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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 26, 1990                   TAG: 9006260356
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SUFFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

GE TO REOPEN PLANT IN SUFFOLK, PAPER REPORTS

General Electric Co. will employ about 500 workers in an aircraft engine repair operation at the site of a GE television factory that closed in 1986, a newspaper reported today.

Gov. Douglas Wilder was scheduled to speak at a ceremony this afternoon at GE's 855,000-square-foot building, the governor's press office said Monday.

Company spokesmen and city officials would not discuss the plans before the ceremony. However, The Virginian Pilot and The Ledger-Star quoted sources close to the project as saying GE will invest more than $50 million in the new operation.

The plant is on 100 acres off U.S. 17, near the southern end of what will be the Interstate 664 bridge-tunnel across the James River. The plant once was the largest private employer in South Hampton Roads with about 5,000 workers.

Suffolk officials have been negotiating with GE to reopen the Suffolk plant for months. John F. Keeling Jr., president of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, said he was aware of the negotiations but could not confirm that the company plans to move back into the Suffolk plant.

"If it comes to pass, all I can say is `great' with about 50 exclamation marks behind it," Keeling said.

by CNB