Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992 TAG: 9202110091
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IN BUSINESS
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia is negotiating for more office space in downtown Roanoke to house 85 new jobs expected from the expansion of its government contracting business.James Goss, the health insurance company's spokesman in Richmond, said Monday that the Roanoke operation will employ 781 people by the end of this year. They will be added gradually as the business grows. The insurance company had 696 employees here at the end of 1991.
Goss said business has been increasing over the years. The company had 535 workers in Roanoke at the end of 1986, when Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Southwestern Virginia merged into the Richmond operation.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia handles all of its government-contracting business in Roanoke. That includes administration of its Medicare program and health insurance plans for federal employees.
Goss said the company is also negotiating to lease space in addition to its building at Jefferson Street and Franklin Road. He declined to identify the likely site until a lease is signed, adding that might happen in about two or three weeks. - Staff report
Work at Grumman to last through August
Work will continue through August on manufacturing new fire engines at the Grumman Emergency Products Inc. plant in Roanoke, John Vosilla, spokesman for the parent Grumman Corp., said Monday.
Vosilla corrected his comment on Friday that only "a couple months" of work remains.
But because the company has a schedule for layoffs if the plant is not sold, Vosilla said he does not know if the entire plant work force would remain through August. A small number of office personnel at the plant already has been laid off.
The company is "still talking to a few prospects" about sale of the Northeast Roanoke plant, he said. In late November, Grumman said the plant would be closed by mid-year if a buyer is not found. The plant had 270 employees when the closing was announced. - Staff report