He must have "Made you an offer you couldn't refuse" to get back
involved with him. And sounds like that was just the sort of fellow
he was. I really like being in a position that I don't have to deal
with anyone like that anymore.
On 04/18/2016 10:33 AM, Chuck McCown wrote:
I have about 220K words written on everything up to about 10 years ago.
This last 10 years has not been much fun. Having a hard time forcing
myself to write about this.
Perhaps when the dust has settled I will get back to it.
-----Original Message----- From: Adam Moffett
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 11:31 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] what is the difference between mccown tech and
beehive?
Or a made for TV Docudrama
On 4/18/2016 1:30 PM, Josh Reynolds wrote:
You need to write a book on this
On Sun, Apr 17, 2016 at 10:33 PM, Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote:
There has always been McCown Tech since the early 19902.. It was the
owner
of intellectual property (Patents, designs, trademarks etc) as well
as the
owner of all critical production machinery. My wife and I own this
100%
Beehive Telephone Company was started in 1963 by Art Brothers. He
died a
couple of weeks ago.
I worked for Beehive Telephone off and on for about 30 years. Quit 4
times
fired twice.
I actually came from Oregon Telephone. Art hired me to get him out of
trouble with the REA (now called RUS) in 1986 as he had used
materials that
were not allowed under the loan program and they were denying him
loan draw
downs. I was a central office installer and a REA contract inspector in
Oregon so I knew the proper way to do things. Art did nothing properly.
So I helped Art learn how to properly build a telephone company and
get out
of trouble with the feds. (It was a mess, crappy PBX systems in semi
trailers in the desert as central offices).
I had a hard time working for him and his wife de jour for any
length of
time and went to Quincy Illinois, started MTC and manufactured
airborne PBX
systems for head of state, corporate and military aircraft. Art kept
trying
to get me to come back to Beehive. I did as a consultant and
contractor
and eventually stayed in 1999.
In 2003 I used the insurance settlement from a personal tragedy and
started
the WISP Wireless Beehive with Art Brothers. 50/50
I started WB Manufacturing a couple of years later having developed some
antennas used by Wireless Beehive.
In 2013, we sold to Digis. Art told his wife (7th wife, about 40
years his
junior, second Russian wife (6th if you don’t count common law))
that we
got $90M and I would not give him any. He was a character.
Prevaricator
and confabulator without peer. She started to get paranoid I think (a
common trait amongst Russians).
During Wispapalloza the fall of 2013, while I was in Vegas, Art, his
wife
and her attorney rolled in and cleaned out a bunch of bank accounts. He
told all the employees he was dying of a brain tumor and was going to
travel the world. They engineered a takeover firing of myself, CFO,
COO and
several others. Most of the employees I hired and gave equity to all
sided
with the coup. (A regular paycheck is more powerful that integrity and
loyalty I guess. ) Brain tumor never reappeared...
And then they started suing almost everyone that got fired. This has
been
going on for a couple of years.
So, no I was not about to continue to operate WB Manufacturing to the
benefit of a guy the was suing me. WBM is also subject to the
lawsuit as
is my wife, the wife of the CFO, and a handful of other going concerns
they shut down the the frenzy of attempting to rain fire from the sky.
(Then even bought the mortgage of my factory building from Zions
bank, told
me they were now my banker, declared me a risk and said I was in
default due
to extraordinary risk and were going to foreclose. I was never late
on a
payment, they even returned payments they had accepted and refused to
take
any more payments... I have a TRO against them and a pending suit
against
them on that too)
MTC was in operation and was a going concern and owned all the IP and
rights
to everything. So MTC just started selling what it already owned. WB
Manufacturing is in mothballs and has been for a long time pending
litigation and liquidation.
Art has done this before. 21 years ago this month, he did almost
the exact
same thing to his kids. Threw them out, sued them, and really never
talked
to them since.
He was a ward of the state growing up. Lived in 13 different foster
families. Learned to burn every bridge, take every advantage and
make no
permanent friends. He has burned everyone that has spent more than a
handful of years with him and every business partner he ever had that
had
skin in the game. I knew what he was like when I came back to
Beehive in
1999. That is the reason MTC solely owns the IP, critical production
equipment and all rights. It is also the reason I owned (I thought)
my own
building...
The 30 somethings (sycophants?) that he assigned to take the jobs
that were
vacated are currently living high on being captains of business and
industry and trying to continue to show the old guys how difficult
they can
make things for us. Tough guys, real hard ball players...
Hubris Writ Large.
As long as they keep the Russian happy, they will probably have
jobs...
So, did that answer the question?
From: Rory Conaway
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2016 9:01 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: [AFMUG] what is the difference between mccown tech and beehive?
Are they 2 separate companies now?
Rory Conaway • Triad Wireless • CEO
4226 S. 37th Street • Phoenix • AZ 85040
602-426-0542
r...@triadwireless.net
www.triadwireless.net
“I wish I could play little league now. I’d be way better than before.”
