THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 11, 1995 TAG: 9510110682
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Panasonic will open a customer service center in Chesapeake that will employ 200 to 300 people initially, according to economic development sources familiar with the deal.
The entrance of Panasonic, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., to the Hampton Roads market continues a trend of high-end back-office operations settling in this region.
Many companies have located their production jobs - ranging from telemarketers to customer service representatives to light manufacturing assembly work - in this region because of its affordable wages and state right-to-work laws.
High-end back-office jobs distinguish themselves from regular office production jobs by paying more than minimum wage, providing career advancement opportunities and superior benefits.
Economic development sources familiar with the deal say that the Panasonic customer service center will be a high-end facility that can pay between $10 and $15 an hour. Many back-office jobs start at $5 or $6.50 an hour.
Panasonic, an electronics manufacturer, will build a 50,000-square-foot office in Battlefield Corporate Center, near the intersection of Battlefield Boulevard and Volvo Parkway. The only other company in that industrial park is Verbatim Kasei, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Kasei America Inc. that manufactures floppy disks for computers.
Panasonic's facility will provide technical support to customers that call for information about appliances and electronic equipment.
The details on the land purchase are being negotiated.
NationsBank owns the property where the facility will be located. The land has been priced at $120,000 an acre, but Panasonic will probably buy it at a discount of between $80,000 and $85,000 an acre, one source said.
The electronics company had been looking for a plot of land between eight and 10 acres.
It had looked at other sites in Hampton Roads, including the 14-acre site in Virginia Beach's Centre Pointe Office Park where Avis is building its auto rental reservations center.
Plans to build Panasonic's facility already have begun. The company has submitted an erosion sediment control plan to the Chesapeake Planning Department so the site can be cleared for drainage purposes and construction can begin. The plan has been approved and submitted to the Public Works Department, said Chesapeake Planning Director Brent Nielson.
Buildings are normally finished six to eight months after construction starts.
Matsushita is probably better known for its subsidiaries, such as Panasonic. The conglomerate bought MCA, a multimedia company with holdings in film, television, theaters and publishing, for $6.6 billion in 1990, the single biggest purchase of a U.S. company by a Japanese company to date.
Matsushita makes electronic and home appliances under the National, Quasar, Technics and Panasonic brands. It also owns a controlling interest in the Victor Company of Japan, the Victor and JVC brands. Total sales in 1994 hit $64.3 billion. ILLUSTRATION: Map
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