Sacramento Business Journal articles from June 1999

Sacramento Business Journal archives from June 1999

Mercy Hospital system faces growing loss.(Catholic Healthcare West)
June 25, 1999... Losses are mounting and heads are rolling at Catholic Healthcare West. The parent company of Mercy Healthcare Sacramento expects to lose $225 million on operations in its fiscal year, which ends next week. That's far worse than the...

Intel, H-P again hiring engineers.(Intel Corp.; Hewlett-Packard Co.)
June 25, 1999... After putting the brakes on growth last year, the area's biggest high-tech companies are again stepping on the accelerator. Greater Sacramento's two largest manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp., have both resumed hiring...

Credit unions prepare to offer stock service.(Golden 1 Credit Union and S.A.F.E. Federal Credit Union)
June 25, 1999... The area's two largest credit unions are preparing to offer electronic stock brokerage services to their members in the next 60 days. The Golden 1 Credit Union and SAFE Credit Union are working with their investment partner, Financial...

Tahoe Air set for its maiden flight today.
June 25, 1999... Tahoe Air Corp. takes flight today with the help of $9 million in financing, arranged by Roseville's Capitol Bay Securities Inc. Tahoe Air is a 65-employee airline whose sole purpose is to serve the Lake Tahoe Airport with daily flights...

Adventist Health buys fifth San Joaquin hospital.(Selma District Hospital)
June 25, 1999... Adventist Health, a quiet healthcare giant based in Roseville, is buying another small hospital in the Central Valley. An $8 million deal to purchase Selma District Hospital is expected to close by July 30. Voters in Selma approved...

Intel switches pilots again.(Intel Corp.'s contract with Executive Jet Management)
June 25, 1999... Ohio firm takes over Mather jet flights The job of flying Intel Corp. executives to and from headquarters in Santa Clara has changed hands for the third time in three years. Intel's leased jets will now be flown out of Mather Airport...

Tower Records takes hit of $2.6 million on debts. (MTS Inc.(West Sacramento, California))
June 25, 1999... MTS Inc., the parent company of Tower Records, lost $2.6 million for both its third quarter and for the nine months that ended April 30, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tower had a gross operating...

Keeping it in the family.(Buntain Construction's joint venture with Summit Commercial Properties)
June 25, 1999... Buntain building warehouses in park his in-law built General contractor and developer Tim Buntain has laid the foundations of a very profitable partnership. Buntain announced this week that he has entered a joint venture with El...

Bank may become S corporation.(Sacramento Commercial Bank)
June 25, 1999... Sacramento Commercial Bank may convert to a Subchapter S corporation. Two of the four new local banks that have opened in the past 18 months are S corporations. And one of the two banks in organization is planning to do the same. ...

Auction follows Ophir Oil's switch to Chapter 7 from 11.
June 25, 1999... A recent auction of Ophir Oil Co.'s equipment has raised about $60,000 toward settling a bankruptcy that began with a Placer County oil spill in 1993. But creditors who await $200,000 aren't getting paid yet. Attorney John Roberts,...

Maxicare, Molina both go after Medi-Cal work.(Maxicare Health Plans Inc.; Molina Medical Centers)
June 25, 1999... Los Angeles-based Maxicare Health Plans Inc. opened a small office in Sacramento two weeks ago because the company anticipates growth in its local Medi-Cal managed-care business. The office on Response Road houses a small sales and...

Home improvement retailers moving in.(Lowe's Companies Inc.)
June 18, 1999... Lowe's Cos. Inc., the world's second-largest home-improvement retailer and third-largest seller of appliances, plans to open "multiple" stores in the Sacramento area. The fast-growing chain currently has no West Coast presence under its...

McClellan gets light rail factory.(Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A.'s contract to build the light-rail factory)
June 18, 1999... The Spanish company that has been hired to build 54 light-rail cars for Sacramento Regional Transit will build the cars in a new factory on McClellan Air Force Base. By late next year, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A....

City offers subsidy for big riverfront restaurant.(Sacramento, California)
June 18, 1999... The city of Sacramento is waving around a cash subsidy to lure a high-pro-file, 500-seat restaurant to the Old Sacramento waterfront. Names like Gordon Biersch Brewery Co. and The Rio City Cafe are being bandied about for the site. ...

Copter firm is in it for the long haul.(Helimax Aviation Inc.)
June 18, 1999... Helicopter pilot Brad Hasse knows his way around big things. For eight years, his Amador County company has been using two helicopters to haul materials for construction companies and to carry water for firefighters. But to grow his...

HIgh-tech law is booming.(biotechnology and high-tech companies' recruitment of lawyers)
June 18, 1999... Weintraub, others go for patent lawyers Trying to increase the legal advice it can offer to high-tech and biotech companies, Weintraub Genshlea & Sproul has hired a prominent local patent attorney away from the boutique firm he helped...

Ex-Intel land now slated for shopping center.(Regency Realty Corp.'s acquisition of Intel Corp.'s surplus land in Folsom, California)
June 18, 1999... A Florida developer has bought part of Intel Corp.'s surplus land in south Folsom, where it plans to build the first grocery store shopping center in that part of the city. Jacksonville-based Regency Realty Corp. paid about $5.75 million...

Wal Mart close to deals for Florin, Cordova stores.
June 18, 1999... Despite a long wait, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. still plans to open a store in Southgate Plaza in the Florin area and another in Cordova Village Shopping Center in Rancho Cordova next year. Such things as leases, development agreements and...

Dodge City Inn for sale.
June 18, 1999... It's high noon for the Dodge City Inn. The faded Auburn Boulevard hotel with a shocking-pink awning finally has been foreclosed by its lender, which is now marketing for $1.95 million the 196-room building and its 5.1 acres near the...

United Corporate Furnishings doubles showroom size.
June 18, 1999... United Corporate Furnishings, enjoying steady growth like other local office furniture companies, has a new home with double the showroom space. The North Natomas office furniture company has seen its sales grow by 38 percent since 1996...

Western Sierra Bancorp going for bigger branch.
June 18, 1999... Bank mergers near completion as well Western Sierra Bancorp of Cameron Park is enlarging its branches and completing the two mergers it started last year. The bank holding company's namesake, Western Sierra Bank, will: * Convert...

SmileCare crowds field of managed dental care.(SmileCare's relocation to Sacramento, California)
June 18, 1999... SmileCare, a retail-oriented dental managed-care company out of Santa Ana, is moving into the Sacramento market. The firm has leased shopping-center space in Citrus Heights and Elk Grove, where it hopes to provide a full range of family...

Big area push for Walgreen; another 20 to 25 stores expected.
June 11, 1999... Walgreen plans to strengthen its presence in the Sacramento region in a big way. The Walgreen Co., which currently operates three Walgreens pharmacies in the area with five more on their way, expects to open another 20 to 25 stores in...

Landing Mexicana will require customs.(Mexicana Airlines' service in Sacramento, CA)
June 11, 1999... Mexicana Airlines could be the first airline to make Sacramento International Airport truly international. Mexicana is waiting in the wings to bring in daily service to Mexico City and possibly Cabo San Lucas, said Bruce Mosley, interim chief...

Downtown interests, environmentalists fight Natomas retail bid.(E.J. Plesko & Associates' plan to build shopping center in North Natomas)
June 11, 1999... A shopping center proposal in North Natomas has stirred up a hornet's nest of opposition. The owners of Downtown Plaza and other interests in downtown Sacramento have joined environmentalists in opposing the proposal by E.J. Plesko &...

Hyatt to get face-lift; Paragary goes into hotel biz; downtown Regency starts $12 million remodel in July.(Hyatt Regency Sacramento; restaurateur Randy Paragary)
June 11, 1999... The Hyatt Regency Sacramento is starting a two-year, $12 million remodel. It will put a new face on the hotel by around the same time that the rival Sheraton Grande Hotel opens nearby next: summer. The 500-room Hyatt on L Street is the...

Restaurateur to open tiny inn above Cafe Bernardo.(Hyatt to Get Face-Lift; Paragary Goes into Hotel Biz)(Randy Paragary)
June 11, 1999... Randy Paragary, one of Sacramento's best-known restaurateurs, is getting into the hotel business - in a small way. He will open a boutique hotel a few blocks from Sutter General Hospital in midtown Sacramento. The Midtown Inn will be...

Title firms may start resolving state suit.(title insurance companies in California)
June 11, 1999... The state's class action suit against California's escrow and title insurance companies might be ending for several, including industry leader Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. State regulators filed their suit on May 19 in Sacramento...

Business lobby takes on workers' comp bills.
June 11, 1999... The push for a huge increase in benefits for injured workers is one of the biggest political issues for California businesses this year. But with Democrats in control of the statehouse, employers know they don't have much bargaining power....

Oak Park to get Walgreens and Hollywood Video.; Lux Taylor signs deals to build by neighborhood's new Food Source market.
June 11, 1999... Lux Taylor signs deals to build by neighborhood's new Food Source market Lux Taylor has built a reputation as one of the few developers in Sacramento who really knows how to do infill projects - the kind so critical to redeveloping...

Lennar buys into Tsakopoulos' project for 1,900 new homes.(Lennar Communities; Angelo Tsakopoulos)
June 11, 1999... Lennar Communities has inked a deal with Angelo Tsakopoulos to be partners in the development of the 1,863-home Stonelake project in southern Sacramento County. Stonelake, once called Elliott Ranch South, covers 1,853 acres. About 453...

As Hoyt indictments grow, investors await tax ruling.(businessman Walter J. Hoyt III)
June 11, 1999... Former Elk Grove businessman Waiter J. Hoyt III heads to federal court June 25 to face 54 counts of mail fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud, providing some satisfaction to the numerous Sacramento-area investors who say he bilked...

Sac commercial gets into the software business.(Sacramento Commercial Bank)
June 11, 1999... Subsidiary selling new program for bankruptcy money Sacramento Commercial Bank is about to become a software company. The bank is finishing up trials on a software program it has developed for managing the deposits of bankruptcy...

Physicians' union holy grail: Kaiser.(Kaiser Permanente; Union of American Physicians and Dentists)
June 4, 1999... Euphoric after a stunning victory in Southern California last week, the nation's oldest and largest physicians' union is turning its attention once again toward Kaiser Permanente. The Union of American Physicians and Dentists organized...

C&K sale nears.(C&K Systems)
June 4, 1999... Sources: Honeywell buyer Honeywell, the Minneapolis-based manufacturer of building controls, is poised to buy Folsom's C&K Systems Inc., according to sources at C&K. C&K Systems employs 175 people locally, producing components for...

Rice growers will breathe easier if ethanol replaces MTBE.(methyl tertiary butyl ether)
June 4, 1999... With the mandate from Gov. Gray Davis to phase out the oxygenate MTBE from gasoline, the search is on for a substitute to help California meet federal clean air requirements - one that is available in ready supply but won't harm the...

Big pitch: marketing mortgages nationally.
June 4, 1999... Mauro Appezzato spent seven years building up The Money Store Inc.'s brand name with an advertising campaign that featured baseball greats Phil Rizzuto and Jim Palmer. Now he's planning to take the lessons he learned and build his own brand....

Effort to regulate payday loans made.
June 4, 1999... The California Bankers Association has suddenly found itself on the same side of a legislative issue as the Consumers Union. Both groups have trained their barrels on the payday advance industry in California. Payday advances are...

New home for Slakey.(Slakey Brothers Inc.)
June 4, 1999... Plumbing distributor heading to Laguna Slakey Bros. Inc. is moving to larger digs locally in anticipation of growing its business. The distributor of heating, plumbing, air conditioning and sheetmetal products expects in a year to...

Cuts in Medicare leave Burger hungry for Chicken Soup's cash.(Burger Rehabilitation Systems; Chicken Soup, Plus Inc.)
June 4, 1999... A local medical rehabilitation company sued a Sacramento home-health agency last month for lack of payment - evidence that healthcare companies continue to struggle under pay cuts in the Medicare program. Burger Rehabilitation Systems...

Mortgage lender merges with a mortgage broker.(Liberty American Mortgage; First Capital Mortgage)
June 4, 1999... Roseville's Liberty American Mortgage is growing its business with a big push into retail loans after buying First Capital Mortgage in Citrus Heights. The companies merged last month and moved into a new Roseville office on Douglas...

Chinatown planning gathers steam.(Sacramento, California)
June 4, 1999... The two blocks of downtown Sacramento known as Chinatown have suddenly become key links to how people will move through the central city. Planning for the Chinatown Renaissance Project is picking up steam. The property, which...

City gets look at clean-air truck and bus.(Sacramento, California)
June 4, 1999... As city buses varoomed by, temporarily silencing speakers who turned away from the street, clean-air advocates quietly introduced two hybrid electric vehicles to Sacramento last week. One was a bus, one was a heavy-duty truck, and both...

Medical supplier ramps up.(John Davis Co.)
June 4, 1999... John Davis Co. gets a new build-to-suit from Panattoni Buoyed by revenue growth of 61 percent last year, The John Davis Co. has signed a deal with Panattoni Development Co. for a new headquarters building on Expo Parkway in Sacramento....

Hill Physicians invests in Internet billing system.(Hill Physicians Medical Group)
June 4, 1999... It used to take up to four weeks - or longer - for Dr. Mark DeBruin to process medical claims from his Orangevale office. Now it takes seven days. That's cut down on his accounts receivable, administrative headaches and a few hours of...