Our Story - The Quick Read Version
1952 - Hamblen Gage Corp. founded.
1980 - Tom Hamblen named president.
1992 - Company "downsized" by Tom Hamblen.
All high-tech and modern equipment sold at auction.
1993 - Tom Hamblen elects "S" Corporation status.
"S" Corp. status shifts tax burden to shareholders (Hamblen family).
1997 - Congress extends ESOP programs to include "S" Corporations
in an attempt to encourage employee business ownership and
unwittingly creates a loophole that allows business owners to
sell their companies to themselves with huge tax advantages.
1998 - Hamblen Gage has record sales and profits subjecting the Hamblen
family to enormous tax liabilities.
1999 - Tom Hamblen takes full advantage of the legal loophole and adopts
an ESOP plan effective for plan year 1998 solely as a tax-advantage
strategy for himself .
Tom Hamblen unconditionally promises the employees they will one
day become 100% owners of Hamblen Gage Corp.
2001 - Congress amends the ESOP regulations eliminating the owner friendly
loophole imposing stiff income and excise taxes on "top-heavy" plans
in which only one person, or a few people, own the bulk of the shares.
The effective date of the new regulation: 1/1/2005
2003 - Tom Hamblen, knowing the jig will soon be up, seriously seeks a buyer.
Tom Hamblen has other options, such as legitimizing the plan, which
he has evaluated and rejected. Contrary to his many promises the
Hamblen Gage ESOP was never really intended to end with 100%
employee ownership. Like a good con man Tom Hamblen used the
dream of employee ownership to bait his victims, who were also his
loyal employees.
Tom Hamblen lies and denies the sale to his employees, who are now
shareholders, the entire time he is in the process of selling us out.
2004 (1st Qtr.) - Tom Hamblen finds a buyer and enters sale negotiations. The
buyer is a merger of mostly local companies to be known as American
Industrial Machining, or AIM for short. The reported sale figure is
around $3 million. It is interesting that Tom Hamblen publicly estimates
the company's worth at $80 million in The Indianapolis Star (published
Feb. 6, 2000).
Tom Hamblen continues lying and denying that he is selling us out.
2004 (2nd Qtr.) - Schaefer Technologies learns of the pending sale and informs
Tom Hamblen they also are interested in buying it.
Tom Hamblen continues lying and denying that he is selling us out.
2004 (3rd Qtr.) - Tom Hamblen is in negotiations with both potential buyers.
Tom Hamblen continues lying and denying that he is selling us out.
2004 (4th Qtr.) - The deal with the first buyer falls through. Schaefer counters with
a low-ball offer of $800 thousand for the "business" knowing Tom Hamblen
must sell by 12/31/2004 or chance being taxed heavily when the new
regulations go into effect. Of course the "business" does not include the real
estate. Tom Hamblen will collect $15,000 per month until Schaefer pays an
additional $2.1 million for the property and buildings.
In the last three years Tom Hamblen collected an additional 1/2 million in "rent"
with none to the ESOP.
Running out of time, Tom Hamblen shirks his fiduciary obligation to act in
the best interest of all of the shareholders and accepts Schaefer's low-ball
offer to protect his pocketbook.
Tom Hamblen continues lying and denying that he is selling us out.
Dec. 30, 2004 - Tom Hamblen closes the deal with Schaefer before the new
regulations go into effect. With the sale complete Tom Hamblen's
promises of employee ownership are officially broken. And with
the sale the legacy of Hamblen Gage Corporation is established
and will be forever known that Tom Hamblen Is A Liar.
2005 - Many former Hamblen Gage employees laid-off by Schaefer, "We were really
only interested in the buildings," to quote Steve Schaefer.
2006 - Lay-offs of former Hamblen employees by Schaefer continues until there are
only a handful left. A few former Hamblen employees see the handwriting on
the wall and leave on their own before Schaefer pink-slips them.
2007 - Tom Hamblen continues lying, telling stories that the company just could not
make it, and if he did not sell it he would be forced to close it down. After all,
he already had sold or taken most of it's assets making Hamblen Gage very
inefficient. Tom Hamblen had what he wanted. Of course Tommy never
mentions his real motive, the revised Internal Revenue code, that would
have forced him to alter the Hamblen Gage ESOP structure to actually be
what he sold it to us as in his 1999 ESOP booklet and speech at the ESOP
kick-off event. The Hamblen Gage ESOP has always been about Tom
Hamblen saving his money, not employee ownership as he promised. The
employees were just an insignificant bump in the road in Tommy's plan to
sell out with minimal tax consequences. In Tom Hamblen's eyes the
employees were not even worthy of being told the truth while he was
wheeling and dealing with our futures.
Tom Hamblen Is A Liar !
2008 - Schaefer finally pays off the debt to Tom Hamblen for the property and
buildings. Upon making the final payment to Tom Hamblen, Schaefer tells
him he has overstayed his welcome and is told to never set foot on the
property again. This is even more verification that the HGC employees
who were victims of Tom Hamblen's greed are not the only people who
have figured out what a disgusting human being he is, it would seem Tom
Hamblen is not even stomached by his own ilk.