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EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- A local businessman has purchased Burley Design, the struggling Eugene-based bicycle manufacturer, and permanently laid off about 40 percent of the company's employees.
All of Burley's 104 workers were laid off on Friday: 65 will return to their jobs on Monday under new ownership, and 39 positions have been eliminated, said the company's new owner, Michael Coughlin.
He said his plan is to refocus Burley on its central and most popular product: its sporty blue and yellow bicycle trailers that can haul kids, groceries or gear. Burley sells about 27,000 of the trailers a year. For now, Burley will drop its other products: tandems, recumbent bikes and road bikes.
Burley Chief Executive Char Ellingsworth released a statement about the sale, saying, "This wasn't an easy decision to make, but it is the clearest direction for Burley and offers the best chance at success."
Burley has 3,000 to 4,000 trailers on back order, but the company can't fill the orders because it must pay its vendors cash on delivery, and it doesn't have the cash to buy materials, said Coughlin, an accountant by training.
"If you pay down some debts, put some cash in the business, get back in the good graces of your suppliers, you can make trailers and continue to grow the business," he told The Eugene Register-Guard.
In the intensely competitive bicycle market, awash with cheaper imports, Burley has suffered four years of losses, including $1.5 million last year.
The sale is the second major change this year for workers at Burley, which converted in June to a privately held corporation after 28 years as a worker-owned cooperative. Former members of the co-op were issued stock certificates in the new company reflecting their ownership interest in the co-op. It's unclear how much they will receive for their shares.
Coughlin said he first became involved with Burley in July when a Burley shareholder told him that the company was up for sale and, if it were sold to a major bike manufacturer, such as Trek or Bell, the Eugene operation and its jobs would likely be eliminated.
"I'm not doing this out of charity," Coughline said. "But then again, I didn't want to see those guys leave the community."
The Lane Workforce Partnership plans to meet with laid-off Burley employees on Sept. 15, said Kristina Payne, the group's workforce investment manager. The company has applied for federal grants, which would let laid-off workers tap training funds that are more generous than the local work force funds, which are capped at $3,000 per person.
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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
All of Burley's 104 workers were laid off on Friday: 65 will return to their jobs on Monday under new ownership, and 39 positions have been eliminated, said the company's new owner, Michael Coughlin.
He said his plan is to refocus Burley on its central and most popular product: its sporty blue and yellow bicycle trailers that can haul kids, groceries or gear. Burley sells about 27,000 of the trailers a year. For now, Burley will drop its other products: tandems, recumbent bikes and road bikes.
Burley Chief Executive Char Ellingsworth released a statement about the sale, saying, "This wasn't an easy decision to make, but it is the clearest direction for Burley and offers the best chance at success."
Burley has 3,000 to 4,000 trailers on back order, but the company can't fill the orders because it must pay its vendors cash on delivery, and it doesn't have the cash to buy materials, said Coughlin, an accountant by training.
"If you pay down some debts, put some cash in the business, get back in the good graces of your suppliers, you can make trailers and continue to grow the business," he told The Eugene Register-Guard.
In the intensely competitive bicycle market, awash with cheaper imports, Burley has suffered four years of losses, including $1.5 million last year.
The sale is the second major change this year for workers at Burley, which converted in June to a privately held corporation after 28 years as a worker-owned cooperative. Former members of the co-op were issued stock certificates in the new company reflecting their ownership interest in the co-op. It's unclear how much they will receive for their shares.
Coughlin said he first became involved with Burley in July when a Burley shareholder told him that the company was up for sale and, if it were sold to a major bike manufacturer, such as Trek or Bell, the Eugene operation and its jobs would likely be eliminated.
"I'm not doing this out of charity," Coughline said. "But then again, I didn't want to see those guys leave the community."
The Lane Workforce Partnership plans to meet with laid-off Burley employees on Sept. 15, said Kristina Payne, the group's workforce investment manager. The company has applied for federal grants, which would let laid-off workers tap training funds that are more generous than the local work force funds, which are capped at $3,000 per person.
------
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
