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This is the fourth installment of Diary of a Business, in which The Everett Business Journal chronicles Mike Anderson's steps toward starting a bookstore/coffee shop. Below is an entry from [...]

Corporate giants are courting Oregon's high tech start-up firms, investing in them in order to acquire technologies or find new markets. Kyocera International Inc., for example, contributed $250,000 to Synektron Corp.; the two companies are now pursuing a joint venture to manufacture motors for computer disk drives.

Venture capitalists and industry analysts call Eric Pozzo's Microcosm Inc. a 'low cost-high tech' business. Microcosm's incircuit emulators, which help pinpoint problems in electronic circuitry, are well-received, but analysts say the company has low growth potential. President Pozzo predicts up to $10 million in 1985 sales.

Shakeup at diaper company leaves founders on outside When three young men start a company that rakes in $25 million its first year in business, they don't necessarily get rich. [...]

Pitassi, Klemp seek new bottom line Disposable diaper wizards plan to try again with another new company Dave Pitassi and Wally Klemp, the young entrepreneurs who conceived, built and abandoned [...]

Gray & Co. sold for $10.6 million Food-processing firm buyer hopes to more than double sales by 1990 Gray & Co. chairman James Reynolds has bought out his partner and [...]

Jobs go away but high tech isn't finished 'We're hiring,' confided the chief executive of a Beaverton electronics company. 'But please, don't put that in the newspaper.' The high-technology boss [...]

Burgerville aims for fast food's Big Three Market research convinced the folks at Burgerville U.S.A. that their 25th birthday party would be a flop unless there was something in it [...]

Grant works to ease working mom's lot By MICHAEL A. ANDERSON Upstairs in her Beaverton home, Elena Grant's four children live noisily, but they only occasionally disrupt the expanding business [...]

NASA uses Ramagon's plastic beam and joint construction toys to build models of their space stations. Recent placement of an order by NASA's Systems Dynamics Laboratory should make the next year profitable. Ramagon recently signed a licensing agreement with Bachmann Industries for manufacturing and marketing.

Grayson Evans has developed an automated security and household control system, called Max. His firm, Archinetics, hopes to sell about 1500 systems next year for revenues of $7.5 million. The system can be programmed to monitor for smoke, fire, intruders, and energy efficiency; to turn on appliances and function as a computerized message center.

Designed Data Systems Inc. produces the Quote System, a computer system which provides price and financing information for prospective automobile owners. Designed Data markets its product to automobile dealers and has a backlog of 130 orders. The company expects to sell $15 million worth of systems in 1986 for $8,000 apiece.

Laser manufacturer Electro Scientific Industries Inc. reported sales of $84.1 million for fiscal 1985. The company supplies laser systems to semiconductor manufacturers and expects weaker earnings in 1986 due to the semiconductor industry slump. Electro Scientific derives more than half of its revenues from customers in Europe and Japan.

Portland-based Rundel Products is the largest supplier of software binders on the West Coast. Nearly one-third of its $15 million in revenues this year will come from sales to software companies. The company also sells binders to office-supply stores and other non high-technology companies.

Portland-based shoe manufacturer Avia expects a $25 million profit in 1985 with $50 million forecast for 1986 and $120 million for 1990. Avia, noted for its aerobic shoe, has a 15 percent share of its market. Venture capital will support higher inventories and enhance Avia's good distribution system.

Portland's Far West Federal Bank is shooting for 30 to 50 percent returns on its loans. The thrift loaned almost $10 million in unsecured funds to such 'untouchables' as leveraged buyouts and emerging startups.

Three new Portland-area firms are racing for customers for their surface mounting services which pack computer chips onto printed circuit boards. Each company is taking a different tactic to capture the market. Two are seeking venture capital, while the third is actively seeking surface mount business.

The U.S. Treasury Department's plan to eliminate American State Bank's role in processing federal government receipts will cost the bank about $1 billion in deposits. Bank president Venerable Booker plans to fight what he claims is discrimination against the primarily black-owned institution.

International Yogurt Co. of Portland, Oregon has introduced 'Yo Cream,' a gourmet frozen yogurt. Two national grocery chains will soon carry the product; Yo Cream aims for a share of the premium ice cream market, retailing at almost $2 a pint.

Torwest Capital acquires Huston Edmunds Torwest Capital acquired most of Huston Edmunds Moppel's assets last week in a deal that consolidates two of San Diego's most active players in the [...]

Bad loans still haunt San Diego banks Last year wasn't kind to San Diego County banks. Although some of the larger players shined, underwhelming performance was the rule. And for [...]

Big hitters swinging at Sorrento fund Nine of San Deigo's most prominent business leaders are pooling their money and expertise in such fields as biotechnology, electronics and retail to form [...]

Autonomy puts Elgar on track to profitability Elgar Corp., a long-ignored and unprofitable division of an Indiana conglomerate, is on track for a $2 million profit this year, boasts the [...]

Mail-order tea isn't just Elaine's hobby There is no Betty Crocker. Bartles and Jaymes don't really make wine coolers because they don't exist. But don't assume the smiling woman rendered [...]

Scientific Computer leaps to market Additional round of $15 million in funding powers company's latest push Anxious to put its munisupercomputer in users' hands as fast as possible, Scientific Computer [...]

Four area thrifts hunt for fresh cash At least two Portland-area thrifts are pondering mergers to remedy their lingering woes, but two others are counting on improving fortunes to help [...]

Avia hires underwriter to raise cash But shoemaker seeks $15 million in private funding only . . . for now The Portland manufacturer of Avia athletic shoes has hired a [...]

Smith tailors firm to pregnant executives These days, the term 'barefoot and pregnant' is as passe as it is offensive, but some would sooner go to work without shoes than [...]

Benj. Franklin ponders stock issue Thrift sees better market for its second effort to go public in three years The Benj. Franklin Savings & Loan, the Northwest's largest thrift and [...]

Test Systems hires president, braces for growth The top sales and marketing official for a major General Electric Co. subsidiary has been recruited to head Test Systems Strategies Inc., a [...]

Payline takes twist on path to going public Payline Systems Inc., a Tualatin-based startup with plans to pit its credit-card operated pay telephones against those of the industry giants, connected [...]

Northwest Instrument gains speed Intel deals, international contracts, planned buyout help vault startup Two major contract agreements with Intel Corp.--signed many months ago but hushed until now--will be worth an [...]

Surprise buyer nabs Lewis & Clark While prominent out-of-state banks have led the merger-mania charge to buy out Oregon banks, the recent sale of Lewis & Clark Bank was made [...]

Area beer wholesalers see shakeout on tap Facing watered-down profits in a market that's been going flat, the dozen or so Portland-area beer wholesalers are consolidating in a shakeout that [...]

AIDS research may fuel stock issue Potential breakthrough may push Portland's Epitope Inc. to go public Epitope Inc., a Portland-based biotechnology company that may have developed a new foolproof way [...]

Venture firms quicken hunt for capital ideas If your startup firm needed money last year, you probably ran up against a group of preoccupied, miserly local venture capitalists. This year, [...]

Pearlsoft Inc. has reorganized under Chapter ll bankruptcy. They offered debt-for-equity shares to virtually all of the company's unsecured creditors. This leaves the company employees with about 34% of the shares. They hope this repositioning, plus a new software product, will quiet disgruntled creditors and mean profitability.

Support Technologies has just raised $5.5 million in a second round of venture capital financing. It will be used to support manufacture and marketing of their computer-aided electronic equipment testing product. Intended for the local electronics service firm, the equipment will allow close-to-user repair of electronic components.

Ateq has completed a second round of financing for $7 million. This will cover the production of its first product, a semiconductor wafer fabrication machine, and help to finance development of a second product. Ateq also announced signing of a contract with Canon Sales for sale of its product in Japan.

San Jose-based semiconductor manufacturer Visic Inc. is planning to open a 10-to-20 engineer operation somewhere in Washington County in June. President Joel Karp claims that a larger manufacturing operation may be built in the area in 1987 or 1988 if company growth and market conditions warrant it.

Scott Kelly has invented a radar jamming device. He sells plans for the device through magazine advertising. While using the device is illegal in some instances, selling plans and owning the devices are not. Oregon State Police describe the item as illegal, unless registered with the FCC., WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Dwight C. Schar, chairman of NVHomes L.P., announced that the partnership has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement relating to a [...]

Scientific Computer Systems Corp. has completed a second round of venture capital financing, for $17.7 million. It is ready to produce a near-supercomputer, the SCS-40, and expects sales to reach $100 million in three years. The company is licensed to use Cray scientific programs., >R F % TO BUSINESS DESK: AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING MARKET REPORT NEW YORK, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Prices on the American Stock Exchange closed lower today in active trading. [...]

Lattice Semiconductor, after two years, is finally ready to ship its two new chips. One is for reprogrammable logic, and one for high-speed memory. They will be made by VLSI Technology of San Jose, California, and by an undisclosed foreign manufacturer. They expect sales of $30 million by next March.

PacWest Bancorp., fourth largest in Oregon, is a prime take-over target for banks wanting to enter the Oregon market. This is due to its size, location of its branch banks, low percentage of problem loans, and its loan policies. 1984 assets were $700 million with earnings of $1.86 million.

Telecommunication company OGC Telecomm plans to turn its profits over to the Oregon Graduate Center. President Cap Jacobs says the company was founded to obtain funds for the development of the Oregon Graduate Center (OGC). In turn, OGC is one of Portland's greatest magnets for high-technology industries.

First Source Capital Fund of Portland contributed $750,000 to form Cycomm, a voice-encryption firm. Currently employing five, Cycomm's long-term plan is to be instrumental in changing government specifications of telephone security systems. The firm plans to undercut competitors and needs only a minimum of venture capital for future expansion.

Avia Group steps closer to public domain Active trading of some of its common stock has forced Avia Group International Inc. to begin filing its financial figures this spring as [...]

U.S. Bancorp's interstate bid begins anew Old National Bancorporation has paid a hefty price to cut the strings that would have forced the Spokane, Wash.-based holding company into a merger [...]

Herpes cream soothing owners of BioPharmaceuticals For the last five months, the nine employees at BioPharmaceuticals Corp. unimpressive west Portland office had gotten used to filling a handful of orders [...]