Sacramento Business Journal articles from November 2000

Sacramento Business Journal archives from November 2000

Airports seek help in recruiting.
November 24, 2000... The Sacramento County Department of Airports wants to spend $500,000 over the next five years on a team of consultants to help bring in more national and international flights. The goal is to get more airline routes for both passengers...

Davis biotech firm thinks it has key to burning off that holiday bird.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Food, glorious food. Most Americans probably ate too much of it yesterday. Thanksgiving prompts more than a few overweight pilgrims to wonder why they have to count every calorie while their skinny friends stuff themselves full of...

Funeral store partners in legal death grip.
November 24, 2000... These are grim times for two players in Sacramento's discount casket business. Business partners in the Citrus Heights store of Funeral Merchandise, which sells -- well, funeral merchandise -- are slinging allegations of fraud and breach...

Fat times for real estate sales.
November 24, 2000... Real estate agent Mark Warmack hasn't had a vacation since 1998. Even then, it was only a week in Southern California. But he's not complaining. "With so much opportunity," he says, "you don't want to pack up and go away." Warmack...

Workers' comp carrier cuts 28 people in local office.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Fremont Compensation Insurance Group's small Sacramento office will become even smaller by the end of this month. It's one of 17 offices the workers' compensation. insurer, is closing, or partially closing in an effort to cut expenses. ...

AnyTime Access CEO moves on.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Tom Bollum, longtime president of AnyTime Access, is leaving the company he founded, in 1994 and sold this spring. Bollum and the other owners, sold AnyTime to Digital Insight of Calabasas, which builds and hosts Internet sites for banks...

Ho-hum, another sales record.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Real estate records keep falling. At CB Richard Ellis, brokers racked up a record $258.4 million in October sales and leases, says Al Gianini, co-manager of the commercial real estate brokerage's Sacramento operation. Of that number,...

AgraQuest gets another pact.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Davis biopesticide firm AgraQuest Inc. has signed a three-year deal with special chemical company Rohm and Haas to market pesticides that AgraQuest may develop in the future. AgraQuest collects microbes from soils and plants all over the...

The cars thieves prefer.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... If you drive an Accord, Camry, Honda Civic or a Toyota pickup, beware. Those are the most popular cars among local thieves. A new study from the National Insurance Crime Bureau says these cars top thieves' lists in Sacramento and Los Angeles....

Farmers cotton to profitable new crop.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... In a typical year, Cowles. and Calvin Mast, father-and-son farming partners in Esparto, have planted tomatoes, sunflower, seeds, and corn or wheat. But this-year there were oversupplies, so tomato, companies and seed processors cut back on...

El Dorado may lose local managed care.(Western Health Advantage )(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Managed care may be on its last gasp for some 10,000 people in El Dorado County, strangled by specialists who say they simply can't practice good medicine on the money offered by the two health plans that still want to do business there. ...

For sale: Yolo farmland with view of ... flooding.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... About 13,445 acres of Yolo County ranchland -- once part of the vast holdings of the Glide family, early settlers in the Central Valley -- are for sale for $22.1 million. The land is in or near a flood plain and impossible to develop. All...

Wintun Indians creating large philanthropic fund.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, which owns the Cache Creek Casino in rural Yolo County, plans to give $1 million a year to local charity and community groups through its new Rumsey Community Fund. It would rank among the largest...

High-tech building in Roseville sells for $45 per square foot.(second-highest price ever paid for an industrial building in south Placer County)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Another south Placer high-tech building has sold for a high price to an investor. This time the property is the Agilent Technologies Inc. building at 10050 Foothills Blvd. in Roseville. It sold to John Miller, a lawyer in Palo Alto, for...

Total Tire Recycling files Chapter 11.(suit to recover cleanup costs from tire fire contributes to bankruptcy)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Total Tire Recycling of Sacramento, Northern California's largest tire recycler, filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code Nov. 6. The company's president and chief executive officer, Michael Byrne,...

Big losses spur retrenchment by telecom company.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Virginia company cuts back here and in eight other cities Teligent Inc., a money-losing Virginia telecom company, has scaled back in Sacramento to focus on faster-growing markets. The company beams voice and data through the air...

City OKs funds to buy, clean up Globe Mills site.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The City Council has cleared the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency to buy the derelict Globe Mills for $69,000 and find a developer to fix it up. The abandoned 32-silo grain mill at 12th and C streets is a gateway to downtown...

Senior market gets new player.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Life Care Services, a Des Moines, Iowa, company that manages continuing-care retirement and assisted-living communities for seniors, is angling for action in Placer County. The company opened a regional office in Roseville Sept. 1 and...

Now not for sale, Financial Pacific retools.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Financial Pacific Insurance Co. is no longer actively for sale. After regrouping this year, the Rocklin commercial insurance company decided that instead of finding a buyer, it will strengthen its perceived value by expanding...

Sutter Health buying a second Santa Rosa hospital.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Sutter Health is buying another Northern California hospital. This time it's Warrack Hospital in Santa Rosa. If the $12 million deal is approved, it would be the 29th in the Sutter chain. It's the second merger announcement in recent...

Sutter melds home-health and hospice entities into single unit.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Sutter Health has merged several of its home health and hospice organizations into a single unit of 950 employees that covers nine Northern California counties. Sutter says the change will cut over-head while strengthening both programs,...

Hay exports to Japan rise from corn, tomato fields.
November 24, 2000... In the past couple of summers, light-green spikes of hefty-sized grass have popped out of Sacramento Valley fields that once grew corn and tomatoes. It's sudangrass, and it's part of a rejuvenated cottage industry in the Sacramento...

Oregon tire chain peals out to 11 stores since '97.
November 24, 2000... It's been two years since Les Schwab Tire Co. came into our area from its Prineville, Ore., home, putting a store in Woodland. Since then the big tire retailer opened another on Madison Avenue in Sacramento and another in Citrus Heights. ...

REI eyes Roseville.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Speaking of Rosevile, Recreational Equipment Inc. wants in there too. That's where the Seattle outdoor gear and clothing cooperative, better known as REI, hopes to open its second local store. Broker Vein Park of Sierra Pacific Retail...

Got teens? Be warned.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Parents of teen-agers, be warned. An Oakland company has launched Kode, a new mobile-phone store for teens at Sunrise Village Shopping Center in Citrus Heights. The shop measures 1,300 square feet Kodeis the first of a planned series of...

Florin plugs along.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Florin Mall, although short an anchor for four years, feels "very comfortable with the way things are going," general manager John Hanron says. The mall's small in-line stores are 89 percent occupied, up a dab from a year ago. Seasonal...

Hill & Knowlton ramps up PR office with new idgs, new staff.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... For the past year, Hill & Knowlton Inc., the PR giant from New York City, has been building a formidable Sacramento presence. It had been here with a bare-bones office since 1995, but lately has leased space at Esquire Plaza with room for...

Action figures copied.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The Urban Pioneers "action figure" ad campaign designed to lure techies to Greater Sacramento is being imitated in the Bay Area. The Sacramento Regional Marketing Council's ads "must have hit a nerve with the tech community somehow...

Makin' tracks.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Lucy&Co., a Sacramento public relations firm, has doubled its staff to 10 over the past year. Revenue has hit $500,000, up 62 percent from a year ago. The company specializes in water, wastewater and transportation projects, taking on...

Valve maker is ready for takeoff.(U.S. Para Plate Corp.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
November 24, 2000... Charles Trask has been in the valve and control manufacturing business for nearly 30 years, starting out in San Jose in 1972 with his company, U.S. Para Plate Corp. Over the years Trask migrated his business eastward, not so much to flee...

Insurers sue OSHA over workplace rule.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... A dozen insurance companies challenged OSHA's ergonomics regulation in federal court, the third major lawsuit filed by business groups over the new workplace requirement. Insurers allege that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health...

Small-business optimism continues decline.(NFIB Education Foundation's small-business optimism index)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The NFIB Education Foundation's small-business optimism index dropped for the second month in a row in October. The index is based on 10 economic indicators gathered through a survey of 1,391 small-business owners around, the nation. The...

Electronic signatures open door to more transactions.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... When Stevie Wonder recorded his bouncy 1970 hit song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours," his fans flocked to record stores to buy vinyl platters as well as four-track and eight-track tape cartridges, and some even bought the album in the...

El Dorado Hills EL DORADO SELLS.(housing)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
November 24, 2000... Posh digs projected to nearly double in a decade Mark ark and Amie Ferry started saving to buy a house in south San Jose five years ago, but the Bay Area's red-hot real estate market kept working against them. "Two years passed, but the...

Rekhi Singh.(R Systems Inc. president)
November 24, 2000... R Systems Inc. / president Rekhi Singh, who came here from India in 1987 calls himself an "accidental entrepreneur." After arriving in this nation, he found a job that let him learn a lot about doing business in the United States. In...

PEOPLE ON THE WOVE.(management appointments)
November 24, 2000... EMPLOYMENT SERVICES Tennessee Blix has been named an executive recruiter at Wilcox Miller & Nelson, a recruitment company. She specializes in financial services and technology searches. Blix had been a business manager at her husband's...

Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is seeking members for its Awards Committee, which oversees the commission's grant program. Members with backgrounds in visual, performing and/or literary arts, management, and/or nonprofit...

Yolo County Workforce Investment Board.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The Yolo County Workforce Investment Board is looking for business-people who provide leadership in their industries to assist in development of a work force that meets needs of businesses.

Linda Christas College Fund.(new locations)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Linda Christas College Fund, a Sacramento-based independent provider of financial and counseling help to college-bound students, has opened several regional offices: four in California, three in Texas, and one each in Reno and FL Myers Fla.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Sacramento and Northeastern California.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 24, 2000... The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Sacramento and Northeastern California received $15,000 from The Wells Fargo Foundation. The goal for the three-year campaign is $1.5 million and will be matched by a grant from a local foundation...

Matthew Paulson.
November 24, 2000... Matthew Paulson of Elk Grove received a Canine Assistants Service Dog sponsored by Milk-Bone and Raley's and Bel Air. The dog is trained to provide emergency assistance to Paulson, a 16-year-old with epilepsy who suffers from grand mal...

Greater Alarm Charity Golf Classic.
November 24, 2000... The third annual Greater Alarm Charity Golf Classic at Dove Country Club brought in $48,000 for the Kids Cancer Connection, which offers programs to meet social, emotional and educational needs of children battling cancer and which provides...

Dr. Christine Harris.
November 24, 2000... Dr. Christine Harris, author and professor, donated 400 copies of two early childhood journals to United Way California Capital Region's Success By 6 Program, which seeks to prepare children for school and life by age 6. Harris'. Pregnancy...

American River Holdings.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 24, 2000... American River Holdings is the holding company for North Coast Bank and for American River Bank, which for the past two years has been amoung the top two local banks in highest profit ratios. Through the first nine months of 2000, American...

Philip Angelides.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... State Treasurer Philip Angelides, Sacramento City Councilman Dave Jones and Robert Taylor of the California Endowment and of the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association have all received. 2000 Sacramento Mutual Housing Association Community...

Robert Wassmer.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... Robert Wassmer received the 2000-01 President's Award for Research and Creative Activity by the president of California State University Sacramento. He is a SCUS professor of public policy who was recognized for his research and creative...

Tower of Youth.
November 24, 2000... The Sacramento Breakfast Optimist Club honored the Tower of Youth -an organization that helps area youths get experience in the entertainment, media, arts and telecommunications industries -- with the annual Optimist Youth Leadership Award,...

The University of California at Davis.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The University of California at Davis selected 10 faculty memes as Chancellor's Fellows. The Chancellor's Fellows Program was created to honor the achievements of outstanding faculty members early in their careers. The faculty members will...

The California Integrated Waste Management Board.(honored 10 companies )(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... The California Integrated Waste Management Board, part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, honored 10 companies for outstanding efforts to cut down on the waste they produce. Apple Computer Inc.'s factory in Laguna was the only...

The state surplus.(California budget surplus should be returned to taxpayers)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
November 24, 2000... THE ISSUE: The state government expects a $6.9 billion budget surplus this year OUR POSITION: Next year's budget should return a significant amount to taxpayers With the state legislative analyst predicting that California will end...

Internet hype still off.(new national survey by American City Business Journals )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 24, 2000... This has been a year for slaughtering Internet stocks, those flaky pretenders that once gloried in billion-dollar valuations without benefit of a single sale to a real customer. The hype was that the Internet was changing the business world...

Great teachers all share a faith.
November 24, 2000... What makes a great teacher? If I taught school, the greatest honor I could have would be to show up on someone's list of their all-time favorites -- the ones who made a difference in their lives. So, my top five list: 1. Roland...

State's universities need our attention too.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2000... By approving Proposition 39 earlier this month, Californians have taken a key step forward in helping to secure more funding for our public schools, while at the same time implementing strict new guidelines on how school districts can spend...

Publisher's Foreword.
November 24, 2000... The Book of Events is a solution in search of a problem - your problem, we expect. While you probably have a budget and strategy for your business activities in 2001, you may have nothing comparable for your community involvement....

STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST.
November 24, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Elk Grove building boom on horizon: Another 30,000 houses in pipeline.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... The 4-month-old city of Elk Grove intends to make itself the region's next hot growth area for housing and business, with 30,000 homes and a shopping mall in the development pipeline. City leaders figure the new housing and retail,...

Elk Grove building boom on horizon: Lent Ranch: Architects dream.(Lent Ranch Marketplace )(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... The developers and designers of the proposed Lent Ranch Marketplace in Elk Grove think they can come up with a design that tops the new Galleria at Roseville. They envision a project that feels like an urban Main Street, with water...

Hotel marketing tax gets preliminary OK.(Sacramento Tourism Business Improvement District)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... After years of crafting, tuning and debating a self-imposed tax, Sacramento hotel operators expect to raise $3 million annually in marketing money staffing next year. The money raised by a proposed Sacramento Tourism Business Improvement...

Sutter working on $55M bailout plan to acquire Bay Area hospital.(St. Luke's Hospital)(Statistical Data Included)
November 17, 2000... A month ago, Sutter Health and St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco were on opposite sides of an antitrust lawsuit. Now they're exploring a partnership that would bring the San Francisco hospital into the big Sutter system. St. Luke's,...

Wall Street Journal closes its six regional editions.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... The Wall Street Journal told its staff members Wednesday that it is shutting down its six regional Journals because continued publication of those sections "no longer makes economic sense." The includes the Wall Street Journal California,...

UCD hotel moves ahead slowly.(University of California at Davis)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... The proposed $40 million hotel and conference center at the University of California at Davis is still moving forward, but a bit slower than had been hoped. An early fast-track schedule sought to have the University of California regents...

Java City sale brewing?
November 17, 2000... There's been some anticipation building around town that Java City may be on the verge of being sold. Mum's the word from Java City.

Kids' tech site opens in Oak Park.(Sacramento)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Next week, a "Computer Clubhouse" will open in Oak Park to serve kids ages 8 to 18. It'll be at Sacramento Food Bank Services, at Broadway and 34th Street, and is aimed at getting underprivileged kids fluent on computers and the 'Net. ...

Lobbyists terrorize midtown.(Holloway, Rasmussen and Molodanoff)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Since the new real estate lobbying firm of Holloway Rasmussen and Molodanoff opened in a midtown Victorian at 22nd and L streets, principals Brian Holloway, Eric Rasmussen and Jack Molodanoff have been acting like true midtowners by cruising...

Tsakopoulos plan pushes urban services boundary.(for retail center and business park)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Developer Angelo Tsakopoulos plans to propose a major retail center and business park in North Natomas, just west of Sacramento International Airport. It would be beyond Sacramento County's urban services boundary. The 513-acre tract...

Watchdog group takes aim at 'predatory' subprime lenders.(Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
November 17, 2000... Beatrice Fee had terrible credit. Her Marysville restaurant had lost a nasty lawsuit. She wound up closing the restaurant and going through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy reorganization. A court judgment put a lien on her paycheck. To pay off...

Chipping away.(Z-World Inc.'s new building)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Z-World Inc. doubling its space with new building Z-World Inc., a Davis company that makes tiny embedded computers that tell equipment how to function, will put up a second building to accommodate growth of its year-old microprocessor...

Oates has bond plan for Air Park.(infrastructure bond for Sacramento Airport business park)
November 17, 2000... Sacramento County has authorized the formation of a $200 million assessment district to finance the roads and other infrastructure for a giant business park planned next to Sacramento International Airport. It is the largest district ever...

Circus school stumbles, tumbles into bankruptcy.(Circus Arts and Acrobatics)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... When Anna iviana Carrillo opened ner Circus Arts & Acrobatics school in Roseville this year, the high-wire and juggling was supposed to be something she taught students. But by the time the school closed down' in September, the high-wire...

Fry's eyes Roseville.(Fry's Electronics seeks rezoning for Roseville property)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Retailer seeks rezone on North Sunrise Fry's Electronics Inc., the San Jose consumer electronics chain with a local store at Interstate 80 and Northgate Boulevard, is looking to land in Roseville. Fry's has asked the city to rezone...

CarMax seeks Roseville's OK to delay building big dealership.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... CarMax Auto Superstores Inc., owned by Circuit City, is asking Roseville for another year to build a huge car dealership. Two years ago CarMax got a design review permit to erect a 53,587-square-foot building and car wash on Eureka Road,...

Track 'n Trail misses goal; posts loss, but it's smaller.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Shoe retailer Track 'n Trail Inc. (OTCBB:TKTL) lost money in what it had hoped would be its turnaround third quarter. But the losses have slowed. Track 'n Trail, a specialty shoe-selling chain based in El Dorado Hills, reported a net...

CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
November 17, 2000... Roseville sales tax The city of Roseville received $6.9 million in sales tax for the Roseville Automall in 1999, not the $10 million reported in the Nov. 10 story "Elk Grove Auto Mall planning to double its size." The amount for July 1,...

PacifiCare freezes local enrollment in seniors HMO.(Secure Horizons)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. says it won't enroll new members in Secure Horizons, its HMO for senior citizens, as of Dec. 10 in Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer, counties. The company blamed rising healthcare costs and the lack of new...

North state's sugar beet business is beaten down.(California Beet Growers Association will not manage processing plants)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... It looks like bye-bye, beets. In what appears to be a nail in the coffin for the sugar beet industry in Northern California, the California Beet Growers Association says it will not take over the beet processing plants in Woodland and...

Comerica gets local boost with buy of Imperial Bank.(Comerica Bank)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Comerica Bank's entry into the Sacramento market will get a hefty boost from the bank's decision to buy Imperial Bancorp, which has a strong local office and is a busy lender to area businesses. Comerica, of Detroit, this month agreed to...

McClellan Park developers hire prominent attorney Heckenlively.(Jay Heckenlively)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... The business-park developers of McClellan Air Force Base have hired Jay Heckenlively, a prominent Sacramento real estate lawyer, as their in-house counsel to help make deals happen. The base, to be transferred to Sacramento County next...

Cal Expo extends harness-racing season.(Capitol Racing L.L.C.'s anticipated revenue)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Harness racing is trotting ahead in Greater Sacramento. Bolstered by an expansion, to a 10-month season at Cal Expo, horse-racing company Capitol Racing LLC expects to pull in $135 million to $140 million in wagering here in 2001. ...

Kaiser pays $61,000 to settle patient-dumping case.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... Mom, son had gone to South Sac Center Kaiser Permanente paid $61,000 this summer to settle federal allegations that its South Sacramento Medical Center dumped patients 2 1/2 years ago. The giant health plan and hospital system also...

Region tops state in some tallies of high-tech growth.(Sacramento, California)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... No. 1 in two out of eight criteria, study says Greater Sacramento was the fastest-growing California metro area in several high-tech categories in the 1990s, according to new statistics from the Milken Institute in Santa Monica. The...

Yolo ag economy will be hit by Del Monte closure.(Del Monte closes tomato plant, will effect Yolo County, California)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... An already stressed farm economy in Yolo and surrounding counties braced for another hit this week after Del Monte Foods Co. announced it will close its Woodland tomato processing factory in January. The closure means the loss of 46...

Business heats up for energy engineers.(Davis Energy, EnviroMaster International development contract)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... This summer's skyrocketing energy prices and electricity shortages have fueled an interest in energy efficiency and fired up new business for Davis Energy Group. The Davis mechanical engineering firm has signed an agreement to develop...

Employers keep workers coming, going.(Lee Hecht Harrison's downsizing report)(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... It's a confusing world out there. Businesses are screaming that they can't find enough qualified employees, while at the same time they're still laying people off. This paradox is explained in Please Go/Please Stay: The New Rules of...

Dummies at home.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2000... A release of "Home-based Business for Dummies" (IDG Books Worldwide Inc., 2000, $19.99) offers many solutions on what to do with children while trying to get some work done. The best tips: "Find an office location in your home that allows you...