B3 gone from Sawyer
B3 gone from Sawyer
EDC taking legal action
| Left to right, B3 Computers CEO Bill Carr, Sun Microsystems senior engineer David Clack and B3 President Fred Schlaffer unveiled their "SBox" desktop computer at their production facility on Avenue C at K.I. Sawyer in December. The company has apparently abandoned its facility and defaulted on several loans, according to county officials. (Journal file photo) |
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
According to County Administrator Steve Powers, B3 is behind by two weeks on a $250,000 Intermediary Relending Program loan given by the county to B3 in March 2004. B3 has been paying back the loan at $861 a month. However, the company missed its last payment that was due June 22. Powers added that B3 is in default on a $350,000 Michigan Economic Development Corporation loan.
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“The loan default process is a legal process and we’re following our attorney’s advice and have filed the paperwork necessary, but it takes time,” Clickner said, “It’s unfortunate that this happened because this community welcomed them and worked with them.”
Clickner said that B3 has abandoned the building that the EDC rented to it at Sawyer, and the company gave no prior notice that it was leaving.
“Their Web site is gone and their phones have been shut off and there doesn’t seem to be any activity around the building they were renting from the EDC,” county Commissioner Paul Arsenault said. “This is a disaster for the county if, in fact, they have skipped town.”
At Wednesday’s Marquette County Board meeting, Chairman Gerry Corkin cautioned against making public comments about the matter because the official status of B3 is still in question.
While at Sawyer, B3 serviced 800 computer resellers, providing small and medium-sized resellers with an Internet retail Web site to compete with large direct sellers like Dell and Gateway.
The company relocated from San Diego, Calif., to Sawyer two years ago with promises of eventually retaining more than 100 employees.
“B3 has been having problems, a lot of it is the economy ... they’re not selling, they had hoped to be selling their computers and they’re just not,” Commissioner Bob Struck said. “They should have had a bunch of people employed at this time, based on their loans and their agreements, that was their business plan ... but they’re not.”
Officials from B3 could not be reached for comment.
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