Chris Nowak, president/CEO of Woodland Park, CO-based foreign car parts and accessories cataloger Rocky Mountain Motorworks, says he’s optimistic that the company can survive and grow following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing on Jan. 24.
Nowak told the Colorado Springs Gazette on Jan. 29 that although the company has struggled since early 2000, he’s been in discussions with several investors who are interested in buying a majority share of the company, and that a deal could take place as soon as the middle of February. In addition, Nowak says that he will likely sell the company’s headquarters facility in Woodland Park and move the 45-employee company to Colorado Springs to raise more cash.
Rocky Mountain Motorworks’s sales topped out at $10 million in 1998. But soon after, the company made a significant investment in Y2K technology, and by mid-2000, its lending institution, Vectra Bank, cut off its credit line. With the Chapter 11 filing, Nowak told the Gazette that he’ll restructure the company’s debt to shore up Internet sales, which account for 20% of sales, and provide a better return on catalog sales.