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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993                   TAG: 9307160118
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM GE PLANS OFFICE IN ASIA

General Electric Co. said Thursday its Salem-based industrial drive systems plant will open a new sales office in Asia to market its products in what the company considers an area of "significant growth opportunities."

Al Grinspun, who has been selling GE's drive systems all over the world from his office in Salem, will move to either Singapore or Hong Kong. He will be general manager of the new office and will take three employees from Salem with him, said plant spokesman Mike Allee.

Grinspun said his office began concentrating on selling drive systems in Asia a few months ago. He said the efforts quickly paid off in metals shipments to China and crane shipments to the port of Singapore. Grinspun said he realized GE could sell more systems there if it had a local presence in the region.

Allee declined to say how much business GE's drive systems unit has in Asia or how much the new office is expected to increase sales.

But, he said "this is the best opportunity for significant growth in our drive systems business, because it is the fastest-growing area in the world."

Drive systems are electronics and computer systems that control heavy machinery in industries such as steel, paper, power generation and oil well drilling. The plant in Salem employs 2,100 people.

by CNB