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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990                   TAG: 9007240053
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

INSOLE MAKER PLANS ROANOKE AREA OFFICE

Amfit, a San Jose, Calif.-based corporation that manufactures a computer system to make custom-tailored insoles, said Monday it is establishing its eastern regional office in the Roanoke Valley this month to market its product.

The company also is considering building a manufacturing plant either in the Roanoke area or somewhere in Tennessee or North Carolina, said Robert Quimby, Amfit's chief operating officer.

"We will have a look around in August and September in the Salem-Roanoke area," Quimby said. The company would need a plant of about 10,000 square feet, he said.

Amfit "is not looking for a massive manufacturing-type facility, in terms of what you would look at for IBM," he said. "We will certainly open an office here, though. We're looking at that for sales and marketing."

Amfit sells its product to health professionals who write insole prescriptions for patients who are arthritic or diabetic, or who have other foot problems - "and for all of us who have to wear shoes that make our feet uncomfortable," said Chris Wildgen, the company's sports medicine coordinator who will run the Roanoke office.

Quimby said Amfit has accepted a Japanese patent that will allow Toshiba to manufacture its system. The Japanese are going to put it in shoe stores, he said.

by CNB