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PVI layoffs may be permanent
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Though Protected Vehicles Inc. told its employees just days before Christmas that their services were no longer needed, a company executive has vowed the company will resurrect itself.
In a letter sent Dec. 19 to furloughed workers, Garth Barrett, president and CEO of the North Charleston-based mine-resistant vehicle manufacturer, said the company cannot continue production operations.
He thanked the workers for their efforts and said if Protected Vehicles should resume production, “we would certainly consider the services you have rendered.” However, he wrote, “At this point, we anticipate that your termination will be permanent.”
But Michael Sandusky, Protected Vehicles’ executive director of program management, said the letter doesn’t necessarily represent the company’s final death knell.
Protected Vehicles laid off its work force of 400 on Dec. 3, then told workers that the company planned a “quick reorganization” and that they would likely be back to work within a few weeks, said attorney Allan Riley Holmes, who represents the company. The company was to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganize under an unidentified investment group.
No time line for the bankruptcy filing has been made public by the company. Sandusky didn’t know when the reorganization might be completed, but the company plans to remain in North Charleston after emerging from reorganization.
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@setcommedia.com.
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