Sacramento Business Journal articles from September 2000

Sacramento Business Journal archives from September 2000

Hospitals react to population changes: Sutter may close Memorial Hospital.(Sutter Health decides future of Sacramento hospital)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Sutter Health may close Sutter Memorial Hospital in East Sacramento after all. A decision on the future of the region's seventh-largest hospital is expected within months. In 1995, the large Sacramento-based health system announced plans...

Hospitals react to population changes: Four systems grow in Placer County.(California)
September 29, 2000... All four of the area's hospital systems are jockeying for market share in fast-growing Placer County. Sutter Health is moving ahead with plans for a second medical office building at its Roseville campus. Mercy Healthcare Sacramento...

Joe's Crab Shack drops anchor at riverfront.(plans to build location in Sacramento)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... A Texas seafood chain is negotiating to build on a prime riverfront site where the city of Sacramento has been trying for two years to pull in a major restaurant. Landry's Seafood Restaurants Inc., a Houston company that operates some...

Mather business park filled fast, seeks expansion.(Sacramento, California)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Mather Field has proved so popular as a business address that Sacramento County plans to open another 500 acres of the former Air Force Base for commercial development. It's the last big chunk of land available for development on the...

Insurer drops Folsom plan as property gets hung up.(Progressive Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Auto insurer Progressive Corp. has given up on moving into a proposed business park in Folsom that had once been targeted as headquartars for The Money Store. The business park has been hung up by unresolved and potentially lengthy legal...

Roseville Galleria changes hands.(Rodamco North America acquires United Shopping Centers)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... This week's sale of the company that owns the Galleria at Roseville will have no effect on the new super-regional mall, says the chief executive of the company being acquired. Rodamco North America N.V., a Dutch owner of U.S. regional...

It's staying on the ballot.(El Dorado County, California ballot measure)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... It looks like El Dorado County voters will get a chance to vote on Measure H in November, after all. An appellate court declined to hear the case last week, so an Aug. 30 El Dorado Superior Court ruling stands. That court tossed out a lawsuit...

UC Davis signs with Health Net.(UC Davis Health System)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The UC Davis Health System signed a new Medicare managed care agreement with Health Net last week, so the HMO must have sweetened the pot a bit, going forward. The academic medical center told Medicare health plans July 1 that it had to...

Natomas office construction stymied since ruling.(environmental legislation stops earth moving)
September 29, 2000... Developers of office buildings in North Natomas have seen their plans put on hold since a court ruling last month led to a freeze on earth moving for construction in North Natomas. One major residential developer said he, too, has been...

Developers plan four more Folsom hotels.(PKF Consulting, Tharaldson Development)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Hotel developers are preparing plans that would nearly triple the number of rooms in Folsom at a cost of more than $42 million. Two hotel developers plan to build two new hotels apiece in Folsom, and the owner of the city's largest hotel,...

Fleet Feet financials pick up the pace.
September 29, 2000... Tom Raynor and his top managers at Fleet Feet Inc. feel they're doing something right. Despite a couple of weak years in the athletic shoe business, the franchiser of 36 running and fitness stores expects to increase store sales by about...

Florin wants movies.(movie theater plans at Florin Mall)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Multiplex nears deal for old Weinstock's site A cinema company wants to tear down the former Weinstock's building at Florin Mall and replace it with a multiplex movie theater. The deal is in negotiations and far from complete, but...

Cerritos group takes over for Golden State Medical.(Medical Pathways)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Golden State Medical Group, a 350-member doctors, group that ran into trouble in El Dorado County last year, agreed Monday to hand over management to Cerritos-based Medical Pathways. Under the new partnership, Medical Pathways will assume...

Bickford Ranch blasted as poorly planned project.(by Sierra Club)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The Sierra Club has named Bickford Ranch, a south Placer County real estate development, as one of the two most badly planned projects in California. The dubious recognition was made in "Smart Choices or Sprawling Growth," the Sierra...

McClellan snags regional high-tech HQ.(Western Integrated Networks signs lease agreement)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... A company that expects to eventually hire 650 workers and spend $500 million building a broadband network in the Sacramento region has picked McClellan Park for its regional headquarters. Denver-based Western Integrated Networks LLC is...

CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
September 29, 2000... AxEx.COM In the Sept. 22 story "AgEx licks its lips entering sugar biz," the location of the online tracing firm's headquarters was reported incorrectly. The company is headquartered in Sacramento. Incorrect caption In an...

Handicapped access sparks more lawsuits.(Robert Goodell sues four businesses in California)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The former chief executive officer of a Rocklin insurance company has sued four more local businesses in his continued campaign to enforce access rights for the disabled. Robert Goodell, who has multiple sclerosis and uses, a wheelchair,...

Grilling in Berkeley aids Citrus Heights Web start-up.(IConvention)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... A Citrus Heights start-up is gaining momentum after winning an Entrepreneurs' Grill in Berkeley this month. IConvention has been contacted by venture funds and interested investors since getting grilled at the event, which was hosted by...

Average resale home gets $257K, up 20% in year.(housing in the sacramento area)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 29, 2000... The average price of a resale home in the Sacramento region has leapt 28.5 percent over the past two years, marking an emphatic end to years of minimal price hikes. Most of that increase came during the past year, according to a report...

World Trade Center wants own signature building.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The World Trade Center is one of the first places that comes to mind when people think of New York. The people behind the local trade center want the same thing for Sacramento. The Northern California World Trade Center, a nonprofit,...

East Sacramento grill to rise from Shakey's ashes.(East End Bar & Grill)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The location where the Shakey's Pizza Restaurant chain was launched at 57th and J streets is going to reopen in the coming months as a neighborhood grill. The old pizza joint near California State University Sacramento opened as the...

Regency restaurant redeux.(Hyatt Regency Sacramento)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The Hyatt Regency Sacramento's two restaurants are going under the scalpel to get face-lifts. Ciao-Yama, the Italian and Japanese restaurant, will be remodeled into a seasonal restaurant called Vines: Cafe for all Seasons. The new...

Wine sessions runneth over.(Wine Update, wine testing classes)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The folks at Wine Update -- a Sacramento-based Web magazine that searches out news about wine -- are continuing their tasting sessions at Grapes Restaurant, the restaurant and bar with a wine country theme in downtown Sacramento. The monthly...

Airport food takes off.(statistics of food consumption)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 29, 2000... Passengers going through Sacramento International Airport are scarfing up far more food this year than they did last year. Gross food and beverage sales at Sacramento International Airport grew 20 percent to $1.2 million in the fiscal...

New fund still sees a future in the IPO market.(MetaMarkets Investments)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The folks at Meta-Markets Investments have always had a taste for the new, so the launch of their second mutual fund is, not surprisingly, one that focuses on initial public offerings. The South San Francisco mutual fund company's first...

River Cats Foundation proposes teen center.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The first project of the River Cats Foundation will probably be the creation of a West Sacramento teen center. The new foundation is a joint effort of the Sacramento River Cats baseball team and the Riley's Inc. supermarket chain to...

New limo service stretches limits of luxury.(Block Party Entertainment)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The Luxor gets a lot of attention, which is a good thing, since that is its point. This aggressive-looking 31-foot-long limousine stands out even among limousines, not only because it's longer and taller, but also because it looks like...

Attack piles with a vengeance ... and a trash can.(technique for organizing office space)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... When is the last time you saw the surface of your desk? Is it cluttered with correspondence and reports, stacks of unread periodicals, sticky notes, message slips and piles of files from your multiple projects? Has it spilled over onto the...

Dare to be different by thinking 'inside the box'.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Make a list of everything that you claim about your company and product and service -- everything that your competitors do not claim they do or have. Go ahead, make a list. Nothing yet? OK, OK. Name one thing that you claim to...

Powerful uncertainties.
September 29, 2000... Deregulation and demand have made next year's local electricity costs a guessing game. So far, SMUD doesn't plan to raise rates, Roseville might, and PG&E says it has to. Here's what's up Skyrocketing wholesale power rates....

The 6th Annual BERC Pollution Prevention Awards.
September 29, 2000... Introduction Terrie Mitchell Manager, Business Environmental Resource Center To be successful in business today, you must-strive to be on the cutting edge More businesses are finding out that this applies to ALL aspects of their...

Thousands down, but hundreds more to go.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Leaky underground tanks still turn up Hundreds of them are gone. But the problem isn't solved yet. That's the quick take on the leaking underground storage tanks in Greater Sacramento. Hundreds have been removed, and their sites...

Truckee power company peddles clean stability.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Wind power can help solve California's problem with volatile electrical rates, says TenderLand Power Co. Inc. of Truckee. To make its point, the electric service provider begins a drive Oct. 1 to sign up and supply 80,000 customers with...

Terry Winter.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... California Independent System Operator / CEO Book: "Commanding Heights" by Daniel Yergin Vacation spot: Idaho wilderness Movie: "The Hunt for Red October" Music: Classical Hobby: Tennis Pet peeve: People who leave...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
September 29, 2000... ACCOUNTING Lawrence Raber has joined the accounting house Perry-Smith LLP as audit senior manager. He is responsible for the management of audit and consulting engagements for community banks and other financial institutions throughout...

CORRECTIONS & AMPLIFICATIONS.(Correction Notice)
September 29, 2000... A Sept. 15 Business Notes item misstated the relationship between executive placement firm Wilcox Miller & Nelson and two of its clients. Wilcox was retained to fill the chief executive officer position for the California Alliance of Child...

Citrus Heights.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The city of Citrus Heights, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department and the Willows Police Department will collectively receive an estimated $1.13 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to hire a total of 15 new full-time police...

Ferrari Color.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Ferrari Color was awarded the 2000 Photo Imager of the Year by Photographic Processing Magazine. Ferrari Color received the award because they are a photographic/digital printing lab in the United States who through technological advances and...

Michael Islp.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Michael Islp, executive producer at KVIE Channel 6 was awarded the 2000-01 Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism. He was recognized for his level of journalistic excellence for his coverage on mental health issues and will...

The Business Environmental Resource Center (BERC).(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... The Business Environmental Resource Center (BERC) has honored several organizations with the annual BERC Pollution Prevention Award. The recipients were: Casting Emission Reduction Program, Chrome Craft, Kaufman and Broad-Independence at...

Peabodys Coffee.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Peabodys Coffee Inc. sells fancy coffees at kiosks in universities, hospitals, airports, hotels and other fixed sites. The Rocklin company went public in December 1998 via a merger with a publicly traded Nevada shell corporation,...

Balance in Natomas.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... THE ISSUE: Grading permits are on hold in Natomas due to a legal dispute over wildlife OUR POSITION: If the lawsuit isn't settled, a mix of jobs and housing might not be achieved It makes sense to try to bring a settlement quickly to...

Yes on Placer's V, W.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... Placer County voters will get a chance to preserve vast tracts of land in November by voting yes on both measures V and W. The proposal should be not only passed but emulated by surrounding areas. The two Placer initiatives are designed...

Near the tipping point on growth.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... People who study epidemics describe something called the "tipping point." That's the moment when a disease begins to spread exponentially. Enough people are infected that the outbreak starts to run away from all efforts to control it. ...

Regional plant would save West Sac millions.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2000... West Sacramento leaders are facing one of the most important infrastructure decisions in the history of the city since the community built a water treatment plant: Pursue the construction of a new sewage treatment plant or join a regional...

Environmental engineering/consulting firms.
September 29, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST.
September 29, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Tracks collide on plan to move depot.(Union Pacific railroad depot)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... A coalition of community activists is squaring off against transportation interests over the future of the 76-year-old Union Pacific railroad depot in downtown Sacramento. The transportation group wants a new station built 400 feet north...

Post Dulls out of plan to build downtown apartments.
September 22, 2000... Post Properties Inc., the company that only three months ago announced a plan to build 1,000 or more apartments in downtown Sacramento, is leaving town. The departure of Post, based in Atlanta, is seen as a tremendous blow to downtown...

Colfax workers: ESOP is AWOL.(employee stock ownership plan )(Statistical Data Included)
September 22, 2000... Richard Curtis is worried about his retirement benefits. He's worked for Toms Sierra Co. Inc. for more than 20 years. He figured that when his working days were over, he'd get an ample income from the company's employee stock ownership plan....

Health costs rising again.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 22, 2000... The rates that state workers pay out of their own pockets for health insurance will rise sharply on Jan. 1. Some may see a fee. subtracted from their paychecks for the first time, while others may see the amount they currently pay double or...

First Union tries to find a taker for empty ziggurat.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The Money Store ziggurat on the West Sac riverfront is getting shown off a little these days, say sources still in the building. Real estate types from First Union Bank Corp. have taken a few groups of people in suits on inside tours, in...

McClellan foundry stays put.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... People who went to an environmental awards ceremony on Tuesday may. have gotten the idea that the Casting Emission Reduction Program the folks behind the environmentally friendly foundry at McClellan Air Force Base -- is moving to New...

Hot days mean hot dogs.(Chilly Dog from IC Cubed)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... That is, when dogs are left in parked cars. So IC Cubed, a Petaluma company, wants to keep canines cool with a new product called The Chilly. Dog. It uses a tiny computer made by Z-World of Davis. The Chilly Dog automatically chills the...

Race resumes after poop delay.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The River Otter Amphibious Race, abruptly postponed two weekends back by the city of Sacramento's unintended raw sewage dump into the American River, has been rescheduled for Oct. 21. The race pits artistic People-powered contraptions...

Placer's gone to the birds.(Placer County, California, chicken production)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 22, 2000... This just in: The number, of chickens sold in Placer County more than doubled in 1999, to 2.7 million birds from 1 million in 1998; says a new report by the Placer County agricultural commissioner. The total value of the county's chicken...

Designers bid for the Crocker job.(Crocker Art Museum)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Some 30 architects and designers last week submitted their qualifications to plan a sweeping expansion of the Crocker Art Museum. It's a prestigious project that would more than double the size of the oldest art museum west of the...

Local credit agency selling for $12.5 million to national giant.(RCA Information Services)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Greater Sacramento's largest locally based credit rating bureau is selling out to a national Operation. RCA Information Services, is selling its consumer credit reporting operation in the Sacramento-Fairfield area to Trans Union LLC for...

Workers' comp to rise another 19%?(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Insurers pay $1.50 for every $1 they collect The California workers' compensation system is in crisis, according to insurers and other experts. For two years in a row -- last year and 1998 -- insurers spent $1.50 on claims and...

Track 'n Trail regroups.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Redesigns shoe stores, tightens down inventory Track 'n Trail Inc. is trying to regain its footing with a two-pronged strategy of redesigning its shoe stores, and shuffling its product mix and inventory. The El Dorado Hills footwear...

Rice-bran concern set to buy out public company.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... NutraStar, a private El Dorado Hills company that plans to make health food from rice bran, intends to merge with a public company within a month. Patricia McPeak, chief executive officer and principal owner of NutraStar, said her...

CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Fastest 100 list Carter & Burgess Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based engineering firm, incorrectly appears in this week's supplement on Sacramento's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies. The company was ranked as the 47th-fastest-growing local...

Wild Oats eyes store at site of downtown garden.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Developer Lux Taylor has tentatively lined up a Wild Oats grocery store for the housing and commercial development he wants to build at the current site of the Ron Mandella Community Garden in downtown Sacramento. Taylor said he has a...

Commonwealth Equity's successor to go private.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... An 11-year-old investment of $1,000 in what's now Peregrine is worth only $8 Sacramento's 10th-largest publicly traded company, once one of the region's worst public investments, plans to go private as soon as the end of this year. ...

Capital firms' office park to help create own power.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... As energy prices soar and rolling brownouts become reality, Kevin Best believes the time has come for commercial buildings that generate their own power. Best, CEO of Sacramento's Real Energy, has chosen the East Bay area to build...

Vision Service's e-commerce subsidiary grows fast.(Eyefinity)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Eyefinity, an eye-care e-commerce subsidiary created by Vision Service Plan Inc. six months ago, is angling for its own space. Eyefinity has more than 30 full-time employees and is likely to double its payroll by year's end. It's looking...

Dot-com heads to Old Sac.(EVentureLab)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... And a protege of EVentureLab launches Internet portal EVentureLab, which helps tiny local dot-coms get started, is moving from West Sacramento to Old Sacramento. Meanwhile, one of its companies has launched its first commercial...

Laguna Pavilion is getting full; Galleria settles in.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Laguna Pavilion is filling up. The 72,000-square-foot shopping center that John Saca is developing at Laguna Boulevard and Bruceville Road is now 75 percent leased for a planned pre-Thanksgiving opening. The center will resemble the...

AgEx licks its lips entering sugar biz.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... AgEx.com, the Carmichael online trading firm, plans to launch a new Web site targeting a huge market sugar trading. AgEx intends to launch the site later this fall. Initially, it will offer only information and statistics. An online...

New mayor of Arden Fair.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Mall gets general manager after nine-month search At his first job as general manager of a shopping center while he was still in his 20s, Chris Facas took his mall in south-central Los Angeles through the 1992 riots -- without any damage....

Clock running out for national sports gambling bill.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The odds are against legislation to ban gambling on college sports, despite the House Judiciary Committee's 19-9 approval of the bill Sept. 13. Supporters say they could win a vote in the full House, but congressional leaders are not...

Workers' comp covers half cost of lost income.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Rand study shows shortcomings of going self-insured Workers who file claims for permanent partial disabilities for injuries sustained on the job at California's largest companies recover less than half of their wage loss from workers'...

'Slotting' squeezes fresh food growers.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... As a result of supermarket industry consolidation, produce growers say they now must pay the same kinds of fees that dry goods manufacturers have paid for years to get their products on store shelves. In the past, retailers have defended...

Employers eye ways to cap health costs.(increasing cost of health insurance)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... America's largest employers fear this year's 8.3 percent increase in the cost of health insurance is not a short-term phenomenon and are beginning to think about ways to cap their premiums, says Larry Atkins, coordinator of the Corporate...

New contracting site targets women.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The federal government has launched a new Web site, WomenBiz.gov, to serve as a portal to more than 100 procurement sites hosted by various agencies. The site also provides basic information for women business owners who are interested in...

Small-business optimism rises.(NFIB Education Foundation's Small Business Optimism Index )(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The NFIB Education Foundation's Small Business Optimism Index rose by eight-tenths of a point last month, as concerns about inflation eased. The 561 small-business owners surveyed by the foundation reported fewer price increases in August...

Two charity watchdogs plan to merge.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Two national organizations mat provide independent reviews of charities for donors and the public have agreed to merge. The Council of Better Business Bureaus' Foundation, which houses the Philanthropic Advisory Service, plans to join...

Your objective is not your marketing strategy.
September 22, 2000... Strategy is a word we use in many ways, both in marketing and outside of our marketing lives -- if there is any such thing as time away from our marketing lives. Here's the problem. In marketing, strategy has a very vital role. Strategy...

Cityhood for every neighborhood.
September 22, 2000... More communities march toward incorporation, threatening to shatter Sacramento County into miniature 'fiefdoms' Critics of the wave of city incorporations deluging Sacramento County say the new cities might just tear the county's quality...

Rancho Cordova cityhood beckons more than ever.(planning for municipal incorporation)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... After decades of false starts and thwarted efforts, the drive, for cityhood in Rancho Cordova has picked up steam. Incorporation proponents have collected more than enough petition signatures to put the issue on the table, and residents could...

Prospects brightening for Watt Avenue corridor.(development and investment in areas of Sacramento County, California)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Many years ago, North Highlands was buzz of military housing, young families and shiny shopping centers. But five years ago, when Jens Larsen's wife first saw the shopping center he had just acquired northeast of McClellan Air Force Base, she...

Carmichael, Fair Oaks: Hey, don't forget about us.(plans for municipal incorporation)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Dick Barbar wonders if Carmichael wouldn't be better off as a city. Barbar, president of the Carmichael Colony Neighborhood Association, says Sacramento County government doesn't respond-well to what Carmichael needs, and spends its...

Honeymoon continues for new city of Elk Grove.(plans in Elk Grove, California)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... From the county's perspective, Elk Grove is the epitome of the "me" generation in its bid to capture the city's resources and keep them at home. But residents of the new city say they were unhappy with the sprawling growth, a shortage of...

Citrus Heights continues to reap cityhood benefits.
September 22, 2000... If anyone would have had high expectations of the impact of cityhood on Citrus Heights, it would have been Bill Van Duker. The Citrus Heights businessman was president of the committee spearheading the drive to incorporate in the late...