Paul R. Ridgeway founded the event planning firm that has worked with the National Football League on transportation, and the businessman once held the limelight while heading a campaign to keep the Minnesota Twins baseball team in Minneapolis.
Now, Ridgeway has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reports that the Ridgeway International Inc. founder has struggled with liabilities that outweigh his assets, and that his business offices have been foreclosed on.
The mortgage on the business headquarters is worth a little over $1 million, and it has been foreclosed on by U.S. Bancorp.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is not necessarily a surprise. News of Ridgeway’s financial issues came out in early 2009. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that the charismatic businessman had a growing list of unpaid bills on his ledger and was struggling with debt.
Back then, the Star Tribune said that he owed money to members of a high school football team that parked cars during a sports tournament. The money would have gone to equipment for team members who couldn’t afford it.
Other creditors included a CitiMortgage credit card and an event photographer, among many others.
While Ridgeway vowed to pay off all of his bills back then, the situation did not improve, leading to the recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. At the time he blamed the economy for leading to the cutting of special events from many corporate budgets.
Ridgeway has been known to throw a big party and put his name and face to high profile events. He worked hard to bring Mikhail Gorbachev to Minneapolis in the early 90s, and the NFL’s Super Bowl to the Metrodome.
Other clients have included Microsoft and NASCAR. He started out organizing political support for Hubert Humphrey. He took to the logistical planning that it took to get students to rallies, and went on to plan travel for President Jimmy Carter’s White House.
Bankruptcy papers filed show that Ridgeway has been working as an executive assistant for Ramsey County since November, earning around $40 per hour.
In 2008, Ridgeway had announced plans with his son to develop a massive shopping center focussing on Asian manufacturers and businesses. It would have brought Asian goods to American under the name Asian World Market. According to the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, that project has not materialized.
That project was projected by Ridgeway’s son to have attracted 20 million additional visitors to the area, and to have generated over $400 million per year in sales. It would have attempted to use the momentum from the famously massive Mall of America to generate these sales. The giant building would have housed wholesale as well as retail space, according to the plans that have yet to pass.
Ridgeway himself owes over $80,000 in taxes to state and federal sources, as well as over $156,000 to an Otsego bank, over $103,000 to a commercial capital company, over $70,000 to a production company and over $35,000 to an accounting firm. He also owes Carlson Companies Chairman of the Board Marilyn Carlson Nelson over $300,000. Carlson Companies is a worldwide travel and hospitality company.
Under the Minnesota Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, Ridgeway will have certain debts discharged. Creditors can object to some discharges until April 1.
Similar Posts:
- Taste of Minnesota Food Festival Forced Into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- Nevada Casino Management Company Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- California Luxury Home Seller Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- California Limo Manufacturer Files for Chapter Bankruptcy
- Tennessee Gas Grill Manufacturer Filing Chapter 7
no comment until now