Winston-Salem City Council’s finance committee will discuss an incentive package worth $500,000 for a nationwide collection agency that would employ 2,000 people with an average salary of just over $41,000.
Here’s the rub —the company went bankrupt in the late ’90s amidst allegations of criminal wrongdoing. Company president Bill Bartmann was acquitted by a federal jury, but co-founder Jay Jones pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and served five years in prison.
After Commercial Financial Services closed, Bartmann traveled the country, sharing his story of how he created his success and dealt with challenges.
When asked if he was concerned about any stigma associated with the CFS name, Bartmann said, “No, I am not. And if I were, I would not have called this CFS II. I would have called it Bill and Kathy’s Collection Co. or some other anonymous name, and I probably would have moved out of Tulsa.”
Council member Robert Clark said he “favors using caution’ when considering an incentive package for CFS II. So should any other city considering a incentive package because –you guessed it —Bartmann is shopping around, with Greensboro, High Point and Charlotte also on the list.
