ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180097
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pittston Co., a Fortune 500 mining, transportation and security company, will relocate its headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to Richmond this year, company executives said Friday.
Pittston chose Virginia in part because its Pittston Coal operations are based in the southwestern portion of the state, executives said.
Pittston has about 26,000 employees worldwide and will bring 100 jobs to Richmond. Most of those will be employees transferring from Connecticut.
Pittston's coal operations managed from Lebanon employ 1,182 Virginians. The company ships its coal through Norfolk and owns one-third of the Dominion Terminal there.
Pittston was Virginia's largest coal company in 1994, producing 7.2 million tons. Figures for 1995 are not yet available, and it's unclear whether the company, which closed some of its Dickenson and Wise county operations during 1994 and 1995, still stands at the top of Virginia coal producers.
``We do not make this decision lightly,'' Joseph C. Farrell, chairman and president of Pittston, said at a press briefing. ``We are convinced we will be more productive and have a better quality of life here in Richmond.''
Pittston, with nearly $3 billion in revenue last year and earnings of $98 million, is the parent of the Brinks armored car and Brinks home security businesses, and owns Burlington Air Express Inc., a heavy-freight shipper.
Gov. George Allen said Pittston received no financial or tax incentives to relocate. The firm also looked at Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta as finalists, Allen said.
``It's a vote of confidence in the people of Virginia, our resources and the future,'' Allen said.
Allen courted Pittston for about a year, he said.
The company is considering three sites in the Richmond area, Farrell said, and the move likely will be complete by September.
Pittston, No. 424 on the Fortune 500 tally of the nation's largest public companies, is the second company on that list to announce plans to relocate to Virginia this year. Hughes Aircraft moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Arlington last month.
Pittston will be the eighth Fortune 500 firm based in Richmond and the 15th in Virginia.
Staff writer Greg Edwards contributed to this story.
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