
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 1, 1990                   TAG: 9005010072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Southwest bureau
DATELINE: TAZEWELL                                LENGTH: Medium

JAPANESE PLANT GOING TO TAZEWELL

The Japanese have come to Southwest Virginia with a proposed wood-working plant in Tazewell County.

Fancy Tsuda, a Japanese trading and manufacturing company specializing in wood veneer products, is planning a $10 million, 200,000-square-foot plant, to be known as Woodtech Inc., which should create 60 new jobs within a year.

The company projects 100 employees within three years. It will make laminated veneer lumber in white oak, red oak and yellow poplar for use mainly in Europe and Japan.

"Fancy Tsuda is a global company committed to excellence and that is why Virginia fit into our strategy," said Sotaro Tsuda, president and chief executive officer, in announcing the choice over the weekend. "We were impressed by the excellent reputation of the Virginia worker and the pro-business attitude of state and local government."

Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Lawrence H. Framme welcomed the "first Japanese company to locate in Southwest Virginia" and said the state looks forward to "a long and mutually rewarding relationship."

The plant will be in the Bluefield Supply building in the county's Falls Mills section. Machinery is to be installed in August, with production to start in April 1991. The plant will make 80 to 100 hardwood shipping containers a month.

Other states under consideration included West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Tsuda, who visited the area on Friday, said the site search took more than two years. He said the Falls Mills area is "in the middle of one of the best-forested areas in North America," is close to transportation outlets and has a small-city atmosphere.

He said he plans to use wood from lumbering companies in this region but also is committed to building the forests back to maintain natural resources.

The 60-year old company, with headquarters in Nagoya, Japan, has operations on six continents and annual sales of $200 million.

Assisting in the site selection process were the marketing arm of the Coalfield Economic Development Authority, Appalachian Power Co., the Tazewell County Economic Development Commission and the Virginia Department of Economic Development. Fancy Tsuda will be using industrial training services furnished through the Virginia department to train its workers.

by CNB