A retired four-star Navy admiral has become president of a West Virginia information techology company.
Powellton native Joe Lopez recently took over at Information
Manufacturing Corporation. The company is based in the Mineral
County town of Rocket Center.
I-M-C bills itself as West Virginia's largest
information-technology company
Before taking his new job, Lopez spent about five years with
Halliburton Kellogg, Brown and Root. Dick Cheney was the Texas
energy company's chief executive before becoming vice president.
The company has been scrutinized for lucrative contracts it
received for work in Iraq.
Lopez says he left Halliburton because he wanted to pursue new
challenges.
I-M-C was founded in the late 1990s and now has about 400
workers. Lopez works in an office in Manassas, Virginia.
I-M-C converts diverse documents such as books, maps, and
engineering drawings into digital images. Some of the company's
work is classified, but I-M-C has converted records for the Medal
of Honor and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)