ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606100015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Fabric-making companies merge
RADFORD - New Rivers Industries, maker of a variety of synthetic woven fabrics, is merging with Beavertown Mills to form NRB Industries.
The new company will continue all operations for the markets both companies now serve. Beavertown Mills is a synthetic-fabric maker based in Beavertown, Pa.
Hans C. Peyer, who is chairman of New River, will be chairman of the new company. Vice chairman will be Steve Wener of Beavertown. The president and chief executive officer of NRB will be John Hickey, who is president and CEO of New River.
Neither New River nor Beavertown anticipate layoffs or hirings because of the merger. New River employs about 500 people.
"Business is fairly good right now," said Mark Adair, vice president for manufacturing for New River. "We will continue to run our operations exactly as we do today."
The merger is expected to be completed by July 1.
Snyder Hunt promotes pair
BLACKSBURG - Snyder Hunt Properties, which owns and operates rental properties across the state and region and is headquartered in Blacksburg, has announced two recent promotions:
Craig Johnson, who has been a regional property manager with the firm since 1991, will be director of business development. He has done new market feasibility analyses, supervised the installation of software, and helped with asset management for Snyder Hunt's Assisted Living Division.
Janet Riddlebarger will be director of property management and will oversee operations of all properties in Virginia and Tennessee. She started at Snyder Hunt in 1983 as a rental consultant and has been assistant property manager and regional property manager. She has been a lecturer at Virginia Tech and for the National Apartment Association.
Tech company picks vice president
BLACKSBURG - William R. Beck of Ridgefield, Conn., is the new vice president of Dominion BioSciences, maker of anti-cockroach products.
Beck has more than 20 years' experience in product development and marketing for national and international biotechnology and biopesticide firms. He holds a master's degree in entomology.
Dominion BioSciences, founded at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in 1993, is the maker of Ecologix, a cockroach bait with a compound that interrupts the insects' metabolic and reproductive cycles. A patent for the compound, which was developed at Tech, was issued in May.
Panel to discuss `meaning of quality'
RADFORD - A free panel discussion featuring local business people will deal with "The Meaning of Quality in a Small Business" at 7 p.m. June 25 at Radford University's Business Assistance Center.
The panel members will be Michael Abraham, president of Christiansburg Printing; Eric Sallee, founder of Shelter Alternatives; and David Shanks, director of the New River Valley Small Business Development Center at Radford University.
The discussion will show how small businesses can use quality-control measures and concepts, which often are employed more often by large businesses.
To register, call the Business Assistance Center at 831-6056.
Engineering firm opens new office
BLACKSBURG - Anderson & Associates, the Blacksburg-based engineering and surveying firm, has opened an office in Middletown, about 60 miles from Washington, D.C.
The four-person office will offer all of the company's services.
Ken Anderson, the firm's president, said the new office will put employees closer to existing clients and could pave the way for more clients.
The office's branch manager will be Greg Perkins, a 10-year veteran of the Blacksburg office.
Anderson & Associates has offices in Richmond, Greensboro, and the Bristol tri-city area.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Johnson, Riddlebarger, Perkins.by CNB