Hi Pen-l, A sign of more bankruptcies to come for American firms and workers at debt's door? Debt forces closure of rice growers co-op: Association withered after dominating Valley By Paul Schnitt and Cathleen Ferraro Bee Staff Writers (Published Nov. 4, 2000) Rice Growers Association, a farmers cooperative that once stood atop Sacramento Valley's giant rice industry, quietly went out of business Friday, laying off the last of its few employees and disconnecting telephones. "We can't operate. We have no cash," said Bill Ludwig, who took over as president and chief executive of an already financially weakened co-op in 1993 and tried to direct its focus at new, more modest business ventures. But in the end, amid widespread rumors in the industry, Rice Growers threw in the towel when it couldn't pay its lenders, its vendors or even the handful of remaining employees. About a dozen office workers at its headquarters in West Sacramento and several others at the co-op's milling facility in Woodland had worked the last four weeks without pay, Ludwig said. More at http://www.sacbee.com/ib/index.html Seth Sandronsky Sacramento [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
