
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994                    TAG: 9406180214 
SECTION: BUSINESS                     PAGE: D2    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE 
DATELINE: 940618                                 LENGTH: CLIFTON FORGE

BELL LOSES CONTRACT, MAY CUT JOBS

{LEAD} Gov. George Allen rode his economic development bandwagon here Friday and delivered 120 jobs to a cheering, job-starved city, but those positions may come at the expense of other parts of Virginia.

Allen brought with him $100,000 from the Governor's Opportunity Fund for CFW Communications Corp., which plans to build directory assistance centers in Clifton Forge and Waynesboro.

{REST} Allen has vowed to create 125,000 jobs in Virginia during his term, but not all of the positions he notched into his belt Friday could be considered new jobs.

CFW outbid Bell Atlantic Corp. to handle AT&T Corp.'s directory assistance calls from across the country. Bell Atlantic said losing the AT&T contract will mean the loss of 280 jobs in the mid-Atlantic region, including an unspecified number from a center in Virginia.

Bell Atlantic's directory assistance centers in Virginia - including operations in Norfolk, Hampton, Richmond and Leesburg - employ a total of 883 people.

Jim Quarforth, president of the Shenandoah Valley-based CFW, said the state's $200,000 grant and other incentives doled out by the city and the Allegheny Highlands Economic Development Authority enabled CFW to make a more competitive bid for AT&T's business.

``The fact that we're operating in a rural community is also a major advantage to us, because of the lower cost of living,'' he said.

Bell Atlantic spokesman Paul Miller said the company had not decided where jobs would be eliminated. The company hopes to reduce through attrition and by reducing its temporary workforce.

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert Skunda denied that the Allen administration, in a push to add to the state's workforce, was paying to transfer jobs from one part of the state to another.

``Any time you use incentives, of course, there's always a delicate balance that has to be maintained to not provide a competitive edge to one company against its competition,'' Skunda said, ``but in this case we felt this would create jobs that otherwise were not going to be created in Virginia.''

CFW received other enticements as well. The Clifton Forge City Council gave the company land worth $120,000 and a $20,000 grant; the private Clifton Forge Development Corp. issued a $30,000 grant; and the economic development authority contributed $100,000.

by CNB