Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502270045
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One in four Roanoke-area companies plans to hire workers in the April-June quarter, according to a quarterly survey released Friday by Manpower Temporary Services, a national employment company.
The survey showed that 23 percent of companies plan to add employees, 7 percent plan layoffs and 70 percent anticipate no staffing changes. Employers that had hiring plans expected to offer jobs in manufacturing, services and public administration.
The Milwaukee, Wis., company did not say how many Roanoke-area employers were contacted for the survey, but added that the University of Michigan has determined its survey method is sound.
A year ago, 33 percent of Roanoke-area employers were likely to expand their work forces, the survey found.
-Staff report
Speedway stock has a great Day 1
Stock issued by Speedway Motorsports Inc. of Concord, N.C., closed up $1 at $19 a share Friday, the first day it traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock, which has attracted the interest of Roanoke-area racing fans, was issued by Speedway to pay debts and expand seating at its two tracks, the Charlotte and Atlanta motor speedways.
The initial offering totaled 4.5 million shares priced at $18 each, yielding $81 million for Speedway and its owner, O. Bruton Smith. The stock will trade under the symbol TRK.
-Staff report
Owens to buy Peery & Flora realty
Owens & Company Realtors in Roanoke said Friday it plans to buy Peery & Flora Ltd. Real Estate, saying it would create the largest residential real estate brokerage in Virginia west of Richmond.
Ron Owens, co-owner of Owens & Company, said the two firms have laid the groundwork for the acquisition but will not finalize plans until mid-spring.
"We have agreed on all the major points," Owens said. "It makes us the largest west of Richmond, as far as number of offices and agents." Owens, with 107 agents, would grow to 149 agents, he said.
Meanwhile, a newly opened Pearisburg office is the fifth Owens location, he said.
The proposed acquisition won't expand the number of Owens offices, because the firm would move its main office from 4216 Brambleton Ave. S.W. to Peery & Flora's single office at 1818 Electric Road S.W., he said.
Owens & Company was established in 1980. Peery & Flora arose in the 1980s when the late Carl and Cecil Flora, longtime Roanoke real estate brokers, combined their residential real estate brokerage with that of Don Peery, Owens said.
-Staff report
Bankruptcies
Two bankruptcies with business affiliations have been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Virginia at Roanoke. One of them is a personal bankruptcy that the court listed as business because it has commercial connections and could be of interest to business creditors and customers.
Ronnie Dale Easter, a self-employed painter, and Nancy Yvonne Lowe Easter, an appraiser, of Cana sought liquidation, listing assets of $43,200 and liabilities of $30,558.
James T. McGlothlin of Meadowview, doing business as Big A Mountain Coal, sought liquidation, listing assets of $17,700 and liabilities of $1,170,867.
-Staff report
Briefly ...
Crestar Financial Corp., Richmond parent of Crestar Bank, said Friday it will buy up to 1.5 million shares of its common stock on the open market or in negotiated purchases over the next 12 months. At the end of last year, there were 37.3 million shares of Crestar stock outstanding.
Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., Louisville, Ky., parent of Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, said Friday it has agreed to buy the 369-bed JFK Medical Center Inc. in Atlantis, Fla. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, were not disclosed.
Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield said Friday that Standard & Poor's Rating Group has given the health insurance company an AA-minus, or "excellent," rating of its ability to pay claims. It is the third year the Virginia Blues plan has had that rating.
by CNB