PEDA Claiming $10K Loss in Nuclea Bankruptcy Filing
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — PEDA is looking to recoup some $10,000 in losses from Nuclea Biotechnologies Inc., which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy six week ago.
Nuclea had rented office space from the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority on Kellogg Street for a number of years. That lease agreement was until the end of October this year but, the company has vacated the space by the end of April.
PEDA Executive Director Corydon Thurston said on Wednesday that the company left without paying back rent or its share or utilities and contracted services such as janitorial work.
"The total indebtedness is a tad over $10,000," Thurston said. "We're going to file for everything they would have paid until the end of the lease."
When first notified, Thurston said U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware indicated the company had no assets with which to pay back debts. However, a followup notice from the court on Oct. 5 told PEDA to file a claim, meaning there may be some assets for PEDA to get paid back.
That notice read, "there are assets from which a dividend might possibly be paid to creditors" and asked for proof of claim should anything be paid out.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows for a liquidation of assets, instead of a reorganizational bankruptcy. Thurston doesn't know what to expect with the court ruling, if anything, but he is hoping to get back all of the debt owed.
"We have registered our proof of claim," Thurston said.
Nuclea was once a highly touted aspect of the city's future but has fallen dramatically since. It hit its high point just two years ago when former Gov. Deval Patrick used the company's Elm Street facility to tout a $510,000 tax incentive that was eyed to help the company grow — a tax incentive that required jobs just until the end of 2015. In January 2016, it began cutting back.
City officials rallied to bring the company to the proposed Berkshire Innovation Center — which Nuclea later backed out of — and to the William Stanley Business Park. Nuclea also partnered with local colleges for job training. In 2012, it moved into the Kellogg Street office and invested some $200,000 into the 1,700 square-foot space.
At the time, former Mayor Daniel Bianchi said, "The next chapter is being written right now ... The William Stanley Business Park will soon be a magnet for many life science industries."
Nuclea then boasted of employment numbers of 70, with 43 workers located in the Berkshires with plans to add 35 to 40 more. It purchased Wilex Inc., taking control of a 20,000 square-foot facility in Cambridge and 11 employees.
By the end of 2015, former CEO Patrick Muraca stepped down and claimed, "It is hard to leave a company but this is a victory lap. This was a true success ... I'm leaving Nuclea in a very strong situation."
Muraca moved on to start a spin-off, NanoDX, in the Albany, N.Y., area. Don Pogorzelski was put in charge of Nuclea, who said then that "I think they've got a plethora of opportunity for them," while Muraca, who is still a majority shareholder, promised Nuclea wasn't leaving the city of Pittsfield.
Thirty-nine days later, Nuclea left Pittsfield.
The company announced on Jan. 11 "a major internal reorganization" that meant laying off employees and closing the Elm Street lab. On Aug. 31, of this year, the company filed for bankruptcy.
Tags: bankruptcy, life sciences, Nuclea, PEDA,
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