A 2010 proposal to build electric cars in Webster City has run out of gas. Joe Fleming and his firm, Auto Manufacturing Systems, Incorporated, reached an agreement with EnVision Motor Company of Ames to bring as many as 300 jobs to Webster City by the second quarter of 2011.
Nearly two years later,the company has now filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The City of Webster City is working to get back the economic development loan worth $790,000 that was to have been used for the electric car project. Fleming has now filed bankruptcy in the Iowa Southern District U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Des Moines.
Fleming and his wife, Marjorie, listed four solely-owned businesses in the bankruptcy documents. They are: A.M.S., Incorporated; Eagle Manufacturing, Incorporated, doing business as Tour Designs Limited; Access Media, Limited; and Drive Tek, Incorporated. Webster City city manager Ed Sadler said the city has hired special legal counsel to address the interests as a result of the bankruptcy.
It’s too early to say how much of the money will be recovered by the city as a result of this development.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City