DATE: Thursday, May 15, 1997                TAG: 9705150444

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   83 lines

LOCAL SCENE

VIRGINIA BEACH

COTTON BATTING MANUFACTURER EXPANDS OPERATIONS: Quilters Dream Cotton has expanded its business threefold and relocated to a larger operation at 513 Central Drive. The manufacturer of cotton batting for quilting is marketing its product to Japan, Canada, Australia, England, France and New Zealand as well as domestically.

MAY APPOINTED VICE PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AT ARCHITECTURAL FIRM: David L. May Jr. was named vice president-director of operations at The TAF Group. He was a partner with CMSS Architects in Virginia Beach for the past 15 years.

TISDALE JOINS SENTARA MEDICAL GROUP: Dr. Bradford W. Tisdale has joined Sentara Medical Group's Chimney Hill Medical Associates as a family practice physician. He specializes in the areas of pediatrics, orthopedics and gynecology. He has been in private practice in the area since 1990 in association with Wards Corner Family Practice, Sentara Health Plan and DePaul Medical Center.

NORFOLK

LAW FIRM NAMES NEW SHAREHOLDER AND HIRES ASSOCIATE: Christopher R. Papile was elected a shareholder at Williams Kelly & Greer. He joined the firm as an associate in 1991 after receiving his law degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. Also, Deborah K. Dallmann was named an associate with the firm. She will practice in the areas of railroad defense, personal injury defense, product liability defense and employment law.

WHITEHURST RETIRES FROM VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS BOARD: G. William Whitehurst has retired from the board of directors of Virginia Natural Gas. The former congressman and current Old Dominion University professor was elected to the company's board in April 1990. At this time the company has no plans to name another outside director.

SUFFOLK VIRGINIA DESIGN ACQUIRED: Virginia Design Packaging Corp., headquartered in Suffolk, has been acquired by Berry Plastics Design Corp. Berry is a wholly owned subsidiary of Evansville, Ind.-based Berry Plastics Corp., which made the announcement Wednesday. Larry Goldstein, head of Virginia Design's marketing and sales efforts, will become Northeastern region sales manager for Berry Plastics' container business. Virginia Design, with annual net sales of approximately $15 million, manufactures injection-molded containers used primarily for food packaging. Terms were not disclosed.

VIRGINIA

PULASKI FURNITURE DECLARES DIVIDEND: Pulaski Furniture Corp. declared a dividend of 17 cents per common share payable on June 16, 1997, to stockholders of record on June 2, 1997.

MVSI COMPLETED TRANSITION TO NASDAQ: MVSI Inc., a Vienna-based technology products and services company, said it has completed its transition to the Nasdaq National Market. The company's common stock and Class A warrants began trading on the Nasdaq National Market effective May 2. As of Monday the company has 17 registered market makers available to trade the company's common stock. The 17 firms making the market in MVSI's common stock are listed as follows: For additional public information on MVSI Inc., contact the company at its principal executive offices at 8133 Leesburg Pike, Suite 750, Vienna, Va. 22182, 703-356-5353 (phone) and 703-356-5354 (facsimile). MVSI Inc.'s Website is located at (www.mvsiinc.com).

SMITHFIELD FOODS REPORTS INCOME: Smithfield Foods Inc. said it sees fiscal fourth-quarter net income of about $1 a share, up from 35 cents a year earlier. The pork and pork products processor said that the ``hundreds of millions of dollars invested in long-term capital projects over the last several years are finally starting to have a positive impact on the company's bottom line.'' Smithfield said the fourth quarter's results will boost its earnings for the year ended April 27 to about $2.30 a share, bettering the average estimate of $1.92 by eight analysts polled by IBES International Inc. The Norfolk-based company was expected to earn 59 cents a share in the fourth quarter, based on the average estimate of six analysts in an IBES survey.

SIMSMETAL AGREES TO BUY PECK RECYCLING: Simsmetal America, a division of one of the largest metals recyclers in the world, has agreed to buy the assets and business of Richmond-based Peck Recycling Co., a large metal processor that has operated in the East for more than 50 years. Peck handles ferrous and nonferrous metals and ships to steel mills all over the country and overseas. Peck operates facilities in Portsmouth, Chesapeake and has one near Fredericksburg. MEMO: To submit an item, send it to Local Scene, The Virginian-Pilot

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May

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