THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, July 25, 1994                  TAG: 9407230114
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY          PAGE: 13   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: From wire reports
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   56 lines

MID-ATLANTIC: MORE EXECS PLAN TO BOOST STAFF IN REGION, POLL SAYS

RICHMOND - An increasing number of executives in the South Atlantic region of the country will expand their staff sizes this year, a new poll suggests.

Thirty-six percent of the South Atlantic executives polled by Cleveland-based Management Recruiters International Inc. said they plan to increase their mid-management and professional staffs in the next six months. That is a 1.5 percentage point increase from projections for the first half of 1994, the company said.

Another 48.3 percent plan to maintain their current staff sizes, and 15.8 percent expect to make reductions in staff, the poll said. TECH CENTER NAMES CHIEF

HERNDON - The board of directors of the Center for Innovative Technology named Robert G. Templin Jr., the president of Thomas Nelson Community College, as its new president.

Templin, 46, succeeds former Gov. A. Linwood Holton Jr., who is resigning after 5 1/2 years at the nonprofit Herndon corporation.

The General Assembly created the center to spur economic growth in Virginia through the development of new technology.

Templin has been president of the Hampton school since 1986. QUAKER OATS EXPANDING

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Quaker Oats Co., which makes rice cakes and oat products, will expand its Asheville rice cake operation, creating 100 new jobs.

In addition, 75 jobs will be saved by the company's decision to continue its operation in Asheville, Gov. Jim Hunt said.

The company received $98,000 to extend water and sewer lines to a new site. Company officials are expected to announce the site of its new facility within a month.

Quaker Oats also looked at sites in Tennessee and Missouri before deciding to remain in Asheville. FURNITURE MAKER CLOSING

WINSTON-SALEM - CollingWood Furniture Industries Inc., which several weeks ago announced it would soon have a new owner, will shut down Aug. 8.

The closing will put 141 people at the CollingWood plant out of work, the N.C. Commerce Department said. CollingWood officials, following federal law, notified the department of the closing.

CollingWood's Canadian owner, Kaufman Footwear, put the company up for sale in April. On June 7, CollingWood issued a statement saying it had been bought by MLA, a company that has main offices in La Porte, Ind. by CNB