Local tile company closing; operation moving to New York
As published in the September 15, 2011 edition of The Keene Sentinel, and online.
The Swanzey factory and Keene storefront of Trikeenan Tileworks will be closed by the end of October, according to the attorney representing the company's new owners.
Approximately 16 people work for Trikeenan in New Hampshire. Most of those employees have been offered work in the tile maker's upstate New York facility, said Benjamin E. Marcus, of the Drummond Woodsum law firm in Portland, Maine.
Marcus represents the Elgin Butler company of Austin, Texas, which Tuesday took control of the 20-year-old company when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Trikeenan founders Stephen and Kristen Powers announced last week they have left the company.
Elgin Butler had attempted to purchase the company before it entered bankruptcy a year ago, but the couple rejected its offers, which Kristen Powers said they considered unfair.
Both the Powers and Elgin Butler submitted restructuring plans to the bankruptcy court -- Elgin Butler having acquired the debt of one of Trikeenan's creditors.
Powers called the move a "hostile takeover," but Marcus said the primary difference between the two plans was that Elgin Butler was prepared to infuse the company with cash that the Powers did not have available.
The consolidation of the company into its New York location is a matter of "financial necessity" that was part of both restructuring plans, Marcus said.
tagged with: bankruptcy, business, Elgin Butler, Trikeenan
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