BEAIRD NEWS

MBI to take over old BeairdCo site

Larry Alexander used to have a small nest egg.

Since being laid off in May from BeairdCo (a company that makes wind towers and pressure vessels) he has "torn that nest up," Alexander said.

"I'm ready to go back to work," he said. "I need to go back to work."

Now that Shreveport City Council has approved a lease agreement allowing MB Industries LLC to take over the facility formerly occupied by BeairdCo, Alexander and the 400-plus former employees of BeairdCo have a shot at getting jobs.

Council members approved the lease during its regular meeting Tuesday. Now, seven days have to pass after the resolution is signed by the mayor before city and MBI officials can sign the actual lease. That will probably take place Jan. 22.

Milo Nickel, president of the international division of MBI Global, said the company plans to advertise employment opportunities in The Times for the next two Sundays.

After the final ad runs, the following two days will be exclusively dedicated to interviewing former BeairdCo employees. The BeairdCo days could be as soon as Jan. 26 and 27.

Edwin Pickett plans to be at one of those BeairdCo days. He was an employee of BeairdCo for 40 years.

"I'm excited," he said. "I've been out of a job for almost a year. I'm ready to go back to work and start earning money instead of unemployment."

Meanwhile, the facility, located at 601 Benton Kelly Drive, needs work.

Nickel estimated it will take more than $10 million to get the facility up to code and modernized to handle the type of fabrication they want to accomplish. However, MBI is ready and willing to make the necessary improvements.

While not going into specifics, Nickel said MBI has been in negotiations with another company to develop a new product that would be produced at the old BeairdCo site. An announcement about the possibility of creating a new product may come as soon as Friday now that the City Council has approved the lease.

"This is an impressive facility," Nickel said. "It's a tremendous economic development vehicle for the city."

The former BeairdCo site has been idle since May, when the company shut down its operations because of insufficient working capital, said Gerald Landry, former BeairdCo president.

In the months since the shutdown, BeairdCo courted many potential suitors, including a Texas businessman and Korean company, with no success.

Glover set a deadline of midnight Oct. 15 for BeairdCo to be completely out of the facility, after he placed them in default of their lease in early August.

BeairdCo was given a 60-day curative period to reconcile its lease with the city, which ended during the first week of October.

Glover had previously said the company was in default of its lease with the city because it had not shown proof that it had settled liens and judgments, repaired and maintained the plant or hired back enough workers.

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401k Information

Any former BeairdCo. employees requesting 401k distributions or information should call Great West Retirement Services at 1-877-694-4015 option 3.

Unfortunately, Great West cannot complete any requests until a replacement trustee is named to authorize distributions of employee accounts.

Any written communication regarding 401k distributions should be directed to Great West to the attention of Sherry Bates, sherry.bates@gwrs.com or by phone at (713) 483.4439.

*The above information was provided by Great West Retirement Services. All questions or information on the plan should be directed to Great West at the information provided.

October 10, 2008

Mayor Glover calls informational meeting with former BeairdCo.
Employees at 5:30 PM in Government Chambers in Government
Plaza, 505 Travis Street.

November 3, 2008

Mayor Glover calls informational meeting with former BeairdCo.
Employees at 5:00 PM in the Sky Box at Independence Stadium.

**The Mayor’s next meeting will be announced via local media and posted on the BEAIRD NEWS webpage.