Administration October 9, 2005

MI Workers Fret Over K Plan Assets

September 24, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employees of a Western Michigan manufacturer feared their 401(k) plan assets may be in trouble when they showed up for work earlier this week to find the doors of their plant locked.
Reported by

Unnamed workers of Viatec told the 24 Hour News 8 television station that they were not getting routine K plan statements and that, at least in one case, payroll contributions weren’t showing up in the person’s account. The company, which has 80 workers, apparently shut its doors over the weekend.

The TV station reported that company general manager J.R. Kensington was reassuring workers that their plan assets were still safe, despite the company’s overall financial troubles since September 11, 2001 and since a bank shut off its financing last week.

“I’m still waiting to find just exactly what my position is for that so that I can give some accurate information. I’m hoping that I’ll have something in the next couple of days as well,” Kensington told the TV station according to its Web site.

The plant closing came as a surprise to local business leaders who say they toured the plant in July with a representative from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and company officials made no request for help, according to the news report.

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