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CDI, EDS, SAIC announce
more than 500 jobs
Gov. Bob Wise praised U.S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller and the officials of four international companies for their innovation and rapid response resulting in the creation of new high-caliber jobs in the wake of the Dow Chemical merger with Union Carbide.
CDI Corp., a leading technical and engineering services firm, announced plans to bring 420 jobs to Charleston, West Virginia.
CDI employs 32,000 people worldwide. It serves a broad range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, biotechnology, chemical/specialty chemical, computers, defense, electronics, marine and telecommunication. In 2000, CDI had revenues of more than $1.7 billion and operated more than 1,400 offices in 28 countries.
EDS, which provides information services to the global marketplace, announced as many as 120 new information technology jobs.
EDS, based in Plano, Texas, applies consulting, information and technology to help clients improve customer service, enhance product quality and solve business problems. Founded in 1962, the company employs about 125,000 people around the world with $19.2 billion in annual sales.
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company based in San Diego, Calif., announced 50 jobs for its new branch office in southern West Virginia.
SAIC has been operating in northern West Virginia for 20 years. SAIC's newest branch office will develop software for command and control applications and safety software for military airplanes. SAIC generates approximately 50 percent of its business through federal, state and local government contracts. The company and its subsidiaries have more than 41,000 employees with offices in 150 cities worldwide.
Space launch, prototype facility
planned for carbon foam
An innovative West Virginia company is launching a prototype facility for carbon foam.
Carbon foam, a coal-based insulating material, also will be part of a yearlong test project aboard the International Space Station. Under the U.S. Air Force's Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) program, four new materials, including CFoamTM, a Touchstone Research Laboratory Ltd. technology, will be exposed to the harsh environment of space for at least a year. CFoamTM will be shipped to the space station aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on July 12.
Meanwhile, a 12,000-square-foot building at The Millennium Centre will house Touchstone's Carbon Foam Prototype Facility, which will produce larger carbon foam specimens for testing and enable engineers to refine the production process prior to the construction of a manufacturing facility.
Chemical company opens
$10 million facility
Akzo Nobel, which produces flame retardants, plasticizers, functional fluids and specialty chemicals, opened a $10 million production facility that will expand capacity to manufacture flame retardants for plastics used in televisions, computers, autos and other products.
Akzo Nobel is a part of West Virginia's Polymer Alliance Zone, made up of 24 polymer producers, users and suppliers in Jackson, Mason and Wood counties.
People, companies win
Excellence in Exporting awards
Gov. Bob Wise announced the winners of the 2001 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Exporting during World Trade Day 2001. Two individuals received service awards.
The awards, established in 1983 and presented by the governor and the West Virginia Export Council, honor companies and business professionals for their leadership and success in the state's exporting efforts.
West Virginia exports more than $2 billion of its goods and services annually, making international trade an important component of the state's economic success.
The winning companies include GTR Labs, Gassaway; Special Metals Corp., Huntington; Tabor Machine Co. and Norris Screen and Manufacturing in Bluefield and Princeton; and Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co., Belle. Service award winners are Dr. Arsev Eraslan of Wheeling, who supported West Virginia's initiative to develop trade between the state and Turkey, and Nancy Guthrie, Capitol City Communications and a volunteer with the West Virginia Export Council, who worked to expand awareness of exporting by developing an electronic newsletter distributed to West Virginia's exporting community.
West Virginia companies
part of German trade show
Four West Virginia companies participated in the Interzum Furniture Production and Wood Interior Show in Cologne, Germany.
Europe provides an excellent market for West Virginia's hardwoods. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the state increased its hardwood exports to Europe by 50 percent from 1999 to 2000, with sales increasing from $27,396,715 to $41,351,303.
Participating companies include Allegheny Wood Products, Inc., Petersburg; The Dean Co., Princeton; Hi-Tech Dry Kiln Co., LLC, Belington; and Wescor Forest Products, Clarksburg.
InfoCision opens
$1.2 million facility
InfoCision Management Corp. opened a new $1.2 million facility in Huntington and added 300 jobs to its existing base of 250.
The new 15,479-square-foot facility will contain 150 fully automated call center stations.
During each of the past seven years, Call Center Solutions magazine has recognized InfoCision as one of the nation's top telephone marketing companies.
The company employs more than 2,200 people at 15 call centers in six locations in Ohio and West Virginia. It also announced 40 jobs at its Clarksburg location, its fourth expansion. Once the additional workers are hired, InfoCision will employ about 300 people there.
Harpers Ferry, St. Albans join
Main Street West Virginia
Harpers Ferry and St. Albans are the latest additions to the Main Street West Virginia program, bringing the total number of towns and cities in the program to 12.
Morgantown, New Martinsville, Philippi, Point Pleasant, Ripley, Beckley, Fairmont, Kingwood, Mannington and Martinsburg already benefit from participation in the state program.
The Main Street Four-Point Approach includes organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring. This method of downtown revitalization has been successful in more than 1,500 U.S. towns and cities.
Specifically, the Main Street program helps city governments, communi- ties and volunteer groups to expand existing businesses; to convert unused space into commercial, residential or cultural sites; to recruit new businesses, and to sharpen the competitiveness of downtown merchants.
New manufacturing line
at NGK Spark Plug
NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd., an oxygen sensor manufacturer, soon will manufacture spark plugs for internal combustion engines and other automotive products. The Kanawha County plant is the only NGK oxygen sensor manufacturer in the United States, supplying Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and Honda.
New GM parts distribution
center opens in Martinsburg
General Motors Corp. opened its new 380-square-foot, $26 million parts distribution center in Martinsburg. More than 200 workers will transfer to the new building. Up to 300 employees will remain in the company's old building, to be used as a processing center to package and distribute parts to smaller GM warehouses.
W.Va. Entrepreneurs' Forum
promotes innovative companies
The West Virginia Entrepreneurs' Forum is a newly formed nonprofit organization comprised of individuals from within the business and technical community.
Its purpose is to promote the formation and growth of innovative and technology oriented companies. Typical monthly programs include networking with a variety of business professionals including venture capitalists, private investors, industry experts, business service providers, inventors and other successful entrepreneurs.
The WVEF formation is based on the premise that the future economic vitality of the region must come from the emergence of new businesses through entrepreneurship.
In order for this to occur, there must be an entrepreneurial culture, a pool of resources to draw from and successful models to follow. The group is hopeful that the WVEF can provide the critical mass necessary to create this mindset and attract the resources as a means of reaching this goal. For more information, visit www.wvef.org
Alliant Missile Products
expansion will add 100 jobs
Alliant Missile Products Co. announced an expansion at its Rocket Center, W.Va., facility that will add 100 jobs in a variety of fields from engineers to plant operators and from management to support personnel. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliant Techsystems, will change its name to Alliant Tactical Systems Co.
Ecolab Inc. opens
Berkeley County facility
Ecolab Inc., which produces commercial cleaning and sanitation products used by hospitals, hotels and restaurants in more than 190 countries, opened its $20 million Berkeley County facility.
The company will employ more than 100 people to produce and ship about 150 million pounds of its products. Ecolab's joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries serve some 400,000 customers worldwide. The company reported record growth and revenues of more than $2.6 billion over the last 12 months.
Philippi is location of newest
Grand Central business center
The former Broaddus Hospital in Philippi is the site of the newest Grand Central Business Center and a projected 500 new jobs within the next three years. Mountain Teleservices will be the first company to locate in the 100,000-square-foot center, announcing 180 jobs. Grand Central owner Kris Warner operates two similar facilities in Morgantown and in Keyser.
Media company to build
$7 million production facility
Wisdom Media Group, Inc., will build a $7 million, 50,000-square-foot multimedia production facility in Mercer County and hire more than 50 new employees.
Wisdom Media Group, Inc., formerly Turnervision, Inc., was founded in 1986, and is the parent company of WISDOM Television, WISDOM Radio and WISDOM Internet.
The new facility will produce programming for all three media groups. The company currently employs more than 100 people in the Bluefield area. The new jobs will be in the production and creative fields. Wisdom also has satellite offices in New York and Denver.
Wood products facility
brings job base to 755
Bruce Hardwood Floors, the world's largest producer of prefinished hardwood flooring, will bring the number of workers at its Randolph County plant to 755. A division of Triangle Pacific Corp., the West Virginia facility has an annual payroll of $25 million.
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