ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9607010050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
Beer with 1 mean logo halted by bad weather
FRANKENMUTH, Mich. - It took more than an obscenity complaint to stop production of Bad Frog beer.
After a tornado tore off part of the roof and smashed windows and walls last week, Frankenmuth Brewery had to dump 900,000 bottles-worth of suds, general manager Brian Greenlee said.
The brewery, which makes the beer with labels featuring a frog extending a finger in a well-known gesture, also had to lay off 22 of 30 employees.
``This shuts down Bad Frog production for at least six weeks,'' said Jim Wauldron, president of Rose City-based Bad Frog.
Earlier this year, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission ruled the company could keep its mascot if it dropped the word ``obscene'' from the last line of its label, which read, ``It's mean, green and obscene.''
Executives at Frankenmuth Brewery Inc. are debating whether to try to salvage the brewery or start over in a new building, Greenlee said.
``We've been brewing beer since 1862 ... '' Greenlee told the Detroit Free Press. ``We don't want to abandon this site, but it's a matter of determining whether we can even use this structure or not.''
The brewery also produced some Majestic Organic and Stoney Creek beer. - Associated Press Atlanta firm buys Transkrit
DEC International Inc. of Atlanta, owner of the Double Envelope plant in Roanoke County, said Friday it has completed its previously announced purchase of Transkrit Corp.
Transkrit employs roughly 850 people at plants in Salem and at Roanoke's Centre for Industry and Technology. The company prints business forms.
Included in the purchase are Transkrit's subsidiaries, Label Art Inc. and Short Run Labels Inc., DEC said.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but
DEC said that both Double Envelope and Transkrit will continue to maintain manufacturing and certain administrative functions in Roanoke.
DEC makes catalog and magazine inserts, pressure-sensitive labels and envelopes at its Plantation Road plant. DEC bought Transkrit from Rogers Communications of Toronto, which acquired the company as part of its purchase in 1994 of Maclean-Hunter Ltd., a Toronto communications conglomerate. - Staff report James River Limestone bought
Global Stone Corp. of Ontario, Canada, said Friday it has completed acquisition of the assets of James River Limestone Co. Inc. for $5.35 million plus inventories estimated at $1.2 million.
Global Stone financed the purchase from the sale of 4.7 million shares of its stock. The acquired company, which generates annual revenues of $11 million, includes the limestone mining and production facilities at Buchanan and Rocky Point.
A quarry operation at Austinville has been sold to an investment group consisting of the former management of James River Limestone.
Global's Virginia company, trading as Global Stone James River, is part of Global Stone (USA Inc.It is engaged in the extraction of limestone which is processed and supplied to a wide range of industrial, consumer, agricultural and construction material users.
This is the seventh North American acquisition by Global Stone, the sixth largest lime producer in North America with concentrations in the lawn and garden markets. - Staff report Litton FiberCom VP resigns
Robert Martinet, vice president and general manager of Litton FiberCom in Roanoke, has resigned from the company to pursue other interests, the company confirmed Friday.
Martinet was one of three engineers at ITT's Electro-Optical Products Division in Roanoke who left ITT Corp. to form FiberCom in 1982. FiberCom, which currently employs 130 people, is a manufacturer of complex fiber-optic systems, including fiber-optic networks for commercial aircraft.
Litton FiberCom is a unit of Litton's Litton Poly-Scientific Division, based in Blacksburg. Litton FiberCom's business is healthy and all that involved in Martinet's departure is a senior-management change, said Bob Knapp, a spokesman for Litton Industries in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Richard Raybon, controller of Litton FiberCom, has been named the company's temporary general manager until a new vice president can be named, Knapp said.
Al Bender, another of FiberCom's founders, left the company in 1993 to form NetEdge, a new company based in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. Jack Freeman, the third of the company's founders remains with Litton FiberCom, Knapp said.
Martinet said he has no plans to leave Roanoke and has been evaluating what he wants to do next. - Staff report Four declare bankruptcy
Four bankruptcies with business affiliations have been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Virginia at Roanoke. Two of them are personal bankruptcies that the court listed as businesses because they have commercial connections and could be of interest to business creditors and customers.
Derby Apparel Inc., a garment manufacturer at Marion, filed for liquidation. The company said it had assets of $153,051 and liabilities of $231,053.
Ronnie J. Neel of Tazewell filed for business reorganization and protection from creditors, listing assets of $1,636,515 and liabilities of $512,810. He said he a farmer and also had an interest in Ronnie J. Neel Inc., which is in the trucking and hobby business.
Roger Michael Rowe of Big Stone Gap, a contractor, filed for liquidation with assets of $7,600 and liabilities of $54,186.
Ronald Keith Bennett of Pulaski, a self-employed carpet installer, filed for liquidation. He had assets of $3,500 and liabilities of $9,757. - Staff report Briefly ...
Singer Furniture Co. ceased manufacturing operations at its Roanoke plant Friday, but the plant's 290 employees will work through the end of July on shutting down the facility, according to William Foster, the company's vice president of administration.
Virginia First Financial Corp., Petersburg-based parent of Virginia First Savings Bank with offices in the Roanoke Valley, said Friday William A. Patton will retire Sunday as the company's chief executive officer.
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