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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993                   TAG: 9311100099
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOOD SERVICE PLANS 75 HIRES

Service America Corp. will add 75 people to its Roanoke work force to rebuild and repair the 75,000 vending machines it manages throughout the country, the company announced Tuesday.

The company's decision to establish a refurbishing center will bring its area employment to 400. The company's Roanoke operation is on Rockland Avenue and is visible from Interstate 581,

Wes Landy, the district manager who will run the new operation, said he will begin this month interviewing people for primarily entry-level mechanical and electrical repair jobs. The company said it was unsure how much the jobs would pay.

Sara Ridgway, spokeswoman for the Stamford, Conn., company, said Service America concluded it could save money by repairing machines at a central location.

"In the past, if it broke down in Massachusetts we'd have somebody service it there," Ridgway said. "It'll probably save us money to put it on a flatbed truck and service it in Roanoke ourselves."

Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, said Service America had been looking for a vacant building for the center for two months, but hadn't considered moving into its own building in Roanoke.

Service America officials looked at buildings up and down the East Coast. While looking at buildings in Roanoke, Doughty said, they had a meeting at the 52,000-square-foot building on Rockland Avenue and noticed how big it was.

"It was really a quick search," she said. "Once they found the existing facility would work, they made it work quickly."

Roanoke's location within a day's drive of two-thirds of the country's population was a key to Service America's decision to set up the repair center here, Doughty said.

Service America has food-service or vending operations in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Its clients in this region include GE Drive Systems in Salem, Dan River Fabrics in Danville, Virginia Tech and Elizabeth Arden in Roanoke, among others.

The refurbishing center is expected to be operating by the end of the year.

by CNB