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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 3, 1995                   TAG: 9502040025
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BRIEFLY

Hillenbrand Industries Inc. of Batesville, Ind., parent of Medeco Security Locks in Salem, said it has increased its quarterly dividend 5.3 percent to 15 cents from the 1994 quarterly rate.

The Kroger Co. said it has signed a $5.5 million contract with Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. in Dublin for purchase of 85 road tractors for use at the supermarket chain's distribution centers in the Southeast and Midwest.

John H. Parrott & Associates has been selected to provide construction management services for remodeling of a main office in downtown Roanoke for Valley Bank and for construction of the bank's branch office near Virginia 419 and Starkey Road in Roanoke County. The company also will provide services for construction of a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Montgomery County for South Star Corp.

Boone & Co.-Commercial real estate has negotiated the following leases for retailers: Lovely Nails at Towers Shopping Center for the store's owners, Ronnie and Vicki Vo; American Nails at Kmart Plaza for Dong Dai and Suzanne Tran; Arthur Murray Dance Studio at Old Country Plaza for Mohammed Taher, with Copty and Co.; Lucia at Towers Shopping Center for Michael Greenburg; Martin Travel at Ridgewood Farms Shopping Center for Mel Ludivici; and Nationwide Insurance at Ridgewood Farms for Eric Reese.

Expert Edge Inc., a Roanoke-based consulting engineering firm and engineering software developer, has established a ``Home Page'' on the Internet's World Wide Web. The page, reached at ``http://www.infi.net/~xedge,'' offers an on-line guide to Internet resources for civil engineers, information about the company and demonstration copies of the company's engineering software.

by CNB