Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 21, 1993 TAG: 9305210093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Medium
Hurley, who has been vice president and general manager of the plant since May 1989, said it "hasn't been totally decided" what he will do in Wilmington.
"It will be a new challenge," he said.
Richard Best, general manager of operations at the plant, will take over as general manager.
Hercules manages the ammunition plant for the Army.
Hurley came to the Radford plant as assistant general manager in 1987 and kept that job until he was promoted to his current position.
His tenure at the arsenal has been anything but easy. In the last three years, Hurley has dealt with the accidental death of two workers, massive layoffs caused by defense cuts and a nitroglycerin explosion this year that destroyed a storehouse and slowed production.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Hurley said he will have a small sense of relief leaving the dangerous atmosphere of the arsenal.
"The hardest thing you ever deal with in a job like this is when someone is hurt or killed," he said.
Mary Duncan, 56, and Ivery Boysaw, 44, died of ether poisoning in 1991 after the two women entered a restricted area to clean up a spill of the toxic liquid.
Hurley said it's also been tough laying off so many people because Hercules has no real control over the situation and is at the mercy of the defense budget. Hercules' employment level has dropped from more than 4,000 to less than 2,000.
"It's terrible to see all those people lose their jobs," he said. "It's been tough."
Hurley and his wife, Judy, live in the Draper section of Wythe County and like the area so much that they have decided to keep their permanent address there.
Judy Hurley will continue to live in the house full time and Skip Hurley will return to the New River Valley on the weekends.
The 400-mile trek from Wilmington to Radford is a long one, but the quality of life in the New River Valley makes it well worth the trip, Hurley said.
"This area has an ideal climate and we just fell in love with it," he said.
Hurley's daughter, Ruth, is a student at Radford University and his son, Ken, is a student at Virginia Tech.
Hurley came to the New River Valley in 1980 to manage Hercules' Pulaski plant, which was sold to Magnox Inc. in 1985. Hurley left the Pulaski facility in 1984 to manage a Hercules factory in New Jersey.
by CNB