DATE: Friday, June 6, 1997                  TAG: 9706060600

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

LOCAL SCENE

HAMPTON ROADS

FULLER ELECTED TO NATIONAL MARKETING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION'S BOARD: H. Grace Fuller, president of Fuller Research Services, was elected to the national Marketing Research Association's 14-member governing board. She will serve for two years. MRA is a professional organization whose members are companies and professionals in all segments of marketing and opinion research - data collection, research companies and users of research. Fuller conducts marketing and opinion research for businesses.

NORFOLK

EG&G RECEIVES SECURITY HONOR: The Hampton Roads operation of EG&G Washington Analytical Services Center was awarded the 1997 Department of Defense James S. Cogswell Award for outstanding industrial security achievement. The award is the Department of Defense's most prestigious honor for industrial security programs. Of the 11,500 contractors cleared to perform classified work, only 50 received this distinction. EG&G WASC is a technical services divison of EG&G Inc. and is in Gaithersburg, Md.

CROWLEY SHIP MAKES INAUGURAL CALL IN NORFOLK: A new containership for Crowley American Transport made its inaugural call Thursday at Norfolk International Terminals. The Sea Jaguar, built by Korea's Daewoo Shipyard, can carry 2,100 20-foot containers, travel at speeds of up to 21 knots and has four cranes so it can load and unload itself. The ship will serve in Crowley's service between the U.S. East Coast and the east coast of South America. The Sea Jaguar is the first of three new CAT-class ships Crowley is adding to the trade in the next 90 days to replace older and slower vessels. The others are the Sea Cougar and the Sea Lynx.

VIRGINIA BEACH

BURTON NAMED VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AND MARKETING: Stihl Inc. appointed Peter Burton to vice president of sales and marketing. He was sales and marketing director for the chain saw manufacturer.

NEWPORT NEWS

NAVY AWARDS NIMITZ CONTRACTS TO PENINSULA YARD: The Navy has awarded two contracts to Newport News Shipbuilding related to the upcoming overhaul and refueling of the aircraft carrier Nimitz. The carrier is due to enter the yard next spring for the work, which is expected to take more than two years. The Navy awarded one contract for $175.9 million for planning the refueling and overhaul. Another $25.6 million contract was awarded for the procurement of spare parts for the Nimitz.

VIRGINIA

CIRCUIT CITY SHARES FALL: Circuit City Stores Inc. shares fell as much as 13 percent after the retailer said its first-quarter earnings per share will drop about 25 percent because of promotions and increased sales of less-profitable goods. The company, which operates Circuit City consumer electronics stores and the CarMax used-car chain, said its sales at stores open at least a year fell 2 percent for the quarter ended May 31. That's worse than some analysts expected following a 2 percent rise in same-store sales in April, the retailer's first increase since March 1996. ``Circuit City was surprisingly poor,'' said Scott Ciccarelli, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison. ``It was obviously a disaster for them.'' The company was expected to earn 17 cents a share for the quarter ended in May, the average estimate of 11 analysts polled by IBES International Inc. MEMO: To submit an item, send it to Local Scene, The Virginian-Pilot

Business News Department, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.

Photos are welcome. Or fax your submission to 446-2531. ILLUSTRATION: Fuller

Burton

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