THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506170246
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Talk of the Town
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The world according to Michael D. Harsh will be different from what you and I know it as today.
The Molson ale you're so fond of, it'll be made in America. Or Quebec. Or something. That's right, Canada, as we know it today, will cease to exist.
Harsh, an economist at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, predicts the United States will have 55 states in the next century. Bye bye, Canada. And 90 percent of all jobs will be in the service industry. Hello, McDonald's.
Harsh, an avid reader, said he projects from current trends. Oh, one other fearless forecast: ``Washington, D.C., will be the financial center of the world.''
Travelers often think of ValuJet Airlines' low fares as a gift compared to the ticket prices charged by larger airlines.
Well, the Atlanta no-frills carrier, a newcomer to Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, apparently will land its own own gift courtesy of Virginia's Department of Aviation.
The state intends to buy a $285,000 jetway - the mobile passage that bridges the plane and the terminal. NN/WIA would own the jetway, while ValuJet uses it for free.
USAir contends it had to buy its NN/WIA jetway. And Richmond International Airport claims it never knew the state acquired jetways.
About one dozen U.S. companies were among the exhibitors from 37 nations at the recent Nor-Shipping conference in Norway. Last year, Newport News Shipbuilding was America's lone attendee.
The Peninsula shipyard's foreign order book now numbers a potential 20 vessels, compared to zero in '93. The yard, the state's largest private employer with about 19,500 workers, is about to build two product carriers for Eletson Corp. of Greece.
One industry prominent in Hampton Roads faces new regulation. Beginning July 1, companies that cash checks for a fee in Virginia must register with the State Corporation Commission and pay $200. Consumer groups first asked state officials to regulate check-cashers in the late 1980s.
``We don't even know how many of these companies are out there,'' SCC spokesman Andrea Leeman said. ``We don't how much time will be spent doing examinations or audits, whether that will amount to additional staff.''
Inc. magazine's roster of 500 fast-growing small companies throughout the nation included, as previously noted, only one Tidewater business, Whitlock Group, a Norfolk computer products distributor.
Actually, there was one other business linked to Hampton Roads. Coverall of Virginia Inc., a franchisor of commercial cleaning services, ranked 444 with '93 sales of $3.2 million. It was founded in Norfolk in 1988 by Richard J. Rex, a former Texas banker who relocated to Richmond.
Recycling companies now love paper; plastic, too. The value of used newspaper has soared 700 percent. Used plastic prices shot up about 400 percent.
``We have people calling begging for it,'' said Steve Rich, supervisor of Waste Management Inc.'s recycling plant in Hampton. ``We went from losing $30,000 a month three years ago to actually making money now.''
Waste Management received $115 to $165 per ton of newspapers in April, compared to $10 to $30 a ton in October 1993. Demand has outstripped supply partly as manufacturers turn to recyclable materials for production. by CNB