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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990                   TAG: 9003231954
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILE                                 LENGTH: Medium

WORKERS TRAINED FOR NEW JOBS

The New River-Mount Rogers Private Industry Council is retraining more than 100 Southwest Virginia workers who have lost jobs through plant closings or layoffs, some of its officials said at a news conference Thursday.

In the council's service area, which stretches between Montgomery County and Bristol, major layoffs in the past year have occurred at Reynolds Metals in Bristol, Sprague Electric in Hillsville, Federal-Mogul in Blacksburg, Inland Motors in Radford and at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.

Flow Laboratories closed in Dublin and Burlington Industries Trucking, also in Dublin, will close in a month, throwing more than 100 drivers out of work.

But laid-off employees are eligible for retraining under the federal Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Act. The program has helped 114 of them this fiscal year and expects to serve more next year, said Gerald D. Griswold, president of Administration, Training and Services of Abingdon that administers such programs for the council.

AT&S has set up training programs for laid-off employees at Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon, New River Community College in Dublin and Wytheville Community College, as well as Tri-Cities State Tech in Blountville, Tenn. It is retraining a few people at Radford University and Roanoke College.

"We work with people on a case-by-case basis," said Robert McKinney, AT&S special programs coordinator for retraining. "We're trying to retrain people in fields where they can get long-term secure employment."

As of mid-March, 18 of the laid-off workers had completed retraining and found new jobs with average wages of more than $7 an hour.

Further information is available by writing AT&S Inc. at P.O. Box 267, Abingdon 24210 (telephone 628-4185) or at Grayson Avenue and North Main, Hillsville 24343 (telephone 728-4019).

by CNB