Product safety officials investigate bankrupt Kent Inc.

FORT KENT – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating Kent Inc., but federal officials wouldn’t comment this week on the nature of the investigation into the bankrupt company.

Henry Glogwski Jr., a senior USCPSC investigator from Pennsylvania, spent three days in Fort Kent this week meeting with company employees and left Friday.

Glogwski would not say Thursday what allegations have been made against the defunct manufacturer of children’s sleepwear, but he did acknowledge that an investigation is under way.

A USCPSC official in Bethesda, Md., also would not comment further.

Ken Giles of the commission’s media relations office said Friday that the agency “generally does not talk about ongoing investigations.”

The unspecified allegations apparently come from former employees of the company. Several met with investigators earlier this week, but many employees who were contacted said they wanted nothing to do with what was going on.

Former employee Sharon Michaud of Eagle Lake admitted Friday that she had reported “illegal activities,” but she said that the allegations were very involved. She refused to discuss them in a telephone interview.

Kent Inc., a manufacturer for more than 40 years in Fort Kent, closed its doors in September in a bankruptcy proceeding. The company, which had 185 employees during summer 2002, saw its contracts sold to a Chicago firm and moved to offshore manufacturers.

The company, which made children’s sleepwear and blanket sleepers, announced one year ago that it was in financial trouble.

Michael J. Gans, Kent Inc. president and CEO, said late Thursday afternoon that he didn’t know anything about the investigation.

“Who is saying what about me now?” Gans said when reached at his New York City office. “I have no knowledge of any investigation, and I should certainly know about it, if it is happening.”

“If they [the USPSC] are investigating, that means they are doing their job of investigating the flame retardancy of materials used,” he said. “We have always paid strict attention to regulations.”

Giles of the USPSC said the commission usually investigates products that can cause injury or death. Flammability of children’s wear is one area in which the commission does work, the official said. He said standards for flammability are effective in reducing injuries and deaths and the commission is strict in overseeing those standards.

Glogwski said Thursday night in a telephone interview that the investigation is very preliminary and investigators are gathering information on complaints. He would not say whether the complaints were from Kent Inc. customers or former employees.

“We’ve been here since yesterday [Wednesday] and we are leaving tomorrow [Friday],” Glogwski said. “We met with former employees [of Kent Inc.] Wednesday night at the Fort Kent fire station.

“We are doing some work here, yes. We are conducting an investigation on complaints of the product at Kent Inc.,” he said. “There is not much to report just yet. We are gathering material.”

The investigator would not divulge much about what is going on. He said company officials “may not” have been notified since they are out of business. If anything develops, he explained, they would be notified.

A spokesperson at the office of U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud acknowledged Thursday that the office had been contacted about the matter.

“We have heard from people who had concerns, and we assisted in putting them in contact with people,” the spokesperson said.

Fort Kent Town Manager Donald Guimond said Friday that he had heard reports in town that an investigation is going on, but he had no specific information.

He said investigators visited the closed plant on Thursday night.