The Roanoke Times du lieu suivant : Roanoke, Virginia • 24

I Roanoke Times World-News PAGE B8 THURSDAY, OCT. 7, 1993 BUSINESS IN BUSINESS Apco safety record goes to the dog Not since a meter reader was bitten by a dog last summer has a Roanoke division employee of Appalachian Power Co. suffered a disabling injury, the utility said Wednesday. On Sept. 22, division employees reached a milestone: They had worked a million work hours without any of them missing work because of an injury, setting a record for that Apco division.

By Wednesday morning, the record had stretched to 1,030,000 hours. The meter reader who was bitten on June 12, 1992, lost one day of work because of an allergic reaction to medication. Although some workers have had minor injuries on the job since, none has had to miss work. Staff report Traders in waiting NEW YORK Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as DAILY MARKET REPORT many cautious investors stayed away from the market ahead of Major indexes third-quarter corporate earn- DOW (Industrials) NYSE ings reports and a new reading 3,598.99 256.26 on the economy. Higher stocks abroad set an early firm tone to the market, with share prices in London setting a record high.

But AMEX NASDAQ caution set in as bonds wa- 463.36 764.77 vered, trading in narrow ranges before finally settling on a higher course. Mostly, however, "the NYSE market's waiting for a better fix DOW on third-quarter earnings," Advances: 1,121 High said Bill Allyn, managing direc- Declines: 876 3,620.79 tor at Jefferies Co. Unchanged: 646 Low Many technology stocks Total issues: 2,643 3,570.21 recovered from Tuesday's downturn. While AMD fell 1 to Total volume: 348,315,080 21 after S.G. Warburg down- 1992 average volume: 202.300,000 graded the stock, other computer issues ended firmer.

Na- Standard Poor's indexes tional Semiconductor rose to Composite 460.74 on the NYSE. DOWN 0.46 Among other actively trad- MidCap 171.39 DOWN 0.09 ed NYSE issues, Union Texas Petroleum Holdings lost to Industrials 519.80 after saying it would take a DOWN 0.61 third-quarter $25 million Utilities 184.24 write-off for oil property. DOWN 0.18 National Medical Enter- Financial 48.10 prises rose to Salo- UP 0.05 mon Brothers raised a rating on the stock, saying the worst is behind the company after last week's settlement of two major lawsuits. Associated Press Paper for Asians N.C., firm to handle its adverto expand in Virginia tising, ending its relationship with The Packett Group of NEWPORT NEWS A Roanoke. free monthly newspaper aimed Trone Advertising at Asians living in Tidewater won the account.

Trone said will expand its distribution to Grand plans to increase dracentral Virginia. matically its use of television Chinese journalist Jizeng Chen began publishing the English-language Asian Fortune in January from his Newport News home. His target was the 70,000 to 80,000 people from Asia and the Pacific islands living in Tidewater. Asian Fortune is distributed at Oriental food shops and restaurants. Chen said it has been so well received that he plans to begin circulation in the Richmond area with 3,500 to 4,000 copies next week.

Chen, 42, is a former reporter for the Xinhua News Agency in Beijing and the U.S. Information Agency in Washington. He studied journalism at the University of Hawaii and earned a master's degree in urban affairs at Virginia Tech. Associated Press NationsBank merger to cost 1,200 jobs BALTIMORE About 1,200 jobs will be eliminated when NationsBank Corp. merges with MNC Financial Inc.

over the next 18 months, bank officials said. Half of the cuts will result from the closing of its operation center in Hyattsville, those functions will be split between Baltimore and Richmond. The cuts, 10 percent to 12 percent of the jobs in the region, are all the reductions expected from the acquisition, NationsBank officials said. Daniel G. Finney, a NationsBank spokesman, said all the affected employees were notified this week.

The eliminations are expected to begin in eight to nine months. Associated Press Grand Piano hires new ad agency Grand Piano Furniture Co. has retained a Greensboro, COLOR FOODS CINDY Researcher Mark Messina and his wife, a dietitian, sample a veggie roll-up. Vegetarians throw own party at the food show By ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER Sights, smells, samples and the subject of food were served in generous quantities Wednesday as the Roanoke Civic Center housed both an industry foods show and a local observance of World Vegetarian Day. In one area, institutional food buyers and guests queued up to hear spiels, taste-test and order products from about 200 vendors represented at Salem-based Retraining program under fire Funds used for benefits instead, study shows Associated Press WASHINGTON A program intended to retrain workers who lose jobs because of increased imports instead has been used largely for unemployment benefits, a Labor Department study said Wednesday.

The study was released amid intense debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would eliminate trade barriers among the United States, Mexico and Canada. Organized labor and others oppose the treaty, fearing it would result in the loss of thousands of U.S. jobs to cheaper labor in Mexico. If that proved true, the Trade Adjustment Assistance program would be used to help prepare those displaced workers for other jobs. But Assistant Inspector General Gerald W.

Peterson said in a memo accompanying the study that the 19-year-old program has fallen short of meeting the re-employment or training goals. "The evidence collected shows that the program was managed as an entitlement-compensation program rather than a training program," he concluded. Rep. Collin C. Peterson, chairman of the House Government Operations Committee's employment, housing and aviation subcommittee, said he plans to conduct a hearing soon on the program.

"If the North American Trade Agreement were to pass, additional thousands of U.S. workers would be thrown out of work and dependent on a totally inadequate government program," he said in a statement. The report said while six out of 10 workers in fiscal 1991 and 1992 found new jobs after participating in the program, fewer than four found jobs that paid or had the potential to pay "suitable" wages 80 percent or more of former pay. It found that two in 10 found training-related jobs. food distributor PYA-Monarch's third annual food show.

Peter Jacob, Monarch's vice president of marketing and procurement, said the company expected 700 to 800 of its 1,200 customers to attend the show during its two-day run. It anticipated sales of about $3 million from the show. The company has annual sales of about $60 PLEASE SEE Retraining grant to help at arsenal Virginia has been granted $730,774 under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program to help workers who have been laid off due to increased imports. The money will go primarily to workers laid off by Hercules Inc. at the arsenal it operates for the Army in Radford, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The program, administered in Virginia by the state Employment Commission, provides training, job-search assistance, relocation benefits and weekly trade-adjustment allowances. and, to a lesser extent, radio advertising. The agency, which visited all of the company's stores to prepare its presentation to Grand, said it will develop image- and product-focused broadcast campaigns that will start in early November in regional markets. Trone created the original 75th Camel anniversary campaign featuring "Old Joe" for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

and is agency for Reynolds' Salem brand. Other agency clients include Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Co. of Greensboro and Bassett Furniture Co. of Bassett. Staff report Briefly Avis Construction Inc.

of Roanoke has a $1.7 million contract to build an square-foot manufacturing and warehouse addition for Tetra Second Nature Co. in Blacksburg. Construction will begin in October and is expected to be completed in the spring, said Jack Avis, vice president of Avis Construction. Tetra, which makes aquarium and terrarium products, is a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert, which last month acquired Willinger Bros maker of aquarium electrical products. When the addition is complete, the Blacksburg facility will become the distribution center for both companies.

About 1,500 telephone customers in the Garden City section of Roanoke will get new phone numbers next year. The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. customers, now served by a switch on Luck Avenue, will be changed to a new switch at Garden City because of growth in business. The changeover should occur in late March, said Don Reid, Roanoke manager. Fox the affiliate going for a new look 8, By MELANIE S.

HATTER last month. STAFF WRITER Grant owns filiates, in Davenport, Roanoke's Fox Broadcasting Huntsville, Ala. Co. affiliate, is getface lift. ting a that Roanoke-Lynchburg "It's a new kind of television," quisition owners said its new vice president and gen- and Henry Ash had eral manager, Stan Marinoff, citing their interests sional and personal I Portsmouth station off the ca- Marinoff joined ble in payment dispute.

B7 Friday, replacing was fired in "My job is to the station's new slogan. up and get it The station was purchased this direction," Marinoff year by Milt Grant of Grant Com- Promotions munications of Fort Lauderdale, Owens said the from Tampa-based Roanoke- the station's Lynchburg TV Acquisition Corp. had New management took over late off the air because SCC extends its investigation of GTE service RICHMOND After hearing GTE Virginia officials explain the reasons for a rash of service problems, utility regulators agreed to extend their investigation of the state's second-largest telephone company. The extension was recommended Tuesday by the State Corporation Commission staff and accepted by the three-member commission. "This commission is not interested in chastising the company," SCC member Preston C.

Shannon said. "We want to ensure that GTE maintains significant presence in Virginia and provides the best and most reliable service The SCC began its probe in August, citing an "alarming trend" of outages, slow response to customer calls and other service problems, including a sixhour disruption of 911 service in Hanover County. GTE, which serves about 430,000 access lines in 42 counties and the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, blamed many of the problems on rapidly changing technology and the 1992 merger of the GTE and Contel systems, in which GTE absorbed Contel's technical and administrative systems. Associated Press two other Fox afIowa, and said in February TV AcThomas Carney decided to split because of profesdifferences. the new staff Robb Gray, who September.

clean the station running in the right said. Manager Glenda biggest problem was broadcast signal. frequently gone of transmitter problems. The bought a new to buy a backup Marinoff professional what makes the Marinoff was new owner has transmitter and plans generator to keep the station running when problems arise. The changes are "a new commitment to our viewers" giving them what they want, Owens said.

Marinoff said Grant has been in broadcasting for 40 years. "He's a broadcaster and that's difference." a vice president of programming and operations in Augusta, Ga. The Roanoke station has not done well in the ratings, partly because of its weak signal. Arbitron's Television Market Report in May gave the Fox station a 3 rating, meaning the percentage of all TV households turned to its signal, and a 6 share, or the percentage of households watching TV at 6 p.m. "We are not a news and information station," Marinoff said.

"We're an entertainment alternative. News is important, but there are other places to get that." is rearranging its programming to include movies that run back-to-back on weekends. Children's programs will continue to be an important element. First Union gears up for computer switch Bank to import 400 experts for Va. conversion By MAG POFF offices will have two or three people to ease STAFF WRITER the transition.

Dominion employees have been trained First Union Corp. will send 400 employ- in from other the new computer system, Dalhouse said, ees states into Virginia next week as the banking switches its but First Union wants to have people present operations to company Virginia with a lot of experience. a new computer system. Former Dominion The 400 employees will come from Bank operations will be switched next Thursday to the software North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and system First Union calls Emerald. Florida.

Dalhouse said they are not computer First Union's experts, but people who have operated the Virginia banks will close at will 2 p.m. for the conversion. When they open system. They answer questions from cusfor business on Oct. 15, they will carry the tomers as well as from employees.

First Union name for the first time. First Dalhouse said the employees will fly into Union Corp. bought Dominion Bankshares several Virginia cities, Maryland and WashCorp. in March and has been converting the ington, D.C. systems to coordinate with those of the Char- After the Dominion banks convert to lotte, N.C.-based company.

Emerald, customers will be able to check their Warner Dalhouse, chairman of First balances and cash checks at any branch in Union National Bank of Virginia, said at First Union's multistate least one person familiar with Emerald will federal law prohibits banks from taking desystem. However, be assigned to every branch in the state. Some posits across state lines..