Sacramento Business Journal articles from November 1997

Sacramento Business Journal archives from November 1997

Developers buy up land beyond growth boundary. (Urban Service Boundary)
November 14, 1997... When the controversial Sacramento County General Plan was being hammered out in 1993, real estate developers and environmentalists reached what was considered a landmark agreement. The General Plan would include an Urban Services Boundary - a...

Insurers balk at cuts; workers' comp rates to dip again.
November 14, 1997... Workers' compensation costs may have taken a tumble - but it seems they still haven't hit rock bottom. The fall has left insurers feeling bruised. Many say the downward spiral can't continue, and that rates must soon head up again. But...

Skip's Music leads retailers' two-step.
November 14, 1997... Skip's Music will build a new, larger store in an effort to keep rapidly growing discount music chains off its turf. The company will move from the site it has occupied for 25 years. Skip's has bought a 3.7-acre parcel at Auburn Boulevard and...

New techie goal for Los Rios. (Los Rios Community College District)
November 14, 1997... The Los Rios Community College District is seeking to quadruple its annual count of high-technology graduates and to meet that ambitious goal within three years. New chancellor Brice Harris' TechForce 2000 joins a growing number of efforts...

Local casket firm sells up. (acquisition of Sacramento Casket Co. by York Group Inc.)
November 14, 1997... The nation's second-largest coffin manufacturer has acquired Sacramento Casket Co., the oldest casket distributor west of the Mississippi. The firm was bought by The York Group Inc. of Houston. The price was not disclosed. Sacramento...

Goats make cud helping firefighters. (goat grazing)
November 14, 1997... When it comes to cutting the lawn, most people turn to their trusty four-wheeled mowers. But a growing number of landowners, utility districts and cities are turning to four-legged mowers instead. For ages, goats have cleared the land for...

Plesko plans four malls. (E.J. Plesko & Associates)
November 14, 1997... A Midwestern developer is planning to spend an estimated $15 million or more building four shopping centers in the Sacramento area. The developer, E.J. Plesko & Associates of Madison, Wis., is planning centers in Roseville and southern...

Insurers pitch their proposals for auto rate changes.
November 14, 1997... Some in the insurance industry want to revamp the way California's auto premiums are calculated - for example, how about paying more if you have a car phone? What about a discount if your insurer can verify your driving history? Why not have...

Developer buys the last fruit shed in Loomis. (real estate developer David Rosenaur; Loomis Fruit Growers Association's packing shed in Loomis, CA)
November 14, 1997... A developer is buying the Loomis Fruit Growers Association's 96-year-old packing shed and hopes to fill it with restaurants, arts venues, a produce market, a butcher shop, a bakery, space for a fishmonger and maybe a brewpub. David Rosenaur...

El Dorado gravel miner battles residents. (Loring Brunius; Greenstone Country Owners Association)
November 14, 1997... A mining dispute is pitting homeowners and the state against El Dorado county and quarry owner Loring Brunius. Homeowners want their property protected. The future of two mines and their employees is uncertain. The cost of gravel could go up...

Coker's Marble Valley goes into public hearings. (Coker-Ewing Co.'s proposed exclusive community in El Dorado County, CA)
November 14, 1997... Arts center needs $12 million El Dorado County started public hearings this week on what could become one of the region's most exclusive communities, Marble Valley. Houses could run $700,000 or more. The lots alone would be priced at...

Sacramento slightly above nation's average for debts.
November 14, 1997... The economy may be running full steam, but much of it is fueled by borrowed money. Over the past year, the amount of debt owed by consumers - excluding mortgages - has grown by $58 billion to $1.23 trillion, the highest consumer credit...

Government sues PG&E for damages over blaze. (Pacific Gas and Electric Co.)
November 14, 1997... The federal Department of Justice is suing Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the 1990 White Fire in El Dorado County. The feds say PG&E was granted more than $80 million in ratepayers' cash from the Public Utilities Commission in 1987 to do...

River City's new CEO will pursue branch strategy. (River City Bank; Jeanne Reaves)
November 14, 1997... Jeanne Reaves, who took over Monday as president and chief executive of River City Bank, is already talking expansion with branches in Folsom and Rocklin. "It has been and continues to be our strategy to branch out and fill in the gaps we...

Airport expects ad windfall. (Sacramento International Airport's contract with Interspace Airport Advertising)
November 14, 1997... Sacramento International Airport can look forward to an advertising revenue bonus when its new terminal opens next autumn. Sacramento County has approved the award of a 10-year, $5 million airport advertising contract to Interspace Airport...

Coffee concessionaires rock 'n' roll with no store; espresso and latte play to packed houses. (Java Tazza Inc.)(Small Biz: Streetwise Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
November 14, 1997... A coffee shop wouldn't last very long if it opened only 66 days a year and served its brew only between 4 and 11 p.m. But if the "store" is the coffee concession at a rock concert, the numbers can work out well. That's why Java Tazza Inc....

Cashing in. (banks' earnings)(Focus: Banking)
November 14, 1997... Mark Anderson reports on a huge jump in local banks' earnings. The strong local economy has helped the Sacramento area's independent banks to post a 192 percent jump in earnings in the first nine months of the year. And for the second...

Banks educate their customers of the future; school kids encouraged to develop the savings habit.(Focus: Banking)
November 14, 1997... School kids encouraged to develop the savings habit Nola Akilo, an Elk Grove sixth-grader, used to stash cash in his room until he decided what he was going to spend it on. Then he heard about a banking program that allows him to bring money...

Mall owners lure shoppers with incentives card.(Focus: Banking)
November 14, 1997... A new frequent-flier-style credit card program has been launched in Sacramento that lets mall customers earn money when they shop. Downtown Plaza is one of several hundred malls across the country that have begun offering the Mall VIP Visa...

Allan Zaremberg. (successor to Kirk West as president of California Chamber of Commerce)(Profile)(Interview)
November 14, 1997... Allan Zaremberg will succeed Kirk West as president of the California Chamber of Commerce in January. As the chamber's top lobbyist for the past six years, Zaremberg has. tracked a full range of issues for the 11,000-member business...

Crowley raises $1 billion; first deal close. (Dan Crowley)
November 7, 1997... It took exactly three months for Dan Crowley to raise a venture capital fund of more than $1 billion. Crowley is now close to making his first major acquisition. The former chief executive officer at Foundation Health Corp. confirmed that a...

Sutter will keep Memorial open. (Sutter Health System; Sutter Memorial Hospital)
November 7, 1997... Sutter Health has decided not to close Sutter Memorial Hospital in East Sacramento. Instead, Sutter plans to retrofit Memorial to make it earthquake safe and to provide space for new programs. Sutter Memorial was slated to close by 2000...

Military 'department store' hunts for land. (Army-Air Force Exchange Service)
November 7, 1997... Several locations in the Sacramento area are being scouted by the U.S. military for a distribution center that would cost $70 million to build and would employ approximately 550 people. The Army-Air Force Exchange Service is hunting for 100...

A buyer steps up for SII . (Platinum Equity Holdings; System Integrators Inc.)
November 7, 1997... System Integrators Inc. is about to be acquired by a Los Angeles investment firm for about $50 million, according to sources dose to the deal. The Sacramento company has been searching hungrily for capital as it develops upgrades for its...

98 Cents Clearance Centers talks merger. (Step Ahead Investments Inc.)
November 7, 1997... The parent company of the 98[cents] Clearance Centers discount chain has been pursuing a merger with a publicly traded company that also owns discount closeout stores. A source with ties to the industry said the deal with the public company...

Sales fatten up for Pacific Grain. (Pacific Grain Products Inc.'s sale of fat substitute PacTilla to tortilla manufacturers)
November 7, 1997... Three tortilla manufacturers buying its rice-based fat replacer Pacific Grain Products Inc. in Woodland has lined up at least three tortilla manufacturers to buy its first low-fat product, Pac-Tilla. In addition, the food processing company...

KVIE needs $5 million to go digital. (TV station)
November 7, 1997... Sacramento's public TV station, KVIE Channel 6, may need to raise up to $5 million in extra cash to convert to digital. Channel 6 has until 2003 - the federal deadline for all public stations to make the switch to the new digital TV standard....

Ceramics craze hits town. (Petroglyph and Color Me Mine open stores in Sacramento)
November 7, 1997... Two stores for Petroglyph, one for Color Me Mine Two leaders in the hot new "alternative ceramic studio" business are opening stores in the Sacramento area. Petroglyph Inc., a Santa Cruz-based chain with big expansion plans, opened its...

State Farm drops proposed rate hike. (State Farm Insurance Companies Inc.)
November 7, 1997... State Farm Insurance Cos. has withdrawn a request for a 5.8 percent rate increase for homeowner's insurance in California, after regulators told the company that the increase was not justified. "They didn't justify what they were going to...

Wine grapes runneth over. (California wine grapes)(Industry Overview)
November 7, 1997... Crop is larger than expected, squeezing down prices It's a record year for California wine grapes. With all the wine grapes picked but not fully counted, it appears that the harvest will reach 2.7 million tons. That's up 21 percent from...

Stanford Ranch team to build spec space in Rocklin. (Stanford Ranch I L.L.C.; Rocklin, California)
November 7, 1997... The developers of Stanford Ranch are building almost a half-million square feet of commercial space in Rocklin. Divided among five buildings, the space will cost $18 million or more to build. It's all on speculation, with none of the...

Record loan year for SBA's Sacramento District. (Small Business Administration)
November 7, 1997... The Small Business Administration's Sacramento District made fewer loans this year than last, but still lent more money than ever before. The district, which includes 22 counties in Northern California, made 2.3 percent fewer loans this year...

Asian economic crisis to hit California's exports.
November 7, 1997... California's exports to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are expected to dip dramatically because of a currency crisis in those countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that ag exports nationwide will drop as...

Bitnoff chews into historical trips for students. (USA Student Travel CEO Bruce Bitnoff's plans for California's Sesquicentennial celebration)
November 7, 1997... USA Student Travel is planning to cash in on the state's three-year-long Sesquicentennial celebration. The fast-growing Rancho Murieta tour operator runs student graduation tours and educational trips to the East Coast. Now it has added a...

Ruling due on alleged violations by auto insurers. (State Farm Insurance Cos., Allstate Insurance Co. and Farmers Insurance Group)
November 7, 1997... A decision is expected in a few weeks on allegations by consumer groups that the state's three largest insurance companies are still not basing their rates on the criteria mandated by Proposition 103. Passed in 1988, Proposition 103 requires...

Particle board plant idea offers hope for rice growers. (rice straw as building material)
November 7, 1997... Central Valley farmers who are looking for more environmentally friendly ways to get rid of rice straw may soon have another outlet for the stuff. The Boyd family in Glenn County plans to build a plant that will use rice straw and other...

First technology bet paid off; now he rolls dice again. (Steve Mallory)(Company Profile)
November 7, 1997... Ten years ago, Steve Mallory bet $500,000 in savings and bank loans that there would be an increasing demand for satellite-aided live broadcasts. TV networks would need it for live news and sports coverage they couldn't get from local...

Kensington taps SMUD subsidy to heat and cool high-end home. (Kensington Homes Inc.; Sacramento Municipal Utility District; geothermal air conditioning system subsidy)
November 7, 1997... Folsom's Kensington Homes Inc. has become the first significant homebuilder in the Sacramento area to take advantage of a Sacramento Municipal Utility District subsidy for an unusual geothermal air conditioning system. The geothermal heat...