ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190030
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
Georgia-Pacific Corp. said it has begun paper production at the $120 million expansion at its Big Island mill in Bedford County.
The company has installed a new 600 ton-per-day linerboard machine that uses recycled paper fibers as a raw material. Linerboard is the heavy brown board used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes.
The mill also has installed a new 900 tons-per-day plant to produce recycled fiber from old corrugated boxes and other paper waste, replacing fiber that has been purchased from outside sources. About 70 jobs were created to help run the new machine and fiber plant, the company said. -Staff report Electrician will give your house a brain
Randy McCreery, an electrician and vice president of Swartz Restaurant Supply in Roanoke, has formed Swartz Home Automation, a subsidiary providing smart-house systems that integrate a house's electrical systems with a single switch.
"It anticipates your movements, and you can get your entire house in one command," he said. "For example, in the morning, the alarm clock will go off, which will turn on the television and then, 15 minutes later, the shower and coffee pot will turn on."
Smart-house technology made a brief appearance in the 1980s but failed because of several factors, including prohibitive cost. McCreery estimates the cost of a system at $6,000 to $7,000. -Staff report 4 phone companies to pool technology
Bell Atlantic and three other major U.S. phone companies - GTE, Pacific Telesis and Southwestern Bell - have announced an agreement to market their intelligent network products jointly to business customers.
A new entity, IntelliBridge, could, for example, tie together a bank and its branches over a wide geographic area with a single phone system, said Bell Atlantic spokesman Paul Miller. The computer-based service also lets businesses customize their internal phone networks. -Staff report Piedmont to broker used airliners
Piedmont Aviation Inc. has created a new division to buy, sell, lease and broker used airline aircraft. Corwin Lindstrom, formerly of Raytheon Aircraft Co. of Wichita, Kan. will head the unit.
The company becomes a full-service supplier to the airline industry with the addition of airline airframes to its sales portfolio, said Randy Groom, vice president of aircraft sales. Piedmont, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., operates facilities at six airports, including Roanoke Regional Airport. The company founded Piedmont Airlines, now part of USAir. -Staff report
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB