Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In announcing 300 new jobs for his region, he left out a detail that surely would have watered down his message - that 200 of the jobs already were filled and coming from neighboring Bath County.
Home furnishings maker Bacova Guild Ltd. went along with the stunt at a May 9 press conference in Clifton Forge. Its president later acknowledged that the number of new jobs actually totaled 100.
Putting a positive spin on economic news is practiced from the hills of Western Virginia to the governor's office in RIchmond.
"This is the packaging business," said Loope, who is executive director of the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Authority. "It's how we package our community. It's how we package our deals."
Hinting he would make a major announcement, Gov. George Allen last month summoned business writers and editors to Richmond to release his economic development report for 1994. There, he took credit for all 87,200 new jobs created by employers last year. He also took credit for the announcements of 231 new plants or plant expansions across the state - including several projects that companies decided to undertake before Allen took office in January 1994. The state, he said, would be $1.9 billion richer because of his efforts.
Some business owners mentioned in the report said Allen and his pro-business policies indirectly influenced their decision to build or expand. Yes, they said, he deserves some credit, as do local officials. Other company representatives said they thought the governor went a bit far.
"I don't believe I met him over here yet," said Danny Bobbitt, manufacturing team leader at Roanoke operation of AMP Inc., which makes electronic connectors. The company invested more than $11 million on renovations and added equipment, because "business is forcing us to be more competitive," said Plant Manager Walt Hodges, but not because the governor prodded.
One company whose project predates Allen's term in office is Uttermost Inc. in Franklin County. The maker of framed mirrors and furniture accessories decided in 1993 to expand its manufacturing operations and hire 100 employees, said Robert Cooper, its president.
"I'm all for Gov. Allen. He's a good man. But in all honesty, we would have done it no matter who was in there," Cooper said.
Some companies also were surprised to see their estimates about jobs and plant costs printed in the report as fact.
South Star Corp., the report said, will hire 45 to 50 people when it opens a new plant it is building to produce electrical assemblies in Montgomery County. "We said this is a possibility," said Chairman Robert Stverak
"We have to write some new business."
Sometimes, the desire of those who want economic development deals to appear as significant as possible may contribute to the confusion over what will actually take place.
In gearing up for the press conference at which Bacova announced its expansion, Loope decided to emphasize that Alleghany County would gain 300 new jobs when the new plant opened. That required him to overlook the corresponding loss of jobs in Bath County just six miles away. He determined that no other company had brought as many jobs to Alleghany County at one time during the 1900s.
So, at the conference, speaker after speaker repeated that claim that Bacova represented the largest influx of jobs in the century.
"What's wrong with putting the most favorable positive light on this entire announcement?" Loope said in a later interview.
During Allen's remarks, he declared that Virginia logged $1.9 billion of new investment last year - a point taken from his economic development report, which had been released the previous day. Although the report said the figure represented how much money companies pledged to invest over the life of the project, Allen didn't make the distinction.
The confusion also stems from the media's pressing companies for firm numbers that are not yet available, said Mitchell Kaneff, materials management director at Arkay Packaging in New York, which said it will build a plant in Botetourt County for producing cosmetics packaging.
He said he told reporters the plants first two phases would cost "maybe" $17 million. Print and television reports dropped his qualification, he said. Upon seeing the television news segment, "I was laughing," Kaneff said.
Then, the governor's report put the Arkay plant's value at $20 million. Kaneff said he had no idea where the figure came from.
by CNB