Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080035
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Witness the hullabaloo caused Thursday, when Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, faxed a news release that said Alliant Techsystems Inc. would create 130 to 150 new jobs at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant next year by transferring some gunpowder-making operations from a New Jersey plant to the New River Valley.
Having covered the business beat in the New River Valley for almost two years, I have written my share of "Arsenal lays off ..." stories. The work force there has been slashed by more than 50 percent through downsizing over the past three years. That kind of news is always big stuff, but the stories aren't pleasant to work on. The people who are involved don't like talking about it and can be understandably tight-lipped. Interviews can be tense.
But news of new jobs at the arsenal is, well, relatively new - and therefore could be considered even bigger.
At 11:45 a.m. Thursday, Boucher's news release came winding out of the fax machine, announcing new jobs and touting his efforts in getting them there. (When layoffs happen, the arsenal has always been the first to announce them. But it has been notorious - at least in the minds of reporters - for not doing so until late in the day, which makes collecting the full story even more frantic.)
A prenoon release and good news to boot? I figured I'd get the information I needed pretty quickly.
Wrong. That timing thing, coupled with some mistakes in the release and a healthy dose of corporate caution, kept the story waiting for hours.
The release said Alliant would move its New Jersey facility to Pulaski County. Well, arsenal land is located in Pulaski and Montgomery counties, and the facility was to be set up in the latter. In terms of tax benefits, Montgomery County would get the booty. In terms of credit for bringing the company there, the same.
Plus, the release stated that Virginia would provide up to $1.1 million in grants and loans to set up the company, called New River Energetics. In actuality, the money hasn't been officially allocated yet, and the figures aren't certain.
Politicians, economic developers and corporate executives want that kind of stuff right the first time.
Boucher's release also came in before the company or the governor's office was ready to make the announcement. These things are touchy; politicians generally defer to the companies to make the announcement first. It can be infuriating for a business reporter who already has the heads-up on such matters but can't get the appropriate people to comment until they have all their ducks in a row, but it's their version of sound protocol.
A phone call to Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous caught him unawares that the announcement had been made, and he asked for some time to respond. He'd call back later, he said.
A call just after noon to Richard Best, arsenal plant manager, found him in none too great a mood, and he asked me to call back at 3:30 p.m.
I left a message at the state Department of Commerce and Trade.
The arsenal's spokeswoman called a few minutes later, and she said no one there could comment until the company had prepared its announcement.
Did Boucher's office jump the gun? I asked. Her reply was less of an answer and more of a murmur. I didn't push it.
Instead, for more than three hours I waited.
At 3:35 p.m. the state's announcement curled out of the fax machine, and a spokesman with the department of economic development followed up later. After talking a few minutes, I asked him, had the state been ready to announce this thing today, or had it planned on waiting a little while longer? "I'm always ready to make announcements," Morgan Stewart replied. He didn't want to get into the the jumping-the-gun question.
The congressman called a little while later to talk.
Finally, shortly before 4 p.m., Best called me. The company hadn't quite finished its press release, but he was ready "to wing it" and fill me in as best he could. He did so.
As I hung up the phone, another fax showed itself. "Alliant Techsystems will form subsidiary to produce commercial ammunition propellant at Radford, Va. plant," it read. From the company itself.
Time: 15:56. That's four minutes before 4 p.m., in case you were wondering.
I called up Rod Bitz, Alliant's spokesman in Hopkins, Minn., where the company is headquartered.
We talked about this and that, he chuckled at the predicament I'd been faced with throughout the afternoon, and apologized for not being in touch sooner. No problem, I assured him.
Said Bitz: "I think the two other players got out before us."
Indeed they did. But in the end, a "good news" story was written, and the information I needed was available. Perhaps I doth protest too much; it's just that the players' timing could have been better managed, methinks.
Stephen Foster is a reporter in The Roanoke Times' New River Valley bureau.
by CNB