Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993 TAG: 9308120162
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Wire and staff reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Warner-Lambert Co., Morris Plains, N.J., owner of Blacksburg's Tetra aquarium supplies plant, said Wednesday it has bought a privately held aquarium-products concern to augment its pet care products holdings.
Willinger Bros. Inc., a New Jersey-based company with 1992 sales of $34 million, makes and distributes power filters and replacement cartridges, air pumps, plants and aquarium accessories under the Whisper trade name.
Tetra's Blacksburg operation - which employs 60 of the company's 500 employees worldwide - houses the company's U.S. headquarters and is a distribution center. The acquisition of Willinger should not effect employment or operations in Blacksburg, a company spokeswoman said. - Staff report
NS to offer workers mental health plans
Norfolk Southern Corp. has awarded a one-year contract to a Norfolk-based health care company that will manage mental health and substance abuse programs for the transportation company.
Effective Sept. 1, Options Mental Health's will offer benefits to an estimated 15,000 NS employees, retirees and their families in the Roanoke Valley, Tidewater and Atlanta.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed. - Staff report
Last-minute balk puts NAFTA on hold
Canadian officials balked Wednesday at accepting an enforcement plan for the North American Free Trade Agreement backed by both the United States and Mexico, a key obstacle blocking congressional consideration of the pact, sources said.
After several conference calls involving chief negotiators for the three countries, the next move was not clear Wednesday evening.
U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and his Mexican counterpart, Jaime Serra Puche, had been ready to fly to Ottawa today for a signing ceremony if agreement had been reached. - Washington Post
USAir, United plan Latin American link
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Rather than develop its own route network to Latin America, USAir is about to team up with a most unlikely partner.
USAir disclosed Wednesday it is negotiating with United Airlines to link USAir domestic flights to and from Miami with United's Miami-based Latin American system.
The arrangement would be similar, but not as close or wide-ranging, as the joint service USAir and British Airways operate between London and the Northeast and Midwest. No investment will be involved in the United deal, USAir said.
USAir has applied to the Transportation Department to serve Mexico City from Tampa and Philadelphia. It also agreed Wednesday to buy five of United's gates at Orlando International Airport for $4.6 million, giving USAir 17 gates in the land of Mickey Mouse. - Knight-Ridder/Tribune a
Film-colorizing deal with Robertson off
VIRGINIA BEACH - The board of directors of a Los Angeles film-colorizing company has called off a tentative agreement to be acquired by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, the California company said.
The investor group led by the Virginia Beach-based broadcaster had been negotiating for a controlling interest in American Film Technologies Inc., the nation's largest colorizer of black-and-white films.
"The AFTI board took this action so that management could pursue certain other alternatives," the company said.
American Film has said it expected a deal in which Robertson's group would buy a 52 percent stake in the company for $4.7 million. Robertson is founder and head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. - Associated Press
Briefly . . .
\ Medical Claims Management, a service specializing in electronic filing of insurance claims for physicians and patients, has opened at 603 M. Bruffey St., Salem. The company is operated by Karin Bostic.
\ Trans World Airlines overcame the last major obstacle to exiting bankruptcy court Wednesday when a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, Del., approved a plan by creditors and employees to buy the company. TWA is expected to leave Chapter 11 protection early next month.
\ Motley & Associates, a Roanoke architectural firm, has been selected to design the Learning Resources Center at Wytheville Community College in affiliation with Michaels Associates, a library planning firm, and Spectrum Engineers. Motley also is designing libraries for Hollins, Clinch Valley and New River Community colleges.
by CNB