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1 m P ori land O bserver • J uly 10, 1996
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Finance
New Northwest insurance
Distribution Organization
BRIEFS
Commodities Up On
Weather Worry
W eather w orries boosted pric­
es in coffee, grain and petroleum
m arkets on M onday. At the New
Y ork M ercantile E xchange, oil
prices rose on w orries that H urri­
cane Bertha would dam age refin­
eries as it roared through the C ar­
ibbean. At the C hicago B oard o f
T rade, grain prices closed m ostly
higher after hot w eather and little
rain in the Corn Belt over the w eek­
end sparked w orries about yields
this autumn.
Wage Hike Debates
The Senate opened debate M on­
day on a bill to increase the m ini­
mum wage 90 cents an hour, from
the current $4.25 to $ 5 .15. Presi­
dent Clinton has prom ised to veto
the m easure if it includes a R epub­
lican am endm ent that w ould ex­
em pt businesses earning less than
$ 500,000 annually from giving
their em ployees a raise. Senate
Republican leaders say the hike
w ould be a “jo b killer” for small
business. D em ocrats say what Re­
publicans really want to kill is the
m inim um w age increase.
Job Cuts Up In 1996
1996 is shaping up to be one o f
the w orst years o f jo b losses in the
United States this decade. A new
study finds that com panies an­
nounced 270,513 jo b cuts in the
first h a lf o f the year. The study by
the outplacem ent firm C hallenger,
G ray & Christm as says th a t’s up
from 2 1 1 ,7 1 1 in the first h alf o f
1995 and 6 percent higher than the
254,878 announced in the first h alf
o f 1993, w hich was the biggest
jo b -lo ss year o f the decade. But
the study also had som e good news
for A m erican w orkers: som e o f the
com panies that cut hundreds o f
thousands o f jo b s earlier in the
1990s are hiring again.
Comperator Gets
New President
C o m p e ra to r S ystem s C o rp .,
w hich is facing a lawsuit and in­
vestigations by the Securities and
Exchange C om m ission for alleged
fraud, has nam ed a new president
to serve until the next stockholders
m eeting. A rm ond Schroeder will
succeed Richard Floegel, w ho re­
signed as president and director on
June 28.
Chrysler Extends
Incentives
C hryslerC orp. extended its sales
incentives on select 1996 m odels
that were set to expire M onday
until O ct. 7. It also increased its
cash rebate for the D odge D akota
pickup truck to $ 1,500 from $ 1,000
in all states except C alifornia and
H aw aii, where it already is $2,000
for a regular cab and $ 1,000 for a
club cab model. C hrysler also d e­
layed the release o f its second-
quarter results from T hursday un­
til Friday because o f a board m eet­
ing scheduled for T hursday. A na­
lysts estim ate that C hrysler will
report earnings o f about $1.1 bil­
lion, or about $2.75 a share.
British Airways Talk
To Union
British A irw ays said M onday it
will hold talks w ithin 24 hours
with its main pilo ts’ union in an
attem pt to avert a potentially crip­
pling open-ended strike next week.
T he union called d ie sli ik e foi July
16 in an attem pt to force the airline
to im prove its pay offer to pilots,
p a r ti c u la r l y th o s e b a s e d at
Gatw ick. L ondon's second airport.
BA announced the plans for the
talks after the P ilots' A ssociation
w rote to the airline suggesting ne­
gotiations to stop w hat w ould be
B A ’s firs, pilo ts’ strike since 1977.
The union'sG eneral Secretary says
he w ould be m aking som e sugges­
tions on ending the dispute.
H urely, A tkins & S tew art jo in s
h a n d s w ith C a m p b e ll G a lt &
N ew slands/U SI C orporation
T he Pacific N orthw est gains a
m ajor a new insurance distribution
o rganization w ith the m erg er an ­
nounced today by two leading insur­
ance brokerage firm s in Portland and
Seattle
Seattle-based Hurley, A tkins &
Stew art, Inc. is jo in in g with P ort­
la n d - b a s e d C a m p b e ll G a lt &
N ew slands, Inc, a m em ber o f USI
Insurance Services C orp., creating
one o f the m ost significant insurance
and insurance-related financial ser­
vices firm s in the N orthw est. T erm s
o fth e transaction w ere not disclosed.
A c c o r d in g to
A n d re w
F.
W hittaker, C h ie f E xecutive O fficer
o f C G N , and Ronald R H artz, Pres­
ident o f HAS, the m erger will sub­
stantially expand both firm s' pres­
ence in the Pacific N orthw est by
allow ing them to deliver new p ro d ­
ucts and services to clients through
facilities available through the na­
tionw ide USI netw ork.
H A S is a highly respected and
prom inent retail insurance agency
and risk m anagem ent firm form ed in
1952. For years the firm has been an
industry leader specializing in co n ­
struction and professional liability.
O ne o f O re g o n ’s leading insur­
ance and risk m anagem ent firms.
CG N serves a broad range o f com ­
m ercial. industrial and individual cli­
ents with com prehensive property,
casualty, surety , health, life and risk
m anagem ent services.
“ Building this new relationship
with CG N allow s us to expand our
access to the insurance m arketplace
and its m any specialty program s,"
said HAS C hairm an Ronald Hartz.
"W e are also delighted to be playing
a key role in the nationw ide exp an ­
sion o f USI in the Pacific N orthw est.
This partnership is a w onderful op­
portunity for the future o f our firm".
"W e look forw ard to blending our
mutual expertise to extend services
throughout the Pacific N orthw est,"
said Andrew F. W hittaker, C h ief
Exec ut ive O fficer o f C G N ." We share
the sam e am bitions and anticipate
being an even m ore dom inate force
in the m arketplace follow ing our
m erger.”
The USI affiI iation positions HAS
to deliver a w ider spectrum o f insur­
ance, risk m anagem ent, benefits and
financial services to its clients through
broader program s and greater m ar­
ket access.
HAS will retain its offices in Seat­
tle and E verett as well as its individ­
ual identity, sta ff and entrepreneurial
spirit.
“ W e are de I ighted to bring Hurley,
A tkins & Stew art into the USI family
as we further extend our com m it­
m ent to serving the N o rth w est," said
Bernard H M izel, C hairm an and
C h ief Executive O fficer o fS an Fran­
cisco-based USI.
“ We seek our partners thoughtfully
and evaluate them carefully for integ­
rity strong financial management, sol­
id market presence, quality relation­
ships with clients, carriers and em ­
ployees, and a shared vision o f the
future, “Mizel added. “Evidence o f
this is the industry leadership o f prin­
c ip a ls in th is a f f ilia tio n —A ndy
W hittaker is president ofthe Indepen­
dent Insurance Agents Association o f
Oregon and HAS Execut ive V ice Pres­
ident Ronald Getchell is President o f
the Independent Insurance Agents
Association o f Washington.
The fastest grow ing insurance and
insurance-related financial services
firm in the country, USI was formed
in 1994 with plans to becom e one the
n atio n 's leading forms and already
ranks as the 12th largest insurance
brokerage in the U.S. according to
industry’ sources. W ith the m erger o f
CG N and HAS, U S I's revenues now
top $100 million.
USI issponsored by Saratoga Part­
ners, an investm ent fund m anaged by
Dillon, Read & C om pany, a nation­
ally prom inent investm ent banking
firms, and several institutional in­
vestors.
Port Receives FAA
National Award
The Port o f Portland has been
recognized by the Federal A viation
A dm inistration (FA A ) for significant
accom plishm ents in p ro ' ¡ding dis­
a d v a n ta g e d b u s in e s s e n te rp ris e
(D B E ) opportunities at Portland In­
ternational A irport (PD X ).
The award was presented at the
level o f DBE participation in its food
and beverage and retail concessions
program ; its DBE m entoring p ro ­
gram , w hich was begun by Stem pel,
and the direct services it provides to
sm all, disadv antaged firms to ensure
PacifiCorp Selects Portland For New
PacifiCorp has selected Portland as
:he site o f its first new business center,
which will open in Septem ber at 1900
SW Fourth Avenue in downtown Port­
land. By 1997, the business centerw ill
provide 24-hour services for Pacific
Power custom ers and will em ploy
about 150 people.
“ W echoose Portland because it has
an excellent labor pool, and it has the
infrastructure for the most advanced
technologies that will allow us to bet­
ter serve our custom ers,” said Shelley
Faigle, S en io r V ice P resid en t o f
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp, which serves 1.3 mil­
lion custom ers in seven western states,
plans to open a second business center
em ploying 80-120 people in another
city in 1997. The city has not yet been
determined.
“ We are looking forward to the day
when custom ers can choose their elec­
tricity supplier, and we intend to be
their utility o f choice,” said Faigle.
“To do that, w e need to be accessible
to our custom ers 24 hours per day, and
we need to meet all our custom ers’
needs w ith ju st one phone call."
The business center is an integral
part o f Pac i fiCorp ’ s strategy to expand
custom er service options. In addition
to o p e n in g th e b u sin e ss ce n te r,
PacifiCorp is expanding paym ent op­
tions at convenient locations and with
extended hours, and it soon will offer
more ways to pay bills, including elec­
tronic transfers and credit card pay­
ments.
PacifiCorp is leasing40,000 square
feet in the Fourth Avenue building
from G erding Edlen D evelopm ent
Com pany. PacifiCorp will make ex­
tensive renovations to the facility, in­
cluding installing ergonomic work sta­
tions, state-of-the-art com puter and
telephone systems, a resource library ,
and other employee tools and features
designed toenhance custom er service.
PacifiCorp is recruiting jo b candi­
dates inside the com pany and exter­
nally. The positions include customer
service associates, custom er service
coaches, trainers, quality assurance
specialists and other jobs.
P acifiC orp has selected APAC
TeleServices, Inc. to co-m anage the
business center. Based in Deerfield,
Illinois, APAC manages business cen­
ters for United Parcel Service, W est­
ern Union, Compaq and a number o f
other companies.
In creating its business center,
PaicfiCorp studied 15 centers around
the country and formed two task forces
o f experienced customer service em ­
ployees. They made extensive recom­
mendations on how the center should
that the m anagerial and adm inistra­
tive skills o f those firms increase
along with their ability to handle
progressively larger projects.
T h e P o rt m o re th a n tr ip le d
D B E - o p e r a te d fo o d , b e v e r a g e
an d re ta il sa le s at PD X by r e ­
v a m p in g its c o n c e s sio n s m a n a g e ­
m e n t, a m o u n tin g to n e a rly $ 9
m illio n in D B E g ro ss re v e n u e s
th e firs t y e a r o f o p e ra tio n .
I he FAA also recognized D allas/
Fort W orth and M inneapolisS t. Paul
airports for their DBE efforts.
usiness Center
operate to improve custom er service.
“ We found that to deliver superior
custom er service, you need a skilled
work force where people are cross
trained, highly motivated and team
oriented, and you need to offer flexi­
bility and a positive work environment
to em ployees,” said Faigle.
E m p lo y e e s w ill re c e iv e five
w eek s’ training and will have con-
tinuing opportunities to upgrade their
skills.
PacifiCorp plans to transfer or hire
about 140 custom ers service associ­
ates who help custom ers on a variety
o f issues, including billing, credit
and collection, pow er outages, ener­
gy efficiency, and new services. The
com pany also will hire or transfer
about eight coaches.
“ L a s t W e e k , W e
W a l k e d I n t o U.S. B a n k
A n d L e f t W it h
2 B e d r o o m s A n d A B a t h .”
Companies Doing Business On The Internet
(NAPS)—Information technolo­
gy and electronic communications
have become a daily part of many
American com panies of all sizes
and industries.
The investment community has
been in the forefront of conducting
business in this fashion for quite
some tim e a lre a d y . Now, some
adaptive investment management
companies are using this new wave
of information technology to bene­
fit interested investors and clients.
According to a recent survey
conducted by The D anforth
A ssociates, Inc., 70 percent of
respondents who have a computer
subscribe to a service th a t allows
them access to the In tern et. It is
because of this trend, the company
offers a World Wide Web site with
updated inform ation and links to
investm ent resources for people
w ishing to invest th e ir money in
common stocks. Danforth also hopes
to offer individual client portfolios
online sometime in the near future.
For w hat may be the first time
in business history, an abundance
of inform ation is available to the
layperson, not just “computer gurus.”
For example, savvy investm ent
a d v is o r s h a v e b e e n a b le to buy
shares of stock, track industry and
stock trends, access daily quotes,
retrieve reports on m utual funds,
subscribe to online services and
consult other brokers about choosing
stocks. Now, just about anyone with
a computer and a modem can access
the same information.
One issue m any u sers have is
regarding security and confidentiality
on the ’Net.
collect data, market their products
and provide valuable information
and services to online users.
“M any people have concerns
about secu rity on the In te rn e t,”
explains Stuart G. Danforth, Treas­
urer of The Danforth Associates, Inc.
“B ut w ith grow ing technological
advancem ents in this area, it is a
certainty th at these issues will not
exist for long.”
W ith re v o lu tio n a ry in te rn e t
security being introduced from the
experts at M asterCard and Visa—-
who have been working jointly to
develop technical industry s ta n ­
d a rd s t h a t w ill become S ecure
Electronic T ransactions (SET)
m any concerned users will have
th eir fears put to rest and begin
conducting personal business on
the Internet freely. It is expected
th a t SET will become available
before the year’s end.
You can visit the Danforth web
site a t http://www.da-online.com
or e-mail for more information at
Info@ da-online.com or call 800-
443-4427.
O
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H o m e L o a n s F r o m
U .S. B a n k
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U .S . B A N K
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