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the Record is
compiled from company releases, business
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For the Record
Virginia Business Magazine
P.O. Box 85333
Richmond, VA 23293
Active Wear, a textile manufacturer
based in Henry County, announced plans to close
its plant with the loss of 210 jobs. Foreign competition
and softening demand for its knit fleece and T-shirt
fabric products were cited as reasons. Active
Wear was formed by former executives of VF Imagewear,
a textile operation that ceased operations in
November 2001. (02/14/04, The Roanoke Times)
Circuit City, a consumer electronics
retailer headquartered in Richmond, plans to
close 19 underperforming stores around the country.
The move leaves the company with approximately
600 stores in 157 markets. About 900 jobs will
be lost in the closings. The only Virginia location
affected is in Martinsville. (02/10/04, Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
RBX Corp. of Roanoke, announced
the closing of its RBX Industries Bedford plant
and the loss of 64 jobs. RBX Industries, a manufacturer
of closed-cell foam materials and custom rubber
compound, will also close plants in Tallapoosa,
Ga., and Colt., Ark. Losses at the plants and
continued weakness in the manufacturing economy
were cited for the closings. (02/03/04, The
Roanoke Times)Atlantic Mutual plans to
lay off 67 employees in its Roanoke operations.
The move comes as a result of the purchase by
OneBeacon Insurance of Boston of a major division
of New York-based Atlantic Mutual. The remainder
of the 525-person work force will be employed
by Atlantic Mutual or another entity at the Roanoke
County facility. A number of those jobs are part
of a transition period of undetermined length.
(01/29/2004, The Roanoke Times)
Masonite Corp., an Ontario-based
manufacturer of wood products, announced plans
to close its Danville plant with a loss of 172
jobs. Competition from Brazilian sources and
substitute products were cited for the decline
in demand for the plant’s pressboard products.
(01/28/2004, Danville Register & Bee)
