RJR Tobacco Announces Moving Plans

Source from:  news14.com By: Ed Scannell  10/08/2008

After almost 80 years, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco will be moving from its ornate building in Winston-Salem to a new home in an adjacent plaza building. Parent company Reynolds American says the consolidation of the two into one is part of a redesign of the company that started in August. That consolidation, according to Reynolds American spokesperson Maura Payne, started with questions. "What did we need to be focused on? What was mission-critical? What could we live without?" Payne said. "And then once we knew what needed to be done, we began building names into the boxes associated with those tasks." Just four weeks ago, Reynolds American announced plans to cut 570 white collar jobs from both the parent company and RJR Tobacco by the end of 2009. Word of the consolidation into the plaza building was sad news for some on the street. "It's a beautiful building. It's a very historic building. It built Winston-Salem," Ginger Salmons, a resident of Winston-Salem, said. Payne said she couldn't speculate as to whether the decision to make the move was related to the planned layoffs. "It was fortuitous that the timing happened at the same time just as we're enveloping a new organization and all, taking on new assignments and roles and views," Payne said. "It's a good time to make a change like this." The original building housed several companies, including RJR, prior to 1982. Payne says Reynolds American hasn't made any decision about the building's future, but will consult with community leaders and experts in the reuse of older, historical buildings. "We're coming in with no preconceived notions," Payne said. "Whatever best suits the next life of this building is what we want to do is what we would want to do for the community." Wachovia employee Rhonda Dillion, who works across the street, said it won't be the same without Reynolds Tobacco in the building. "I'm not really sure what they're going to do with the museum and all the history that's in the building with RJR," Dillion said. "It just won't seem right, right?" Payne said 200 contract workers and 650 employees from both the parent company and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco will work out of the plaza building when the consolidation is complete. The R.J. Reynolds employees will continue to work out of the tobacco company building through 2009. Enditem