DATE: Saturday, November 22, 1997           TAG: 9711220292

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

LOCAL SCENE

NEWPORT NEWS

Farrand FARRAND NAMED PERMANENT EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/ADMINISTRATOR OF HOSPITAL: Cynthia B. Farrand was named permanent executive vice president/ administrator of Mary Immaculate Hospital, a member of the Bon Secours Health System. Farrand had been the acting executive vice president since June. She has been employed at Mary Immaculate since 1993 and was administrative director of clinical services and director of the Women in Focus program.

SUFFOLK

ESSEX SAVINGS BREAKS GROUND: Essex Savings Bank FSB broke ground Wednesday for a 3,000-square-foot office building on Godwin Boulevard, at the Food Lion Shopping Center. The bank, with about $155 million in deposits, has other branch offices in Emporia, Richmond and Elizabeth City, N.C. Essex is a full-service bank specializing in first mortgage loans, said Vice President and regional manager Thomas E. Pruden Jr. Construction will start immediately, Pruden said, and should be completed by April. The new facility will offer Essex's Suffolk customers ATM services for the first time.

JAMES RIVER BANKSHARES DECLARES DIVIDEND: James River Bankshares declared a fourth-quarter cash dividend for 1997 in the amount of 10 cents per share to shareholders of record Dec. 10, 1997, and payable on Dec. 22, 1997. This cash dividend represents a 7.15 percent increase over the third-quarter dividend and is the second time in 1997 that the company has raised the cash dividend. James River Bankshares Inc. is a multi-bank holding company that owns and operates Bank of Isle of Wight in Smithfield, Bank of Suffolk, First Colonial Bank, FSB in Hopewell, and James River Bank in Waverly with combined assets of approximately $392.2 million as of Oct. 31, 1997.

VIRGINIA

CIRCUIT CITY WORRIES GROW: Falling computer prices, industry weakness and worries about investments in new technology as Christmas approaches appear to be taking their toll on the stock of Circuit City Stores Inc. Shares of Circuit City have spiraled down from over $40 early this month to close at $32.875 Thursday. Friday, shares fell another 4 percent, or $1.312, to $31.562 on the New York Stock Exchange. Davenport & Co. analyst Kenneth Gassman said price cuts on computers over the past year will not bode well for the Richmond-based consumer electronics retailer.

VIRGINIA BEACH

HARDY BUILDING CORP. NAMED TO TOP 50 LIST: Virginia Beach-based Hardy Building Corp. was named 33rd in the Top 50 Leading Retail Contractors of Interior Space by Shopping Center World, a retail trade magazine that ranks contractors based on the amount of retail space they build. Janice Gates was appointed business development coordinator. Gates, who started in the project management department, has worked there for 11 years. And John Shourds was promoted from superintendent to assistant project manager. He started in 1989 as a carpenter. MEMO: To submit an item, send it to Local Scene, The Virginian-Pilot

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Farrand

Gates

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