 29, 1999... An aggressive restructuring under way at Omni Healthcare is doing the unexpected. It's adding jobs, not cutting them. The health maintenance organization is merging departments to increase efficiency, but its local work force is expected...

RiceX Co. raises much-needed capital, lands deal in China.
January 29, 1999... RiceX Co., the El Dorado Hills company that is making everything from human health supplements to horse food, has raised $1.85 million in capital from a brand new company in New Jersey. RiceX will use its new-found cash to pay down debts....

Bankruptcy filings cool off: after double-digit hikes in 1997, cases were flat in '98.
January 29, 1999... Bankruptcy filings, which saw double-digit increases in the Sacramento region in 1997; tailed off to a 2 percent increase last year, thanks to a thriving local economy. The fact that there was any growth at. all is due to consumer debt...

Developers back in action at McClellan.(McClellan Air Force Base)
January 29, 1999... The end of Sacramento County's negotiations to locate a plastic-furniture factory at McClellan Air Force Base reopens the door to three development teams. H. Pike Oliver's team wants to scrap McClellan's airport so that the entire base...

Mercedes mechanic sued by automaker.(Mercedes Service Center; Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc.)
January 29, 1999... Tom Stephens believes the name on his 6-year-old business simply describes what he does. Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc. doesn't agree. The auto manufacturer sued Stephens and his Mercedes Service Center on Jan. 14 in federal...

Year-old Auburn National Bank already adding new branch.
January 29, 1999... Auburn National Bank, which turns a year old on Tuesday, is adding a branch in north Auburn for customers who detest the traffic on "crazy Highway 49." Regulators have given the bank permission to open a branch in the vicinity of Bell...

Ground zero for growth.(Highway 45 north for Roseville, CA)
January 29, 1999... Highway 65 north from Roseville is only partly developed now. But developers have big plans to change all that in the years ahead When developer James Allen started his Company last year, he set up shop in Roseville and began buying land...

Layoffs take their toll at Mercy, Travelers.(Mercy Healthcare Sacramento; Travelers Property Casualty Corp.)
January 22, 1999... Hospitals to lose 50 jobs in 3 weeks Mercy Healthcare Sacramento will eliminate up to 50 jobs in three weeks as part of an aggressive turnaround plan. The seven-hospital system is trying to stem a projected budget deficit of $15...

Rancho insurer eliminates 221 jobs.(Layoffs Take Their Toll at Mercy, Travelers)(TravCal)
January 22, 1999... A Rancho Cordova-based subsidiary of Travelers Property Casualty Corp. will eliminate 221 local jobs later this year, the company confirmed Wednesday night. TravCal will keep up to a dozen employees at its headquarters at Rancho...

Builder of huge malls scouts capital sites.(Mills Corp.)
January 22, 1999... The company that developed the sprawling Ontario Mills shopping mall in Southern California, and seven others like it, is quietly scouting the Sacramento area for property. "We are looking in different markets and Sacramento is one of...

More work in store for international airport.(Sacramento International Airport)
January 22, 1999... Interim chief pushes for build-out of Terminal A The interim head of Sacramento International Airport wants to nearly double the number of airline gates at the new $270 million Terminal A. Bruce Mosley seeks up to $35 million that's...

Commuter airlines plans flights throughout valley.(Community Air to offer daily flights from Ukiah, CA, to Sacramento International Airport)
January 22, 1999... Community Air, a new commuter airline based in Ukiah, plans to offer five daily flights between Ukiah and Sacramento International Airport starting in April. The new service is the first stage of the company's ambitious plans to offer...

Ten area Burger Kings have closed since August.
January 22, 1999... Ten area Burger Kings owned by three separate franchisees have closed since August, and a clear explanation of what happened is hard to come by. "It was very unusual the way it broke out in that area," said Burger King Corp. spokesman...

Industry quick to protest PG&E rate hike proposal.(Pacific Gas & Electric Co.)
January 22, 1999... Final hearings on Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s request for a monumental $822 million rate increase brought strong protests from farmers, food processers, retailers and consumers. "I was very impressed with the showing all the parties...

Spartan Brokerage sued in real estate investment case.
January 22, 1999... A Placer County investor has sued Sacramento's Spartan Brokerage Inc., alleging the lender defrauded her in dealings involving real estate investments. Spartan's attorney, Robert Iseley, while refusing to discuss specific details of a...

Lionakis Beaumont promotes seven to level of associate.(architectural firm Lionakis Beaumont Design Group)
January 22, 1999... Sacramento's largest architectural company, Lionakis Beaumont Design Group, has made seven of its architects associates in the firm. It's a large batch of promotions to happen all at once, and it's intended to reward and keep some of the...

Boss is chip shot off the old block.(Shawn Kassel, CEO of Diamondhead Golf Club Manufacturing Co.)
January 22, 1999... Grandson takes over Diamondhead Shawn Kassel's young, eager face brightens with enthusiasm as he talks about work. The 21-year-old business student at California State University Sacramento does not have some typical after-school...

Mike Reinking.(Intel Corp. manager at Folsom, California)
January 22, 1999... The interviewer expects a secretary to lead him to Mike Reinking's office at Intel Corp.'s huge Folsom complex. Instead, the lobby door opens and a young-looking man clad in casual slacks and a tie-less shirt enters, sticks out his hand, and...

Oates plans new bank in Rocklin: builder, potential directors talk.(real estate developer Buzz Oates; Rocklin, CA)
January 15, 1999... Real estate developer Buzz Oates and a number of business partners plan to open a new bank in Rocklin by the end of this year. It would be the sixth new bank to open locally in two years - and the fourth new bank in Placer County. During...

New Roseville bank offers stock, seeks $8 million to $10 million.(Silverado Bank in Roseville, CA)
January 15, 1999... Silverado Bank, one of up to three new banks western Placer County might see this year, has released its stock offering, seeking to raise $8 million to $10 million by March 1. The prospectus hits the streets as a second Roseville-based...

Med Center tower blows deadline, budget.(UC Davis Medical Center)
January 15, 1999... Construction overruns due to numerous changes in the $155.7 million Tower II expansion project at the UC Davis Medical Center have-inflated costs, delayed its opening and might lead to lawsuits against the university. The...

Motion Control plans to enlarge HQ, add staff.(Motion Control Engineering Inc)
January 15, 1999... Motion Control Engineering Inc. in Rancho Cordova plans to nearly double the size of its headquarters next year and add up to 200 employees by 2004. The 16-year-old elevator control systems manufacturer, which employs 380, is getting...

Loomis likely to lose $500,000 development grant.(Loomis, CA)
January 15, 1999... The developers of the now-canceled Turtle Island and fruit shed projects in Placer County are waiting for Loomis to come calling with words of good will. Loomis, meanwhile, awaits word from the developers first. Town officials believe...

Basketball lockout felt far beyond the ticket booth.(losses incurred by the Sacramento Kings)
January 15, 1999... The National Basketball Association's nearly half-season lockout cost the Sacramento Kings up to $13.75 million in tickets alone. And that number doesn't include all the other revenue sources such as concessions, parking, sponsorships and...

Woodland mall losing tenants, but sales still rose in 1998.(County Fair Mall in Woodland, CA)
January 15, 1999... Woodland's County Fair Mall is losing tenants. The latest retailers to pack up are women's clothing stores Limited, Lane Bryant and Casual Comer. Preceding them late in 1998 were Copeland's Sports, Lerner, See's Candy and Beauty Store &...

Medical association's new tack to collect from FPA.(FPA Medical Management Inc)
January 15, 1999... The California Medical Association is taking a new approach to squeezing money out of bankrupt FPA Medical Management Inc. The trade group plans to sue the company's directors and officers for allegedly failing to perform their fiduciary...

Busier doctors' offices mean more pay for staff.
January 15, 1999... Local doctors in small medical practices are paying their office managers and administrators more as the burden of running a medical practice continues to grow. While pay remained flat last year for staff workers such as receptionists...

Synergex aims to quickly take its computer niche into high gear.
January 15, 1999... Synergex Inc., the 22-year-old Gold River-based company that develops and sells tools to build software applications, wants to quintuple its revenue in the next three years and become publicly traded. To do that, the company is working...

Hot stock market keeps insurance rates bearable.(California)
January 15, 1999... A hot stock market is good for business, but the reason's not what you might think. Simply put, if insurance companies are making money off their investments, they keep the rates down. That's why insurance industry observers don't expect...

State pulls plug on 'Big Spin' producer.(Cal Image loses contract to produce California state lottery show)
January 8, 1999... For more than seven years, Cal Image in Rancho Cordova has produced the state lottery's "Big Spin" television show. It was a huge piece of business for the television production house - 16 percent of its revenue last year. General...

Siemens snares $26 million pact.(Siemens Transportation Systems Inc wins Calgary Transit contract)
January 8, 1999... Siemens Transportation System's Inc. has won a $26 million contract with Calgary Transit in Canada to build 11 light-rail cars in its South Sacramento plant. The contract is the latest in a growing line of work for the German-owned...

Cash poor, choice rich: paycheck-advance firms move in.(Advance 'Til Payday opens branch in Sacramento, California)
January 8, 1999... Another company from the South that loans money to people until payday at astronomical interest rates has opened up shop in Sacramento. It adds to an already crowded market of vendors catering to working people who are so strapped for...

New rice tariff could put a lid on California sales growth in Japan.
January 8, 1999... For centuries, Japan refused to buy rice from foreign countries. It wasn't until 1995 that American growers finally managed to wedge their way in. It's been a huge development for Central Valley rice farmers. California growers today...

Radiologists pave way for expansion.(Radiological Associates of Sacramento Medical Group Inc to build headquarters in Expo Parkway in Sacramento, California)
January 8, 1999... The region's largest private radiology practice has bought 2.6 acres on Expo Parkway for a new $3 million headquarters to make room for more growth spurred by a big contract won last year. Radiological Associates of Sacramento Medical...

Insurance industry opens new year on defensive side; Quackenbush: insurers lax on fraud investigation.(Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush critical of insurers' fraud prevention efforts)
January 8, 1999... Concerned that some insurers have slacked off on fraud fighting, Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, in a strongly worded statement, announced plans to meet in March with hundreds of carriers' chief executives to beef up their efforts....

Peregrine may go private: battered real estate trust evaluating reorganization.
January 8, 1999... Peregrine Real Estate Trust, the publicly traded successor to Commonwealth Equity Trust, might be preparing to take itself private. A reverse stock split - which would cash out the remaining equity of most of the company's small investors...

Woodland system signs with fee-for-service HMO.(Woodland Healthcare's new contract from health maintenance organization Lifeguard Inc)
January 8, 1999... Woodland Healthcare, trying to shake off more than $10 million in losses over the last two years, hopes to improve its financial status with a contract just signed with Lifeguard Inc. The health maintenance organization, in turn, hopes to...

Grass Valley Products hopes latest loss will be the last.(loses $32 million in first half of FY 1998)
January 8, 1999... The television industry's hesitance to buy digital production equipment kept taking its toll on Grass Valley Products in recent months. The video and networking division of Oregon's Tektronix Inc. lost $32 million for the first half of...

Verdict is in on new hot sauce.(lawyer Wendell Peters, creator of Pickled Pete's Pickle Packery Inc)(Company Profile)
January 8, 1999... Who needs business plan when a gimmick will do? One step into attorney Wendell Peters' office and you learn the Auburn man's true passion. Every surface of the room is covered by bottles of hot sauces and related hot sauce and chile...

Growers push for formation of California Rice Commission.(rice growers)
January 8, 1999... California rice growers and marketers will vote next month on whether to establish a new commission to represent the industry in both regulatory and legislative arenas. Rice growers view this as their first crack at fair representation....

Ex-Beverly Garland Hotel goes bankrupt, faces sale.(Expo Heritage Inn in Sacramento, California)
January 1, 1999... Hotelier Ramesh "Ron" Pitamber has put his Expo Heritage Inn hotel into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and wants to sell it this year. Pitamber is president of the Expo Heritage Inn corporation. He also owns Roseville-based...

Deadline extended for McClellan deal.(plans to convert McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, California into a furniture factory)
January 1, 1999... Within two weeks, Sacramento County could sign a deal with a Canadian plastic furniture manufacturer to take over a major part of McClellan Air Force Base and turn it into a furniture factory. County officials have said they hope Euro...

Roseville attracts banks.(California)
January 1, 1999... Capitol Valley Bank, the area's fourth newly chartered bank in less than a year, is on track to open its doors in Roseville early in February. That will give Capitol Valley a jump of several months on another new bank planning to open in...

Region grew steadily in '98, manufacturing variety of jobs.(Sacramento, California)(Industry Overview)
January 1, 1999... Someday in the next millennium, we'll look back on 1998 as the good old days. The Sacramento region enters 1999 with a more diverse economy than ever before. What was primarily a government town through the 1980s has become in equal...

Davis study not hot on incubator.(biotechnology business incubator in Davis, California)
January 1, 1999... A study commissioned by Davis is less enthusiastic about the city investing in a biotechnology business incubator than area biotech execs had hoped. The study recommends against the city helping to finance lab space for fledgling biotech...

Sculptors face felony charges over toxic dust.(Bennett Sculpture Inc.)
January 1, 1999... The owners and general manager of Bennett Sculpture Inc. will be arraigned on Monday in El Dorado County Superior Court on eight felony charges of mishandling hazardous waste at their former foundry in Shingle Springs. Sculptors Tom and...

Largest car retailer buys into Sacramento market.(Republic Industries Inc. acquires Tasha Automotive Group of Sacramento, California)
January 1, 1999... The world's largest car retailer is buying the dealership group that owns Autowest Honda and Autowest Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep in the Roseville Auto Mall. By acquiring the Tasha Automotive Group, Republic Industries Inc. is adding Greater...

Health Net puts the squeeze on seniors.(reduction of pharmacy benefits and increase of rates for Medicare clients in Sacramento and Placer counties, California)
January 1, 1999... Pharmacy benefits trimmed for 23,000 as HMO adds its first monthly premium Health Net has reduced pharmacy benefits and raised rates for more than 23,000 Medicare HMO clients in Sacramento and Placer counties, effective today. ...

Long-stymied Placerville retail projects might get started in '99.(California)
January 1, 1999... After almost a decade of planning, development of new shopping centers near Placerville has been given the political go-ahead. Construction could start on El Dorado County's largest shopping center and first Wal-Mart store next summer....

New firm's line of credit paved way for fast growth.(InfoPros of Sacramento, California)
January 1, 1999... In 1995 local Intel Corp. employees Ann Marie Smith and Caroline Drakeley got to talking about going into business together. Both had expertise in technical publication production and software system consulting. And while two such...