Sunday, April 22, 2007

News-Leader article explores decline and fall of O'Sullivan Industries

Lamar businesswoman Becky Maberry, O'Sullivan worker Donovan Taylor, and Lamar City Administrator Lynn Calton are among those interviewed in reporter Kathleen McLaughlin's account of the decline and fall of O'Sullivan Industries in today's Springfield News-Leader.


Foreign competition was just one of O'Sullivan's problems when it filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2005. By that time, the founding O'Sullivan family was no longer in control, and the new management had moved its headquarters to the Atlanta area.

O'Sullivan entered bankruptcy with $100 million in debt. The court approved debtor-in-possession financing, and the company emerged in April 2006.

Business continued to decline, and by the fall, the senior note holders, GoldenTree Asset Management and Wachovia bank, were in control, Britton, the plant manager, said.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to know why the employees of O'Sullivan's aren't trying to fight back. They have been shafted for the past few years. Are they scared or don't they care. There should be some legal options they could take if they knew how to go about getting them. Isn't there somebody in Lamar that is willing to help these people? Somebody with some legal knowledge? There is more to what is going on over there than the public knows.

Anonymous said...

Workers in the state of Missouri have very few rights. You can't get blood from a turnip

Aimee said...

It is obvious that you are not an employee of O'Sullivan's...it is futile. Once the majority shares were no longer held by people in Lamar, the company stopped caring about the people of Lamar, including the people who worked for the company. I saw my parents lose benefit after benefit and work became just that and nothing more. When the passion is gone from the higher ups, the employees will lack passion also. Why wants to work for a company like that? No one. Why did the stay? Because a job that pays the bills is better than no job at all.
There is little fight left after you feel everything you've known has been taken away or changed. Would you be willing to fight? Are you willing to help them fight?
Exactly.