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Friday, September 05, 2008

Roswell Bus Company Files for Bankruptcy Protection


Associated Press
      ROSWELL — A Roswell bus company that received about $4 million in state and city loans in 2003 to reopen a closed manufacturing plant has filed for bankruptcy protection.
    Millennium Transit Services LLC filed the Chapter 11 paperwork Aug. 29, seeking an order from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque to prevent creditors from seizing assets while it reorganizes. The case was assigned to Judge Mark B. McFeeley.
    The case filing said the company's debts are primarily business debts, and its list of the top 20 unsecured claims included suppliers.
    City finance director Larry Fry said Roswell officials are aware of Millennium's move and will keep an eye on it.
    "The city will protect its interests and try to work out the situation," he said this week. "We don't know what the company is going to do."
    The Associated Press left a message with Millennium Transit on Friday seeking comment.
    The state Investment Council in late 2003 approved about $2 million in mortgage backing to help the founders of Millennium buy the then-closed plant from a subsidiary of Volvo on Dec. 15, 2003. The city of Roswell added about $2 million and Pioneer Bank, holder of the mortgage, put in about $250,000.
    Fry said Millennium has repaid about 29 percent of the loan, for a balance of about $1.46 million, and is current on payments.
    Charles Wollmann, a spokesman for the state Investment Council, said the company has paid back about 28 percent of the state loan, leaving a balance of about $1.43 million.
    "We're aware of the filing, so we're monitoring it," Wollmann said Thursday.
    The state and city loans are secured by mortgages on the building and equipment, Fry and Wollmann said. The manufacturing plant is located on city-owned property, but the building and equipment belong to Millennium.
    Millennium succeeded bus manufacturers located at the Roswell Industrial Air Center for about three decades.
    General Motors' Truck and Bus Division first developed the RTS bus in the mid-1970s. GM sold its RTS bus operation to Greyhound Dial in 1987, and Nova Bus bought the Roswell operation from Dial 10 years later. Nova Bus operated the facility until 2002.

Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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