Fred Hill Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
February 8th, 2010 by Rachel PritchettBy Ed Friedrich
efriedrich@kitsapsun.com
POULSBO
Ready-mix concrete supplier Fred Hill Materials filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.
All of its offices will remain open while the 64-year-old company
restructures its finances, said Alex Hill, third-generation
president and CEO.
“There will be no interruption in our manufacturing and delivery of
ready-mix concrete,” Hill said in a news release Friday. “As for
the past 64 years, Fred Hill Materials will continue as the
dominant concrete supplier on the North Olympic and Kitsap
peninsulas.”
Hill said the company got caught up in the recession and credit
crisis.
In May 2009, Fred Hill Materials sold its mining operation at Shine
Pit to Auburn-based Miles Sand & Gravel, and FHM no longer
delivers sand and gravel. The move reduced debt, saved jobs and
focused Fred Hill on its core business, Hill said.
Reorganizing under Chapter 11 will best protect Fred Hill’s
employees and creditors, Hill said. Under Chapter 11, the business
will operate under the supervision of the court and for the benefit
of its creditors.
“We’re not doing this because we can’t pay our bills going
forward,” Hill said. “Restructuring our debt under a reorganization
is the sensible step for long-term success.”
Forms filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of
Washington show that the company has $8.6 million in assets and
$5.3 million in liabilities. The largest unsecured debtor — not
backed by collateral — is the Western Conference Teamsters Pension
Trust, at
$1.8 million.
Hill, Vice President Adam Hill and Chief Operating Officer Ted
Bowman met with the company’s more than 70 employees on Tuesday.
They also contacted its customers.
Fred Hill Materials is a separate company from Thorndyke Resources,
the entity formed to build a so-called pit-to-pier gravel-mining
operation in Jefferson County. Alex Hill owns Thorndyke.
The mining project is undergoing an environmental review as part of
Jefferson County’s permitting process. It would transport gravel 4
miles on a conveyer belt from the Shine gravel pit to barges docked
along Hood Canal.
Fred Hill Materials has operations in Poulsbo, Bremerton, Port
Townsend and Sequim.
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