Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Monday night, City Attorney John "Bunny" Spiers inadvertently let the cat out of the bag that Libla Industries of St. Louis is the company setting up shop as Mid Continent Nail Corp. in the Radford Industrial Park.
But, Economic Development Director Jill Barr - in whose office the unsent newsletters now languish - is among those who would just as soon put the cat back in the sack for a few more weeks, when a formal announcement is scheduled.
In February, Barr confirmed that a manufacturing firm had agreed to expand into Radford's new industrial shell building and eventually bring 75 jobs to the area. An announcement was supposed to follow in a week or two. Mayor Tom Starnes even reacted to the development in a March newsletter item that he said mentions how the company "recently" arrived. The article has yet to see the light of day.
"Recently has come and gone and we still haven't' heard," Starnes said Monday. "We can't say anything, even though everyone in town knows about it."
Bureaucracy is to blame, at least in part. Working out financial details took longer than expected. Also, Barr's office applied for a Governor's Opportunity Fund grant through Gov. George Allen's office, which wanted to make the announcement itself after the grant was approved. Barr said the announcement is tentatively set for June 1.
However, at Monday's City Council meeting, Spiers openly uttered the name of Mid Continent's parent company, Libla Industries, Inc., as he presented a resolution for council to approve Industrial Development Revenue bonds of up to $3.5 million to assist in financing the 47,200 square-foot nail manufacturing facility. The name also had appeared in a legal notice published recently in a local newspaper.
"I thought everybody knew it, because it was in the paper," Spiers said Tuesday. "I was surprised."
Barr was visibly dismayed at the breach. City Council unanimously approved the resolution.
City Manager Robert Asbury took note of Barr's predicament. "Ms. Barr professionally and ethically cannot announce the new industry," he said.
In deference to Barr's office, Mary Libla, the wife of the parent company's president, David Libla, also had little to say Tuesday, except "We think the area is beautiful."
Virginia Tech played a passive but important role in attracting Mid Continent to the New River Valley. Mark White, who directs Virginia Tech's pallet and container research laboratories and who has known the secret for some time, filled in some details about the manufacturer, with which Tech has worked for over a decade when the company got its start.
"We help them design the nails they now sell to the pallet industry," he said Tuesday. "We're glad to see them move in."
White said the firm is among the country's largest manufacturers of nails used to fasten together wooden shipping pallets and containers. Aside from better access to Tech, Mid Continent also is expanding to Radford to improve its service to customers in the east, White said.
He said his department was especially excited about the company's arrival because it would be easier to get nail samples for laboratory testing, but he also hopes to enhance the university's relationship with Mid Continent now that they're close by.
Barr said earlier this year that the company initially would hire 30 jobs, mostly for hourly production positions.
Meanwhile, Asbury announced Monday the city would merge its March newsletter with the June newsletter "to accommodate Allen's announcement of a new industry in Radford." That means the stack of March newsletters in Barr's office soon will be headed for the recycling bin.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***