A Chicago plumbing subcontractor who poured years of work into the Barack Obama Presidential Center has suspended operations and laid off 25 union workers after being left nearly $4 million in the hole, just weeks after the star-studded grand opening of Barack Obama’s monument to himself.
Mike Owen, owner of Adamson Plumbing Contractors (which performed work under the name Marsh-Adamson), told Fox News the financial devastation from delays, endless design changes, rework, and unpaid invoices forced him to abandon roughly half a dozen other jobs and push the company to the brink of collapse.
He described the decision as painful but necessary to avoid outright bankruptcy.
“It was in the company’s best interest to suspend all operations. Moving forward until we could get back on solid financial ground. It was not an easy decision to make. Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do,” Owen said.