Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 7, 1993 TAG: 9310070099
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Not since a meter reader was bitten by a dog last summer has a Roanoke division employee of Appalachian Power Co. suffered a disabling injury, the utility said Wednesday.
On Sept. 22, division employees reached a milestone: They had worked a million work hours without any of them missing work because of an injury, setting a record for that Apco division.
By Wednesday morning, the record had stretched to 1,030,000 hours.
The meter reader who was bitten on June 12, 1992, lost one day of work because of an allergic reaction to medication. Although some workers have had minor injuries on the job since, none has had to miss work. - Staff report
Grand Piano hires new ad agency
Grand Piano & Furniture Co. has retained a Greensboro, N.C., firm to handle its advertising, ending its relationship with The Packett Group of Roanoke.
Trone Advertising Inc., an agency with annual billings of about $2 million, won the account. Trone said Grand plans to increase dramatically its use of television and, to a lesser extent, radio advertising.
The agency, which visited all of the company's stores to prepare its presentation to Grand, said it will develop image- and product-focused broadcast campaigns that will start in early November in regional markets.
Trone, which had 1992 annual billings of more than $75 million, created the original 75th Camel anniversary campaign featuring "Old Joe" for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and is agency for Reynolds' Salem brand. Other agency clients include Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Co. of Greensboro and Bassett Furniture Co. of Bassett. - Staff report
Briefly . . .
\ Avis Construction Inc. of Roanoke has a $1.7 million contract to build an 87,400-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse addition for Tetra Second Nature Co. in Blacksburg. Construction will begin in October and is expected to be completed in the spring, said Jack Avis, vice president of Avis Construction. Tetra, which makes aquarium and terrarium products, is a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert, which last month acquired Willinger Bros Inc., maker of aquarium electrical products. When the addition is complete, the Blacksburg facility will become the distribution center for both companies.
\ About 1,500 telephone customers in the Garden City section of Roanoke will get new phone numbers next year. The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. customers, now served by a switch on Luck Avenue, will be changed to a new switch at Garden City because of growth in C&P's business. The changeover should occur in late March, said Don Reid, C&P's Roanoke manager.
by CNB