THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290394
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 67 lines
When Avis, the ``We Try Harder'' car-rental company, dedicated its $15 million Virginia Beach Processing Center on Tuesday, it went into Virginia Beach's record books as the city's largest office building.
The 166,000-square-foot building, at the intersection of Independence Boulevard and Baxter Road, surpasses Bell Atlantic's regional headquarters, which has 125,000 square feet.
The processing center, which opened in March, employs 475 people in its reservations, collections, support services and administration departments. Avis officials expect that number to grow to 500 by the end of the summer and 600 by the end of the year.
``This building holds close to 800 people and, at the rate we're going, we're going to see this building fill up quickly,'' said Joseph V. Vittoria, Avis chairman and chief executive officer.
Avis also has a five-year option on two other parcels in Virginia Beach for possible future expansion.
``We hope in the future for additional significant development in Virginia Beach,'' said Donald L. Maxwell, the city's economic development director. ``Our goal is to get their headquarters here.''
Avis, one of the nation's largest employee-owned companies, is based in Garden City, N.Y., but does business world-wide.
Maxwell said Avis' presence in Virginia Beach is significant because it brings a national and international name to the city.
``It helps us with exposure around the country,'' Maxwell said.
Avis had been looking to expand from its New York headquarters and Tulsa, Okla., reservation center. Virginia Beach was selected over Norfolk and Tampa, Fla.
Helping to influence the decision was an incentive package that included $500,000 for sitework from the Governor's Opportunity Fund and $340,000 from Virginia Beach for road work, construction and other details on site. But Avis also liked the area's quality of life and labor pool, said Joe Fineo, vice president of the Virginia Beach Processing Center.
The three-story building at Centre Point Office Park was built on an accelerated six-month schedule.
``In six months this building went from nothing to what it is today,'' Vittoria said. ``That's a feat that couldn't be done in New York and, if it could, it would have cost 50 percent more.''
Of its 475 employees, about 35 transferred from other Avis locations while the rest were hired locally.
``The most pleasing thing to me is the enthusiasm and spirit of the people we found here in Virginia,'' Vittoria said.
Alise Horning, an Avis collections manager, voluntarily moved here from the New York headquarters in search of the American Dream.
``In New York its very difficult to have the American Dream, a nice house in a nice neighborhood and close to work,'' the 38-year-old New York native said. ``I came here seeking that and I found it.''
Avis is No. 2 in the car-rental industry, behind leader Hertz, a unit of Ford Motor Co.
Last year, Avis had more than $1 billion in revenues nationally and more than $3 billion worldwide. It posted a small loss in 1995 but rebounded with a profit of more than $40 million in '96. At the same time, Avis stock rose 38 percent.
The company has about 13,500 employees nationwide and operates in more than 4,500 locations worldwide. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Beth Bergman\The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Beah Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and Avis' president and chief
executive, Joseph V. Vittoria were on hand Tuesday to dedicate the
car-rental company's processing center. by CNB