Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401210007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Medium
General Injectables and Vaccines - through its Lotus Biochemical Corp. subsidiary - will equip the former Heck's and Magic Mart department store as a communications center for telephone, telefax and E-mail, said R.J. Kirk, chairman of the privately held company, known as GIV.
Those hired will call physicians and other medical and pharmaceutical professionals who might use the company's products, according to the company's employment ads.
Kirk confirmed the company already has interviewed nearly 70 prospective employees and hopes to put about three dozen people to work sometime next month, as soon as it can begin training.
Kirk described Lotus Biochemical as GIV's business unit, which handles the company's acquisition, development and marketing of brand-name pharmaceuticals.
GIV has purchased the former Beecham pharmaceuticals plant in Bristol, Tenn., as well as Williams Generics, formerly of Memphis. Williams Generics was known among pharmaceutical professionals for its telemarketing expertise.
Kirk said GIV has consolidated Williams' dozen or so employees into its Bland County facility. The Bristol factory will produce pharmaceuticals for Lotus Biochemical, he explained.
The company's classified advertisements last month seeking ``customer service representatives'' drew 120 applicants to the Virginia Employment Commission office in Radford, where interviews were conducted.
``There's been great interest in this,'' said Jack Beason, job service manager at the Radford VEC office.
The Radford-Pulaski County work force is ``already customer-oriented,'' Kirk said.
The jobs will pay $6 to $7 an hour, he said.
``We tend to pay above average,'' he said, adding that the company also offers ``an excellent benefits package'' that includes day care for workers' children.
Kirk said renovations are under way at the former department store, and the company will move in highly sophisticated, computerized communications equipment in the near future. He wouldn't say whether the former department-store site would be a permanent home or whether the company expected to expand beyond the 100 workers it plans to have on the job in March.
The Fairlawn venture represents a seven-figure investment for GIV, said Kirk, but he declined to be specific.
``We're growing quite rapidly,'' Kirk said Wednesday.
A recent trend among group health insurers toward mail-order prescription services has been a factor in his company's success, Kirk said.
``Almost everything that's been going on in terms of cost containment has helped our companies,'' he said.
``We've always believed in lowering health-care costs.''
The company also develops its own communications and marketing computer software, which, Kirk said, has helped to make GIV ``an industry leader.''
by CNB