HOW SHOULD THE REGION RESPOND TO JOB LOSSES?

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993                   TAG: 9302020330
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
HOW SHOULD THE REGION RESPOND TO JOB LOSSES?
WORKERS in the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia were hit in 1992 with announcements of closings and layoffs, with a total jobs toll into the thousands. During the '80s, even as most of the region experienced little or no net growth in population, Southwest Virginia as a whole did enjoy a relatively stable economy and relatively low unemployment. Now, economic stability and low unemployment rates also appear to be in jeopardy.
The nature of the lost jobs, some already gone and others expected to disappear this year, ranges widely. The jobs include work in both the service and manufacturing sectors of the economy. They range from part-time clerical to full-time executive.
Roanoke is in the running for a Norfolk Southern service center, and the Charlotte-based First Union Corp. might eventually add jobs in Roanoke as it expands its Virginia operations. New jobs at a couple of smaller manufacturing operations have also been announced in recent days.
Still, nothing so far has come close to offsetting the shrinkage, recent or pending, in the region's employment base: another 700 employees laid off last month at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant as Department of Defense needs continue to decline; 850 Roanoke Valley jobs to be cut back this year due to First Union's acquisition of Dominion Bank; 1,200 jobs (many part-time) to go when the Sears Telecatalog Center in Roanoke is closed; 270 and 400 jobs respectively at Grumman and Gardner-Denver in Roanoke.
The decisions to close a plant, or merge a bank, or reduce production are often made far from Southwest Virginia; often, they are compelled by general conditions over which nobody seems to have much control. But can steps be taken within Southwest Virginia to improve its chances for a jobs rebound? And if they can, what are they? How should the region respond?
We invite your responses, and will publish a selection of them on this page. Please send them by Feb. 11 to: Readers Forum, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010. Or, you may fax them to (703) 981-3391.
Include your address and, for verification purposes only, a telephone number where you can be reached during the day.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB