Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510300020
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
James Harkness, chairman of Tredegar Trust Co., said Friday he had resigned as vice president of resource development at Roanoke College to devote full-time to expansion of Tredegar.
Right now, Tredegar Trust has one office in Richmond.
Before he joined the staff at Roanoke College 21/2 years ago, Harkness was a senior vice president of the former Dominion Bankshares Corp. and head of its trust company. He left when Dominion was acquired by First Union Corp.
Harkness said he and a group of Richmond investors organized Tredegar after the Virginia General Assembly authorized creation of trust companies in the state.
An independent trust company, under state law, has all the powers of a bank-affiliated trust department, but it cannot engage in other types of banking activities such as taking deposits.
Tredegar opened for business in January 1994. Harkness has served as chairman since its inception, but he worked for the company only on part-time basis.
Tredegar has found a niche, he said, by serving small banks without their own trust departments as well as individuals and corporations.
Harkness said big bank trust divisions have "walked away" from serving people with "modest accumulations of wealth." This type of person has been moved into common trust funds and mutual funds at major banks.
Tredegar, he said, specializes in giving personalized services to such individuals and to small companies.
by CNB