Some good news for the 100 Roscor Corp. employees who lost their jobs Oct. 28 when the 35-year old Mt. Prospect company announced the closing of its rental department: A plan is being worked out to provide COBRA health insurance benefits, according to CEO/CFO Mitch Roston.
“People thought we were being evasive about it, but everything happened very quickly. It was heart wrenching,” said Roston, who is dealing with the after-shock of losing two-thirds of Roscor’s employees and facing an uncertain future.
CEO/CFO Roston said he and his brother, Paul, company president, are giving recommendations to everyone former employee who asks for one, in their search for new jobs.
He is confident that the “very talented sales staff” will not have trouble finding new work, although he said he worries about the administration and accounting people finding new jobs.
“The past three-four weeks [leading up to and culminating with the decision to close the rental department] were very difficult and we’re having a hard time with all this. I had to let someone go I played golf with for 30 years. I grew up with these people,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion.
Roston said that while they have been working with experts, a plan to restructure the company’s future path has not as yet been drawn up. When Roscor abruptly shuttered its rental division, citing the unrelenting squeeze on profit margins by mammoth national companies, the owners said the company would be restructured as an engineering and professional services firm.
Some of the engineering and integration specialists remaining are completing projects and would be part of the engineering company if and when that change actually goes forward.
Rumors have been swirling since Black Friday about the company’s financial condition and bank relationships and exactly what triggered the rental department closing and massive layoffs. Roston said he would clarify and “tell the whole story” at the appropriate time.
The well-known and respected skills and experience of former Roscor employees are in demand, as evidenced by the outpouring of job offers from various types of AV equipment dealers throughout the country. See the invitations to apply posted in the comments section following the two previously posted Roscor stories.
