Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 6, 1994                   TAG: 9407060053
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

First Union National Bank will open a new full-service bank branch in an underserved, low-income area of Washington, D.C.

The office, scheduled to open in December, will be in a neighborhood storefront shopping center connected to a housing complex in Anacostia.

Anacostia has six branch banks to serve a population of more than 43,000 people - one branch for every 7,000 residents. That compares to one branch for every 2,000 residents in many suburban communities.

First Union said it will spend more than $150,000 to renovate the space, install a vault and build four teller windows in what was once a hardware store.

Hugh Long, First Union's Washington-area president, said the branch will provide an alternative to existing storefront check-cashing operations that charge hefty fees - sometimes 3 percent or more of a check's value.

- Staff report

Briefly ...

Corporate Communications Consultants, specializing in business communications; marketing; and employee, community, investor and public relations, has moved its main office to Fincastle from Washington, D.C. Clarence Renshaw, a principal of the firm, will manage the new office. Associate offices are in Northern Virginia and Richmond.

Appalachian Power Co., Roanoke-based electric utility, said it plans to invest $4.7 million in the next year to improve its facilities in the Danville area. The improvements, including upgrading of a subtransmission line, are to enable the utility to meet increased demand of the modernization and expansion of Dan River Inc. textile production facilities.