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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994                   TAG: 9401070093
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OFFICIAL: PLANT CLOSING NOT A SERIOUS BLOW

The loss of about 130 jobs because of the closing of an apparel factory in Rocky Mount will have little long-term impact on the county's economic future, the head of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce said Thursday.

"We look at economic development as a marathon race," Russ Merritt said. "Bristol Manufacturing closing is like we stumbled a bit. But we're still running the race hard."

Ottenheimer and Co. announced Wednesday that it will close the Rocky Mount factory, which produces a fashion line of nurses' uniforms, in early March.

Ken Merlau, president of Chicago-based Ottenheimer, said uncertainty over the changing health-care system, coupled with the trend away from the traditional white nurses' dress, forced Ottenheimer to close the factory.

"Ten to 15 years ago, that's what nurses wore," he said. "Now you see them in colored shirts and slacks."

Ottenheimer, a producer of uniforms for the health-care industry and some fast-food chains, also closed a factory in Harrisonburg a year ago, Merlau said. He said the company should have enough demand to keep its Hillsville plant open.

Despite the loss, Merritt was optimistic about the county's growth.

"While you hate to lose any industry, I think that, looking at the big picture, our job gains have been significant," he said.

In recent years, he said, the county has been a magnet for small- to mid-size businesses because of the reasonably good work ethic of its residents, growth of its professional class around Smith Mountain Lake and its emergence as a bedroom community to Roanoke.

"A number of folks find that the business climate here is very conducive for entrepreneurial activity," he said.

The arrival of new businesses - Peebles Department Store, which opened in the old Leggett's building in downtown Rocky Mount; Hampton Corp., a computer assembly firm; and retail businesses around the lake - has created many new jobs.

He finds added solace in the fact that the factory's decision to close was not caused by any problems in the county, but with a decrease in demand for its products nationally.

by CNB