Sacramento Business Journal articles from October 1999

Sacramento Business Journal archives from October 1999

Autovia fills up its tank.
October 29, 1999... Company launches on Internet, backed by $32 million Rod Georgiu is about to hit the information highway with his latest company, which will help auto mechanics order parts over the Internet. Before Autovia rolls out its Internet...

Fen-phen settlement lures 3,000 locally.
October 29, 1999... A registered nurse, Marge Piotrowski did some research before she started taking a diet-drug cocktail known as fen-phen in 1995. She found nothing that said it was risky. Two years ago, she got really sick. Then she was diagnosed with a...

Automakers scout Yolo.
October 29, 1999... A partnership of car makers, energy companies and state agencies is looking to build a 60,000-square-foot test facility that could employ up to 240 in West Sacramento. The site would be used as a hydrogen fueling station and for testing...

Controllers keep emotions in check.(Sacramento International Airport)
October 29, 1999... On a clear day, you can see more than 120 miles from the control tower at Sacramento International Airport. But the people working on top aren't exactly kicking back to enjoy the view. When they're working, the edge of the world is five...

Powerwave moves R&D unit to El Dorado Hills.
October 29, 1999... El Dorado Hills has snagged a research and development operation away from nearby Folsom. Powerwave Technologies Inc., which makes radio frequency power amplifiers for wireless communications networks, plans to move its R&D unit from...

Tele-Direct cashes in on Internet fear.
October 29, 1999... Two years ago, Jim Puff worried that the Internet would take a chunk of business away from his call center. It turns out the Net is bringing him lots of new business instead. It's coming from customers who are reluctant to e-mail their...

Box manufacturer bids for space at McClellan.
October 29, 1999... A cardboard box manufacturer based in West Sacramento is negotiating the first big private-sector lease at McClellan Air Force Base. The company, Sacramento Container Corp., could occupy more than 100,000 square feet of space, said Rob...

Mercy to lay off 50 in bid to save $3M.
October 29, 1999... Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, after a $2 million loss in its most recent fiscal year, announced layoffs last week that are expected to save the healthcare system $3 million a year. A total of 50 employees will lose their jobs. Another 50...

More boom, some gloom.
October 29, 1999... Sacramento businesses are having a banner year -- and next year should offer more of the same, according to economists who gathered at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento on Wednesday for the Business Journal's annual Earlybird Economic Forecast....

When it comes to Pokemon, Topps is tops.
October 29, 1999... I can name more Pokemon than I'm willing to admit. I know what a pokeball is and would never trade a shiny Charizard for a Pikachu. If you haven't figured it out, I have kids and, like lots of others, they are obsessed with things...

Jobs agency looking for big North Sac office site.
October 29, 1999... The Sacramento Employment Training Agency has decided to consolidate all of its administrative offices into a site in North Sacramento -- a move that could boost the neighborhood's economy. It would be the biggest office development yet...

Nurse practitioners cut.
October 29, 1999... UCD network says they haven't been cost-effective The UC Davis Primary Care Network is laying off nurse practitioners, saying they aren't cost-effective. The plan is to replace them with doctors. That bucks an industry trend to hire...

Powell to sell Birdcage center.
October 29, 1999... Birdcage Town Centre in Citrus Heights, which got a major overhaul by owner Robert Powell, is to be sold in January to a Midwestern retail developer. Madison Marquette Realty Services, based in Minnesota and Ohio, will pay an undisclosed...

Folsom dealer expands car empire to San Diego.(Brief Article)
October 29, 1999... Chuck Peterson, who owns Folsom Lake Ford and Folsom Lake Toyota, is branching out to San Diego. He finished buying one San Diego dealership with four manufacturer franchises last week, and expects to close on another dealership in the...

Merger won't stall new hotel.
October 29, 1999... The pending merger of Hilton Hotels Corp. and Promus Hotel Corp. will have no effect on the Embassy Suites to be built in Sacramento, says the developer of the eight-story riverfront hotel. Construction should begin early in. November on...

Strong demand for big rigs puts dealers in high gear.
October 29, 1999... Big changes are percolating among Sacramento-area truck dealerships as one gets ready to expand and another changes hands. The local Freightliner dealership has begun excavating a new $5 million center near Norwood Avenue and Interstate...

Blue Diamond sues trucker over lost almonds.(Statistical Data Included)
October 29, 1999... Blue Diamond Growers and its insurance company are suing a Sacramento trucking company over nearly 45 tons of shelled almonds that were allegedly stolen before they could be delivered to Oakland. The suit by Blue Diamond and Royal...

CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS.
October 29, 1999... Cornish & Carey The Oct. 22 story, "Owner of Grand Auto and Kragen chains signs big West Sac lease," misidentified Cornish & Carey/Oncor International, the company that employs real estate broker broker Skip Vanderbundt. The story...

State Assembly sued in age discrimination case.
October 29, 1999... A former chief consultant to the state Republican Caucus is suing the state Assembly for alleged age discrimination. It's the first lawsuit of its kind against the Legislature since term limits hit in 1990. Charles Storm was a...

Ex-manager sues Everen.
October 29, 1999... Everen Securities Inc. and its manager in Sacramento have been sued by the former local branch operations manager, who alleges she was discriminated against and harassed because of her gender. The suit, filed Oct. 4 in Sacramento County...

Unilab tech claims wrongful firing.
October 29, 1999... A medical laboratory technologist in Sacramento is suing Unilab Corp. for wrongful termination after she was allegedly fired for not being a "team player." Tracy Frentzen had worked for Unilab as a lab scientist and weekend supervisor...

Apartment construction enjoys strongest year of '90s.
October 29, 1999... For apartment builders, will go down as the biggest year of the decade. When banks loosened their purse strings, builders jumped. They had spent more than a decade wondering when the time would be right for apartments. Now the...

W.R. Grace settles shareholder suit led by CaIPERS.
October 29, 1999... A shareholders-rights lawsuit led by the California Public Employees' Retirement System has been settled in New York. The nearly $4 million suit targeted former officers and directors of W.R. Grace and Co., saying they shouldn't have paid...

Oates sells pair of offices for $10 million.
October 29, 1999... Real estate developer Buzz Oates has sold two well-known Sacramento office buildings to a Bay Area investor for. $10 million. The buyer's name wasn't disclosed. The buildings at 1010 Howe Ave. and 1111 Hurley Way were purchased under the...

PRIDE's new headquarters adds to Roseville's boom.(Statistical Data Included)
October 29, 1999... Mike Ziegler figures he won a close call this year when he bought land on Foothills Boulevard for PRIDE Industries' new headquarters. Because of the way land in the area is getting snapped up for development, Pride's president figures if...

NEC may decide Tuesday if it still wants full new plant.(Statistical Data Included)
October 29, 1999... A meeting of the top brass at NEC Corp. in Tokyo on Tuesday is expected to decide how much money the company will spend on the $1.4 billion memory chip plant slated for construction in Roseville. Officially, the company still says the...

Stores find niche serving breast cancer patients.(Statistical Data Included)
October 29, 1999... October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, when activities supporting breast cancer research abound. But some area retailers try to meet the needs of patients and survivors year-round as a matter of business. Forty-year-old La Vann...

Elk Grove grabs attention of world's beer fans.
October 29, 1999... The Elk Grove Brewery Restaurant took home four gold medals from the recent Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the world series of the brewing art. As a result, Elk Grove is already getting phone calls from beer fanatics in Germany and...

Concrete firm finds it pays to be clean.
October 29, 1999... When Livingston's Concrete Services, Inc. moved to its North Highlands location on Roseville Road, it was like homesteading -- there wasn't much around it. That was 1974. In 1999, the concrete plant is surrounded by homes, and the...

No suite talk from U.S. Postal Service.
October 29, 1999... Private mailboxes must be disclosed, proposal directs For 12 years, self-employed executive recruiter Saudi Taylor has received her business mail at a Mail Boxes Etc. location in suburban Dallas. You wouldn't know Taylor works out of...

THE NEW FRONTIER.(Statistical Data Included)
October 29, 1999... North Natomas soon may be the region's strongest commercial real estate market Today there are only a few, lonely commercial buildings in 41 the fields around Arco Arena. They total about a million square feet -- a grain of sand in...

Rancho Cordova hottest suburban office market.
October 29, 1999... Twenty years ago, developers built one of the Sacramento region's first suburban office parks in Rancho Cordova, betting that companies would be drawn to the are a along the Highway 50 corridor. Boy, were they right. Today Rancho...

Elk Grove/Laguna retail building finally takes off.
October 29, 1999... When Surinder Singh moved to Laguna seven years ago, the community didn't have a gas station. "I used to have to go to Florin Road," recalled Singh, a Sacramento County associate planner. "Now, I think Laguna has 10 gas stations, three...

Environmental experts offer cure for 'sick' buildings.
October 29, 1999... Stop and think the next time you pop a couple of sinus pills, two aspirin squirt in some eye drops. It might not be just a common cold. Your home away from home, the office, may be located in a "sick" building. Headaches; eye, nose...

Building managers don't let energy use zap bottom line.
October 29, 1999... Energy costs account for about one-third of operating costs for buildings, and managers are using an array of strategies to chip away at those costs. Some are as simple as turning off the lights. Others get as technical as installing...

Commercial real estate brokerages.(Statistical Data Included)(Directory)
October 29, 1999... Commercial real estate brokerages Sharon Havranek (Ranked by number of licensed staff; in ties, ranked by total 1998 value of ...

New preservation director banks on incentives.
October 29, 1999... For preservation director Vincent Marsh, the bottom line of historic preservation runs straight to the heart of good business sense. Inherent in saving and reusing an old structure in Sacramento are often-over-looked economic perks for...

Building demand leads to rise in work-site accidents.
October 29, 1999... Jose Catarino had been on me job three days when he was told to clean up debris on the roof of the retail center next to The San Jose Repertory Theatre. According to the state Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Catarino went to...

Joseph (Jose) McNeill III.
October 29, 1999... Summit Commercial Properties Inc. / vice president Joseph (nicknamed Jose) McNeill is vice president of Summit Commercial Properties Inc., a commercial real estate company that acquired and is developing the master-planned, 670-acre...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(Brief Article)
October 29, 1999... HEA LTHCARE Dr. Lisa Nelsen, an obstetrician and gynecologist, has joined Sutter Medical Group in Roseville. Nelsen, who has a special interest in high-risk obstetrics and vaginal and laparoscopic surgery, earned her medical degree from...

STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST.
October 29, 1999... STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST WINNERS & LOSERS 1 Objective Systems +29.7% 1 Alternative Technology -33.3% 2 Opthalmic Imaging +29.5% 2 Foundation Health -12.6% 3 Recom ...

Woodland's schools.
October 29, 1999... THE ISSUE: Voters in Woodland will be asked to approve a school bond on Tuesday OUR POSITION: Woodland needs to improve its schools in order to ensure a bright future Voters in the city of Woodland should follow the example set in...

Too much '90s.
October 29, 1999... Gleaned from the Internet Twenty signs that you've had too much of the '90s: 1. You tried to enter your password on the microwave. 2. You now think of three espressos as "getting wasted." 3. You haven't played solitaire with...

Chief Seattle was trying to warn us.
October 29, 1999... It was Chief Seattle, I think, who said the words which now resonate so deafeningly in my head: "You cannot own the land," he said. "The land owns you." I know he was speaking in the metaphysical sense, trying to explain his tribe's...

Agriculture did OK on new laws this year.
October 29, 1999... Now that the Legislature has recessed. until January, and Gay. Gray Davis has dispensed with the hundreds of bills that were sent to his desk, we can put the final wrap on the 1999 legislative session. The most important (and most...

The McClatchy Co.
October 29, 1999... The 142-year-old newspaper company is the region's largest public corporation, having expanded its holdings-last year with the purchase of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. McClatchy once published just The Sacramento Bee and its sister...

Record year for SBA loans.(Sacramento, CA's Small Business Administration; FY 1999)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Sacramento's Small Business Administration district office has closed the books on another record year, guaranteeing more loans in quantity and total value than ever before. For fiscal 1999, which ended Sept. 30, the total value of loans...

Cuts in store for UCD Med Center.(University of Californian Davis)
October 15, 1999... Martha Marsh, new chief executive officer at the UC Davis Health System, knows red ink - and she doesn't want to see it here. The University of Pennsylvania Health System she left behind lost nearly $90 million last year. UC Davis, by...

ShareWave jumpy: Cisco Systems seen as likely buyer.
October 15, 1999... Cisco Systems Inc. is about to go on a shopping spree. And sources say one of the items Cisco puts in its basket could he ShareWave Inc. Sources inside ShareWave say the El Dorado Hills company could soon be sold to Cisco, the world's...

Rice fields gobbled up quickly as developers seek room to grow.(Sacramento Valley, CA)
October 15, 1999... Facing a loss of rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, growers are decrying the loss of farmland to development. Last year, 4,244 acres of rice land were sold to developers in Sacramento and Placer counties. California is the...

Bad faith by insurer or arson?: Homeowner, Allstate swap allegations.(Tom Ivers' lawsuit against Allstate Insurance Co.)
October 15, 1999... Homeowner, Allstate swap allegations Tom Ivers says he was burned by his insurance company. But his insurance company says Ivers did the burning when he torched his own house. Two and a half years after his luxury home in Shingle...

Small grocer closes shops after remodel.(River Park Market and Land Park Foods)
October 15, 1999... River Park and Land Park are each getting new grocery stores after the owner of two markets in the Sacramento neighborhoods filed for bankruptcy. The former operator of Land Park Foods and River Park Market partially blamed his business...

UCD heightens security after vandals hit biotech land.(University of California Davis)
October 15, 1999... After losing five agricultural research plots in Davis to groups protesting technologies that alter the genetic make up of plant life, the University of California is taking steps to make itself less vulnerable. But protecting 2,000...

Trio of office buildings planned at Mather Field.(Sacramento, CA)
October 15, 1999... Developers are planning to spend about $21 million to create three office buildings at the gateway to Mather Field. Local builder Peter McCuen plans to put up two new buildings, and San Francisco contractor-investor Tom Plant is...

Saca family sues kin over Filco Paging operations.(Tony I. Saca)
October 15, 1999... The patriarch of the Filco appliance and electronics chain has sued his nephew for the younger man's alleged misconduct in running the family's paging company. The suit includes an allegation that 29-year-old Tony I. Saca walked off with...

Start-up aims to offer global stock trading via Internet.(Access TradeOne.com)
October 15, 1999... Access TradeOne.com, a start-up firm whose main goal is creating a Web portal so that active traders can buy stocks and bonds on 240 foreign exchanges, is running its merger and acquisition department out of Roseville. And it's a busy...

New web site helps lawyers settle claims online: Cybersettle.com compares cash offers.
October 15, 1999... You can already buy lingerie, cars and books online. Now plaintiffs can look for legal settlements there too, thanks to a fledgling New York City Web site company called Cybersettle.com. It anonymously takes cash settlement offers from...

Auto mechanics could train at base.(McClellan Air Force Base, California is being primed as a training center for automobile technicians)(Professional Automotive Training Center planned for McClellan Air Force Base)
October 8, 1999... McClellan Air Force Base is being eyed as the location for a large, West Coast training center for automobile technicians. The Professional Automotive Training Center would cost $4 million to $5 million to build. It would be developed by...

Wavve Telecom gets extra $7M in funding.
October 8, 1999... Having officially opened its doors for business last Friday, Wavve Telecommunications is off and running. The start-up company that landed $10 million in venture capital in August from people in the oil and gas industry has now scored an...

Benner has laser eye center on target.(Rick Benner, president of Pacific Laser Eye Centers, focuses firm on lucrative market for correction of vision problems using lasers)
October 8, 1999... Rick Benner has enjoyed a winning streak at Pacific Laser Eye Centers since taking over as president and chief operating officer on July 1. The former president of the Sacramento Kings left pro sports when the team was sold to the Maloof...

Allstate keeps Rancho office.(Allstate Insurance Co.'s Rancho Cordova, California office saved from closure)
October 8, 1999... Insurer to close Orange County site instead Allstate Insurance Co.'s regional headquarters in Rancho Cordova, with approximately 160 employees, was saved from the chopping block this week when the insurance giant decided instead to close...

Big showdown at Dodge City Inn.(Dodge City Inn's renovation which was aided by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency stirs up controversy)
October 8, 1999... Downtown Sacramento developer Cyrus Yuossefi is preparing a $9.8 million renovation of the decrepit Dodge City Inn on Auburn Boulevard, with the help of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. But the way the project received...

Calgene may net more jobs in reorganization.(Calgene Inc. to benefit from reorganization of parent Monsanto Co.)
October 8, 1999... As part of the reorganization of its parent company, Calgene Inc. in Davis is losing its cotton research division but expanding its work with various plant oils. Monsanto Co. said some jobs will be lost, other employees will be...

Grass Valley Group zooms in on revival.(management-led buy-out leads firm out of Tektronix Inc.)
October 8, 1999... Tim Thorsteinson figures the tide is about to turn for the Grass Valley Group. Thorsteinson was the designated Mr. Fix-it at the Grass Valley Group in recent years, as the Nevada County high-tech operation foundered as a division of...

Yolo farmers plan tomato cannery to replace Hunt's.(Yolo County, California)
October 8, 1999... A group of Yolo County growers wants to build a tomato cannery to replace the Hunt-Wesson Inc. plant in Davis that's scheduled to close in a year. The group, numbering about 20, has yet to identify any of its members, select a site or...

Plan to develop Woodland's south flank sparks dispute.(Woodland, Yolo County, California plans to build 3,700 houses and apartments)
October 8, 1999... Woodland will soon begin hearings on a proposal to build 3,700 houses and apartments on 1,096 acres that would be added to the city's southern edge. It would be Woodland's largest annexation in years, and could prompt a rousing debate...

UCD health network pulls out of El Dorado County.(UC Davis Primary Care Network; El Dorado County, California)
October 8, 1999... The UC Davis Primary Care Network is retreating again - this time from El Dorado County. Five doctors who serve 11,000 patients in the network's clinic in Placerville were told Friday the network will lay them off and shut the clinic by...

Downtown group starts big campaign.(Downtown Sacramento Partnership to launch a major advertising campaign)
October 1, 1999... Michael Ault's hands shuffle through a handful of print-outs as he puts them in order. The papers hold background information for the interview. He looks up, ready for questions. That's a chronic condition for Ault - the need to be ready....

Record exec spins off into hotel biz.(executive Cedric Singleton taps California's hotel market)
October 1, 1999... Cedric Singleton made his mark as chief executive of Black Market Records, a controversial yet successful record label that produces rap records. Now he's gone into the hotel business. Singleton has taken over a hotel in the...

Med Center still well in the black, despite a slip.(UC Davis Health System decides to add work force despite plunging profit levels in 1998)
October 1, 1999... The UC Davis Health System was the only local hospital system that had a profit on healthcare operations last year, but its net income dropped by 23 percent. UC Davis Health has trimmed its budget by about $60 million over the last four...

1,000 lots cut from El Dorado developments.(construction of a retirement community in El Dorado, California)
October 1, 1999... Stephan Manolakas and Angelo Tsakopoulos will be converting their planned Carson Creek development in El Dorado Hills into an age-restricted community as the result of the settlement of a slow-growth lawsuit. The partners have also...

Internet makes investing in mutual fund fun.(Metamarkets Inc. launches first ever interactive mutual funds)
October 1, 1999... Mutual funds make a lot of sense for investors because they provide professional management and diversification. But aside from the hubris of the small investor who thinks he can beat the pros, I suspect the real reason some investors shy...

Office-retail project planned for East Sacramento.
October 1, 1999... Calling it the "renaissance of East Sacramento," J.D. Development Co. plans to create 14,000 square feet of offices and stores it calls East Sac Village along Elvas Avenue near H Street. The two-phase, $2 million project seeks to remodel...

Second company seeks to develop civic center.(Grosvenor International Ltd.)
October 1, 1999... The huge company that owns U.S. Bank Plaza is talking with Sacramento city officials about building a high-rise across the street on city land at 9th and J streets. The company, Grosvenor International Ltd., is the only competition so...

Northstar-at-Tahoe picks development partner.(joint agreement signed between Booth Creek Ski Holdings Inc. and East West Partners of Vail for a resort project in California)
October 1, 1999... The company that owns Northstar-at-Tahoe has selected a Colorado development firm as its partner for a resort project that includes multifamily neighborhoods with condominiums, townhomes and hotels near the lake's north shore. The...

Law firm seeks more tech clients after Monterey link.(O'Banion and Ritchey)
October 1, 1999... O'Banion & Ritchey, a small law firm in Sacramento that's carved out a niche in intellectual property law, is teaming up with a Monterey firm to broaden its ability to represent high-technology clients. This action follows a similar move...

Prison industries may lose dibs on federal sales.
October 1, 1999... Standard Business Furniture had completed the space planning and design work for Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Now it was time for the payoff: a $160,000 order for office furniture. But the order never came. Federal...

Getting loan is easy for those in the know.(Auburn, California-based Latitudes Restaurant)
October 1, 1999... When Bobbi McCoy's father asked her to market a new tool he invented, she knew she needed a loan to get her fledgling marketing business off the ground. There was just one minor hitch to getting it: "I didn't know where to begin," said...