TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY
CORBIN —
By Becky Manley / Staff Writer
The Barbourville company that shuttered its doors Tuesday leaving about 20 people out of work has filed bankruptcy.
The company, Infinity Business Group Inc., had locations in Barbourville and Lexington, S.C.
According to documents obtained from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of South Carolina, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Wednesday.
Court documents state the company was incorporated in Nevada and has an estimated 5,001 to 10,000 creditors. Documents also state the company has estimated assets of $500,001 to $1 million and estimated liabilities of about $10- to $50 million.
The filing came one day after employees at the Barbourville location were told their jobs had ended.
Two former employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity said as they reported to work Tuesday they were directed to a conference room.
“We went into work and they told us we no longer had a job and they were closing,” one former employee said.
The former employees said they were handed paychecks and instructed to cash them as soon as possible. They were also told to file for unemployment.
Before they left the conference room, they were told not to tell the news to their fellow employees, some of whom were still reporting to work.
“I thought, well, it’s a shock either way whether we tell them or they tell them,” a former employee said.
At some point as employees were informed of the closure, security guards arrived at the building as employees gathered their personal belongings, the former employees said.
Neither of the former employees seemed certain they would receive paychecks for time worked Monday.
A former employee said the South Carolina location may have had only about four employees while the Barbourville location, which opened in Sept. 2006, housed a check processing center where employees worked to collect on returned checks.
New employees were paid $9 to $10 hourly and supervisors could earn $15 to $18 hourly.
“It was probably one of the best paying jobs in this area,” a former employee said.
The Barbourville location had just under 50 employees until last December when a layoff occurred impacting about 10 employees. Another layoff of about 20 employees happened in mid-August, leaving about 20 employees, the former employees said.
After the August layoff, a former employee said there was no indication the company might close. Employees were told Infinity hoped to partner with another business but learned Tuesday that deal fell through.
Most employees worked 40 hour weeks and had benefits including health insurance, a former employee said.
Both former employees, one of which is the sole income earner for a household, said the reduced income would cause some difficulties.
“You just have to take it and move on,” one of the former employees said.
A message left Wednesday at the South Carolina headquarters of Infinity wasn’t returned and two numbers for the Barbourville location were disconnected.
