Sacramento Business Journal articles from June 1997

Sacramento Business Journal archives from June 1997

It might be curtains for the SHRA. (Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency)
June 30, 1997... The decision to break off part of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and put it under control of the city's new Downtown Department may have been the first swing at tearing the agency down. A complete dismantling of Housing and...

Merger propels food firm to top. (Mountain Peoples Warehouse Inc.)
June 30, 1997... The parent company of Auburn-based Mountain Peoples Warehouse Inc. is acquiring the country's largest independent natural foods distributor in a deal worth about $98 million. The deal makes Mountain Peoples Warehouse part of a company that...

Recom seals NASA pact; but federal cuts leave firm treading water. (Recom Technologies Inc.)
June 30, 1997... Roseville-based Recom Technologies Inc. has won a five-year, $30 million contract with NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View. Recom will create computer systems needed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's research....

Two downtown hotel sites get 10 bids. (Sacramento, CA)
June 30, 1997... Sacramento wants to make something of its waterfront, but only three development companies say they're willing to put their bets down on the hotel project known as "The Docks." Far more popular among developers is the Sacramento Housing and...

Rice firm hires new leadership. (Food Extrusion Inc.)
June 30, 1997... An El Dorado Hills company with big expansion plans has hired two veterans of the food processing industry to help steer it through a growth phase. Food Extrusion Inc. has technology that "stabilizes" rice bran to greatly extend its shelf...

KVIE plans to lease space at HQ to Golden Gate. (KVIE-Channel 6; Golden Gate University)
June 30, 1997... Sacramento's public TV station, KVIE-Channel 6, is negotiating to lease the second floor of its headquarters building to Golden Gate University. Although the deal wasn't completed by press time, a long-term lease is expected to be signed by...

Gravel firm back on track after 3-year mine battle. (Sacramento Aggregates Inc.)
June 30, 1997... Sacramento Aggregates Inc. is almost back in business after being virtually shut down for nine months. The company is building a new gravel plant on 272 acres south of Mather Air Force Base after finally landing a 30-year permit to mine the...

Deal allows Molina to serve Medi-Cal patients. (Molina Medical Centers)
June 30, 1997... Molina Medical Centers has reached a deal with Maxicare Health Plans Inc. that allows Molina to retain its MediCal patients in Sacramento, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Regulators had threatened to pull Molina's contracts because the...

New trolley service to link central tourist spots. (Sacramento, CA)
June 30, 1997... The city of Sacramento plans to roll out a downtown trolley service by the end of this year linking Old Sacramento, the K Street Mall, the Sacramento-Community Convention Center and midtown. The goal is to bolster the convention center, lure...

The mice are roaring. (Sacramento, CA's business growth)
June 30, 1997... Once they were small fry. Now the 'Goiden Triangle' cities of Folsom, Rocklin and Roseville are growing into regional giants The three east valley cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Folsom have become the Sacramento region's "golden triangle"...

Downtown starts to benefit from tighter market. (Sacramento, CA)
June 30, 1997... After years of watching companies join the exodus from downtown Sacramento to outlying areas, commercial brokers are seeing a few changes in direction. While most firms still want office space in the suburbs, some are reversing the trend and...

Planners aim to build in Del Paso.
June 23, 1997... Redevelopment officials will soon ask developers to step up and build a "neo-traditional" housing project in one of Sacramento's most blighted neighborhoods - Del Paso Heights. Developers will be invited to submit proposals for a 150-acre,...

Dying drive-ins still have diehard fans.
June 23, 1997... Once a week, Marla Aguilar goes to the Sacramento Drive-In. She takes her boys, her friends and her neighbors' kids. To Aguilar, this six-screen drive-in at Highway 50 and Bradshaw Road - one of only three left in the region - gives the...

Venture opens the doors to Shanghai.
June 23, 1997... American construction suppliers should find it easier to sell their goods and services in China, thanks to a project by a corporation made up of Sacramento, Central Valley and Bay Area partners. PacificRim Prosperity Corp. expects to sign a...

Developers apply break to Roseville's growth cap. (housing project in Roseville, CA)
June 23, 1997... A proposal by four builders to develop the first phase of a 5,049-home project in Roseville will be considered by the city this week. The project would be on 1,388 acres. It's controversial, because phase one alone would exceed by 143...

Green means go. (electric vehicles) (Environment/Electric Vehicles)
June 23, 1997... They're sleek, they're silent, and they're on Sacramento's streets. Electric vehicles have arrived - but are they here to stay? Who wants to pay $499 per month for a car that has a range of only 60 to 100 miles? Martha Schwartzmann does -...

Hospital profits keep dropping. (Sacramento, California hospitals)
June 16, 1997... Net earnings for 17 area hospitals dropped 2 percent across the board last year. Individual hospitals in the region are still reporting sudden and large swings up or down. Their parent healthcare systems, however, appear to be getting better...

Eight downtown hotel bids expected. (Sacramento, California)
June 16, 1997... The city of Sacramento's search for new hotels at two pivotal downtown locations is drawing the interest of big names in the hotel business. Marriott Hotels Corp., Westin Hotels Corp., Hilton Hotels Corp. and Holiday Inn's Crown Plaza Hotels...

Moving van outfit probed. (A Better Moving and Storage Co.)
June 16, 1997... A 14-year-old Carmichael moving company could have its license yanked if allegations of business wrongdoings and abusive behavior are found to be true. After a nine-month investigation, the California Public Utilities Commission, which...

Forget software -3Net's importing Russian computer 'nerdskis.' (Alternative Technology Resources Inc., formerly 3Net Systems Inc.)
June 16, 1997... For eight years, 3Net Systems Inc. struggled along in Rancho Cordova, trying to produce management software for medical laboratories. Now, $24 million in losses and $38 million in debt later, 3Net has given up - which is not to say that the...

Port hopes bridge will help it survive and thrive. (Port of Sacramento; West Sacramento's Southport bridge)
June 16, 1997... When the ribbon is snipped on the $13 million Southport bridge in West Sacramento on July 2, the gate will open to 6,000 acres of industrial and residential development that has been awaited for more than a decade. "I've been here 10 years...

Monarchs aim to live up to all the ballyhoo. (Sacramento Monarchs basketball team)
June 16, 1997... The ballyhoo has been big and early indications are promising, but it's anybody's guess how well the Sacramento Monarchs will fare financially in the premiere season of the Women's National Basketball Association, which starts next week. As...

Film studio proposed for El Dorado Hills.
June 9, 1997... George Lucas involved, local officials are told A major movie production facility has been proposed on hundreds of acres straddling the border of Sacramento and El Dorado counties, and some household names are being whispered to government...

PCL's billing probed. (Physicians Clinical Laboratory Inc.)
June 9, 1997... Two U.S. agencies subpoena documents The Department of Defense has subpoenaed billing records at Physicians Clinical Laboratory Inc. in connection with services provided under a military healthcare contract, the Business Journal has learned....

Neighbors fight office park expansion. (Cannery Business Park, East Sacramento, CA)
June 9, 1997... The owners of Cannery Business Park in East Sacramento have roused a storm of controversy by proposing to double the park's size with a $45 million office addition. Nearby residents fear that adding 390,000 square feet of new office space...

Midtown housing project attracts huge interest. (Metro Square housing development, Sacramento, CA)
June 9, 1997... A development of new houses in midtown Sacramento is attracting so much interest from buyers that a lottery is planned to decide who will get them. More than 250 inquiries have been received from potential buyers before any work has even...

Kings' value up, income down, figures magazine. (Sacramento Kings)
June 9, 1997... But team won't comment on someone else's estimates Some of the Sacramento Kings' numbers are looking up. FinancialWorld magazine estimates the pro basketball team is now worth $131 million, up from $114 million last year. It lists the...

Prices of state earthquake policies shake buyers. (California Earthquake Authority)
June 9, 1997... Its conception wasn't easy, and the infancy of the California Earthquake Authority isn't proving to be any easier. Now six months old, the California Earthquake Authority is still trying to traverse shaky ground. Its critics are still...

Environmental firm hopes to expand at downtown site. (Jones and Stokes Associates Inc. to lease planned office building across its headquarters in Sacramento, CA)
June 9, 1997... Jones & Stokes Associates Inc., a Sacramento-based environmental firm, is negotiating to expand into a site across the road from its V Street office. It has also opened a small Bakersfield office, and this summer hopes to firm up plans for...

SMUD lottery gives four power firms added juice. (Sacramento Municipal Utility District)
June 9, 1997... Four power companies have gained a leg up in the imminent brave new world of deregulated utilities. The quartet, chosen in a May 29 lottery, was selected to coordinate electricity sales to 5 percent of the Sacramento Municipal Utility...