The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 1/24/07 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Chris Heinrich Specialty Filaments threw in the towel on Jan. 11, laying off 175 workers. [Click to enlarge]

The Vermont based Specialty Filaments Inc. (SFI), a manufacturing company specializing in synthetic monofilament design, closed its doors to over 175 workers on Jan. 11 when it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Bill Haynes, the company spokesperson, cited a combination of outstanding debt and an inability to compete with cheaper labor overseas as the two main reasons for the company's failure.

Most workers employed by SFI, which is owned by the Boston firm Capital Resource Partners, were not aware of the company's financial troubles, and were surprised by the sudden closing of the company's factories, which include two facilities in Middlebury and offices in Burlington.

"They told us [we were closing] right before it happened. We got no warning," said Bill Whitney, who had worked for the company for ten years as well as the union leader for Unite Here Local 2524. Though Whitney was aware that "the company had been struggling," and even sat in on some of the negotiations taking place within SFI, none of the workers were prepared to hear the news that the company was filing for bankruptcy.

"This came as a surprise to everybody," said Haynes. "The company was doing its best to try to compete for several years and finding it increasingly difficult to do so."

Haynes said that the company had been negotiating with its senior lender, Wells Fargo, for weeks before the decision was made to close indefinitely. "The surprise came when our lender said we defaulted on the loan, meaning that the company was forced to declare bankruptcy," Haynes explained.

SFI first suspended operations on Jan. 5 to discuss the company's future. "During the break [SFI] and the bank were trying to negotiate and come to an agreement and figure out what would be the best way to move forward," said Haynes. Unfortunately for the company's workers, moving forward involved getting laid off without severance pay.

"We got nothing," said Whitney. "They cancelled every benefit, one thing they couldn't cancel were our pensions, which are guaranteed by the federal government." The lack of any worker's compensation was a particularly tough blow for Whitney, who has four boys with his wife Sarah, the owner of a day care center who relied on the insurance provided by her husband's job.

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