THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506030273
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Executives of Mitsubishi Electronics are taking a look at Newport News as a potential expansion site, but have made no definite plans, an official of the company said Friday.
``I think this is just a routine inspection for future possibilities,'' Tom Chapman, the company's California-based vice president for corporate communications, said of plans by Mitsubishi officials to visit Newport News next week.
Local leaders said earlier this week that a Japanese electronics firm would be looking at a potential plant site in the city, but they declined to identify the company.
Julius A. ``Bud'' Denton, president of the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council, said Thursday that the interested company was considering using 50 acres of farmland that includes 38 acres bought by the city two months ago.
``That project would bring another 500 jobs to the city by September,'' Denton said Thursday at a meeting of the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate.
On Friday, Denton said that company officials already had visited the city and would return. ``We're hopeful there will be a decision made in the near future,'' he said.
Paul Miller, director of planning and development for Newport News, said the city had made a proposal and the selection process was ``down to a very few'' contenders.
But Chapman said Mitsubishi was still considering other places. He declined to identify them.
``The parent corporation is looking to expand,'' he said. ``But there's nothing imminent. None of our plans are concrete.'' by CNB