Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
400 JOBS CONFIRMED
IN SEPTEMBER, First Union officials said their takeover of Dominion Bankshares Corp. would mean new jobs for the Roanoke Valley. Three days after completing the deal, they delivered - with the help of $650,000 in incentives.
First Union Corp. will create 400 new jobs in the Roanoke Valley, officials confirmed Wednesday, in part by relocating its consumer-loan and credit-card operations from its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C..
The company also plans to funnel expected growth in its mortgage service operations to downtown Roanoke, where half the new jobs will be located.
Dominion Bankshares Corp. employees let go because of the First Union acquisition - as many as 850 in the Roanoke Valley - will get "first crack" at the new jobs, said Warner Dalhouse, chairman of First Union National Bank of Virginia, First Union's Virginia subsidiary.
The 400 new jobs - accounting for $10 million in annual payroll - will be split evenly between the company's Plantation Road Operations Center in Roanoke County and its two office buildings in downtown Roanoke, the Dominion Tower and Dominion Bank Building.
The announcement, coming just two days after First Union completed its takeover of Dominion, also has a price tag for taxpayers: Roanoke and Roanoke County plan to provide nearly $650,000 in job training money to be administered by the quasi-governmental Fifth District Employment and Training Consortium.
Local officials are hoping another $300,000 in state money will be appropriated to fund training programs for would-be First Union employees.
The company's plans include:
Hiring 50 workers for its consumer loan center before opening July 1.
Hiring another 150 workers for the customer service unit of its credit-card operation before it is opened Jan. 1. That's good news for the 170 Dominion credit-card workers scheduled to lose their jobs in November. First Union will continue to base its main credit card operation in Georgia.
Expanding First Union's systemwide mortgage service operations until 200 are employed by the end of next year. First Union's mortgage operations in Raleigh, N.C., will not be affected by the changes.
First Union officials credited the decision to the surplus of office space, lower labor costs and the valley's traditionally stable and skilled work force - not emotional considerations to "help" the valley.
"The economics favor Roanoke," said Benjamin Jenkins III, president and chief operating officer of First Union-Virginia. "The relocation was based on hard economic numbers.
"These are quality jobs, they're good jobs and we're delighted they're coming to the Roanoke Valley," he continued. The customer-service jobs range "from entry-level positions to supervisory positions."
But even as First Union plans to bring new jobs to the valley, additional cutbacks were announced:
Dominion's credit-card center on Airport Road, where 150 people once worked, likely will be put up for sale.
Dominion's Valley Court offices on Thirlane Road will be offered for sale or lease once mortgage service employees are moved downtown.
The company will study the possible consolidation of 26 branches across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Five Roanoke Valley locations, employing 31 people, are on the list, though officials said it was "premature" to identify the specific locations.
Local officials welcomed the announcements of new jobs for the valley, calling the decision a testament to Roanoke's work force and an indication of First Union's plans for the valley.
"The good news is that with this announcement today, questions about occupancy rates and the number of workers in downtown Roanoke can now begin to be answered in a positive way," Mayor David Bowers said.
Others, including First Union's Jenkins, said they saw evidence of renewed cooperation among local governments in the effort to land the First Union jobs.
One local official condemned the gloom-and-doom he's heard expressed by some in recent months.
"I grow tired of those telling us how slow, how backward, how splintered we are in this valley," said Fuzzy Minnix, chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.
City officials used First Union's midday news conference to announce a new incentive program for companies interested in bringing 200 or more jobs to the city's "enterprise zone," which encompasses much of downtown.
The city will provide "up to $2,000 per employee for eligible training expenses," according to a statement distributed to reporters. The money - as much as $500,000 to train as many as 250 workers - will come from the city's economic development capital budget, officials stressed, not operating budgets.
The county has agreed to make a $150,000 lump-sum payment for training - money that also will come from its economic development capital budget.
Training will be key for the new jobs, officials said, adding that comparatively few employees are expected to transfer from First Union operations elsewhere.
"There may be some few people who may transfer [from Charlotte] to follow those jobs," Dalhouse said. "We estimate no more than 50. Dominion employees who were displaced would have first crack at those jobs."
Jenkins said First Union expects to train former Dominion employees for the new jobs, many of which will involve direct contact - if only by telephone - with customers from Washington to Florida.
"Training is a huge issue," Jenkins said. "We are announcing 400 jobs; there will need to be training for 400 jobs."
First Union expects to engineer its invasion of the metropolitan Washington market from Roanoke. Friday, First Union announced its plans to acquire First American Metro Corp., a Washington-area banking company.
Success in Washington and the broader Virginia market eventually could translate into more and better jobs for the Roanoke Valley work force.
"This will be the center of [credit-card and consumer loan] functions for all of First Union," Dalhouse said. "That will give you an idea of the importance of these operations to First Union and to Roanoke."