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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990                   TAG: 9007200456
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium

VACANT PULASKI PLANT FINALLY PUT ON MARKET

The plant is still vacant, but this month, it's for sale. And to Pulaski County officials, that means possibilities.

"It's good news," said Peter Huber, assistant county administrator for economic development. "Previously, it was closed and that was it. There were no jobs provided by it and we were losing the facility, too, as an available building for a new industry."

When the company closed in January, putting 74 people out of work, officials with the parent company, ICN Biomedicals Inc., said they would conduct a review to see if the facility could be converted into a pharmaceutical-manufacturing plant.

"They got in the position where they needed to sell it, I suppose," Huber said. Company officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The building went on the market two weeks ago for $1.35 million, said Tommy Turner, local spokesman for Hart Corp., the industrial real-estate firm handling the property. The price includes the building and 140 acres.

No companies have looked at the lab site yet, Turner said. "It's a little too soon."

But the marketing effort is just beginning. And the facility, where workers manufactured biomedical products for 23 years, could have dozens of uses, Turner said.

"Although right now it's lab space, you could clear out the entire building and use it for any general-purpose manufacturer," he said. "It has a lot going for it."

The building is located close to Interstate 81 and the New River Valley Airport, Turner said. It's also near two universities and New River Community College, which provide research opportunities and applied industrial programs.

"Labor in that area we think is a real asset, especially with the AT&T-announced layoffs," said Turner, who works out of an office in Charlotte, N.C.

AT&T officials announced in January that they would be closing the New River Valley Works, putting 1,000 workers out of jobs over the next year. Other industries also have announced layoffs in the area. Although other companies have announced openings and expansions, the new jobs don't equal the jobs lost.

Pulaski County officials have worked closely with the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance to market the area and appeal to new industries. Huber said officials also will work closely with Hart Corp.