INDICATORS REVEAL BRIGHTER PICTURE FOR ROANOKE VALLEY

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110030
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
INDICATORS REVEAL BRIGHTER PICTURE FOR ROANOKE VALLEY
Comes now another glimmer of hope on the Roanoke Valley's economic horizon: New business licenses were up in January and bankruptcies were down.
Add those to a massive January surge in home sales, anecdotal reports of stronger-than-expected retail sales in December and January and quickening car sales, and it appears the slide may be reversing.
Last month, 17 business bankruptcies were recorded, down 68 percent compared to 53 for the same month last year. In December, 35 firms packed it in.
Meanwhile, 191 new business licenses were issued in January by Roanoke and Roanoke County, an 11 percent increase over the same month last year. Only 91 new licenses were issued last December.
"It feels like it's all going in the right direction," said Brian Wishneff, Roanoke's economic development chief. "It's hard to separate . . . what's going on here and what's going on on a national basis."
Still, Wishneff said he and his staff have seen more interest from industrial prospects in the last two months than in the previous six months.
In other economic news:
Valley Metro's January ridership increased 5.7 percent over the same month last year - going from 4,801 riders to 5,079 - but lagged the 5,223 who rode the bus in December.
Norfolk Southern Corp. saw its coal loadings for the week ended Sunday continue to slide. The Norfolk-based railroad said it loaded 18,203 cars last week, 370 fewer than the week before and 16 percent fewer than the 21,677 loaded in the same week last year.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB