A-1 Plank files for bankruptcy
By MIKE CORN
Hays-based A-1 Plank and Scaffold Mfg. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and its president, Dwight Allenbaugh, hopes the company can emerge as a "leaner, meaner" but somewhat smaller operation.
A separate Chapter 11 petition was filed at the same time for Allenbaugh Family Limited Partnership, which owns the buildings and land where A-1 is located, on the west side of the Hays Regional Airport.
At its peak, A-1 employed about 170 people in Hays. Its plant in Paramount, Calif., brought that total to about 200. In operation since 1976, A-1 moved its operation to Hays in 1993.
Both have effectively ceased operations pending emergence from bankruptcy.
"We shut down on the 19th," Allenbaugh said, referring to Feb. 19. "Everybody was laid off, including myself."
Allenbaugh was reluctant to talk in detail about what caused financial problems at A-1, saying he didn't want to jeopardize a successful emergence from the court proceedings.
"The truth is, things got tight and people quit paying their debt," he said. "We've been through hell, but we still have hope."
That's because there's a demand for the scaffolding and concrete forms that are produced by A-1.
"We'll be smaller," Allenbaugh said of what he envisions after working through bankruptcy, "but we'll need 19 people right away."
Already, he said, A-1 has a customer who is in need of frames for solar systems.
"Our customer is telling us this is going to be a good year," Allenbaugh said.
That's why he is hoping to quickly move through the bankruptcy process, emerging in time to capture that demand.
Allenbaugh hopes to continue constructing scaffolding, and said A-1 is one of only a handful of companies in the United States still building the equipment.
"We're one of the last Mohicans," he said. "There are only a few of us left."
While A-1's products were distributed worldwide, Allenbaugh said the global market only accounted for about 10 percent of its business. The rest came from projects on either coast.
Allenbaugh said he's received support from customers and suppliers, as well as from people in Hays and the surrounding area.
"We want the community to know we love living here," he said. "We want to do this and get back on track."
The A-1 filing, and a companion filing by Allenbaugh Family Limited Partnership, was made in Wichita on Feb. 21. Wichita lawyer Edward J. Nazar asked the court to administer the two cases jointly.
The partnership, according to a statement issued by Nazar, is the owner of property where A-1 is located. AFLP also owns farm ground in Ellis and Rush counties.
A-1's bankruptcy petition lists assets of about $1.7 million and liabilities of about $11.3 million.
AFLP has assets of about $3.3 million and total liabilities of about $3.2 million.
Sunflower Bank, based in Salina but with branch offices in Hays, is the major secured creditor, Nazar said, claiming liens on personal property, equipment and real estate.
The A-1 and AFLP filings have no connection to businesses owned by Allenbaugh's wife, Dereama.
"I don't own anything in her companies," he said. "Even though we are married, I have no ownership in her business and she has no ownership in (A-1).
In the Hays area, Dereama Allenbaugh owns and operates Rock Haven Spa near Schoenchen, Salon Ten-Oh-Seven at 1007 Main, and her latest venture, Salon Diva at 4333 Vine.