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

DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995                   TAG: 9509170003
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COMPANY RESCUED AFTER LESS-THAN-BANNER MONTHS

Collegiate Pacific, the Roanoke company that describes itself as the nation's largest producer of collegiate felt pennants, has been rescued from closure.

The plant's manager and two investors have bought the company and saved half of its jobs.

Collegiate Pacific specializes in the classic, triangular banners that fans hoist on a stick to give a cheer at autumn football games, and that youths tack to bedroom walls to show where they someday hope to attend college.

The operation was purchased from Littlefield Adams & Co. of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., which had moved to close its money-losing plant at the end of July. Apparel production, the financial drag on the operation, was discontinued. But a smaller wool felt products division will stay in business using the Collegiate Pacific brand name.

Collegiate Pacific was the last component in the area of Littlefield Adams, which was a Roanoke-based company from 1987 to late 1991 before new owners moved it to San Antonio, Texas and later to Wisconsin.

Buyers of the plant were its manager, Charles Atkins, who will act as president of the new venture, Wool Felt Products Inc.; William Webster, Collegiate Pacific's former sales manager who will oversee sales and marketing; and Jon Wyatt, owner of Sign Systems in Radford. He will be chief executive officer.

The company changed hands Aug. 31 for undisclosed terms. About 20 of 40 workers kept their jobs at the plant at 1302 Rockland Ave. N.W.

Before undertaking the purchase, the buyers said they received guidance from the Blue Ridge Small Business Development Center in Roanoke.

Atkins described Collegiate Pacific as the largest and most prominent national maker of custom screen-printed pennants, banners and other custom felt items. The felt is 70 percent wool and 30 percent rayon.

In the plant, artists seated in front of computers design products with college and university names, logos and mascots. A West Coast soft drink company whose beverages are drawn from a barrel ordered a pennant with the words, "On Tap."

Other employees cut the felt and then apply an image by screen-printing, which involves forcing ink though a pattern on a screen. Next the items are given a velvety feel by gluing together microscopic rayon fibers for a raised image. Finally, hand-cut letters and shapes are sewn onto the item.

The company gets at least 95 percent of its business from colleges and universities and their bookstores. That was clear from some of the work in process Friday - a light blue and gray pennant emblazoned "California State University" and a dark blue one that cried, "Penn State." There was a red blanket monogrammed for the University of New Mexico's band and a brown, red and white table cover destined for Brown University.

Resort towns, professional sports teams and companies could be sources of new business, said Webster, who in the past week has expanded from 14 to 20 the number of independent sales agents promoting Collegiate Pacific. The company said it expects sales of $1.09 million this year and $1.2 million next year.

"We're probably doing business in 5 percent of the world and we got 95 percent of the world to go out and get," Webster said.