SECOND CHANCE ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING
News Index
CENTRAL LAKE, MICHIGAN (For immediate release, Tuesday, October 26, 2004) - As part of a restructuring process, Second Chance Body Armor, Inc. announced today that company founders Richard C. Davis and Karen P. McCraney are resuming active roles in the company's management.
Richard Davis, the inventor of soft body armor, will resume his role as President, while heading up Second Chance's Marketing and Technology departments. Karen has been named Board Chair and Company Treasurer. She will manage the company's Financial, Manufacturing and Human Resource departments.
"I am very optimistic that this restructuring move will allow us to focus on our core business, and continue our 33 year long mission of saving lives," said Davis. He noted that with the exception of Paul Banducci, the company's former president and CEO, all key management would remain in place.
"Paul has left the company on good terms and we are grateful for his years of service to Second Chance," said Davis.
Second Chance recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and last week received favorable court rulings allowing the company to continue operations and service to its customers, while maintaining all product warrantees and insurances. It has also reached a consensus agreement with its chief lender, providing resources to pay creditors and ensure the flow of raw materials for manufacturing.
Over the last year Second Chance has been defending itself in numerous lawsuits filed after it voluntarily announced publicly its concerns about the flawed bullet resistant fiber Zylon, manufactured by Toyobo Corp. of Japan.
For almost a year the company was the only major manufacturer of body armor to candidly make public its concerns about used Zylon vests, and announce an immediate upgrade and replacement program. To date, over 80,000 used body armor vests made of Zylon have been remediated as a result of that program, and officers nationwide are safer today because of these actions, noted president Davis.
HISTORY
Second Chance president Richard Davis founded the concealable body armor industry in the early 1970's when he was awarded the seminal patent for soft and wearable undercover body armor.
Davis went on to shoot himself almost 200 times to prove the effectiveness of his invention, and the company has now recorded over 935 independently documented SAVES---law enforcement officers whose lives were saved because they were wearing a Second Chance bullet resistant vest.
Just my :2c: But I want my second chance Monarch back. I have had 4 vest during my career . The 2 second chance vest were the most comfortable by far. I had to turn in my ultima last year when we replaced them because of the Zylon problem. My Monarch vest I had at a prior job was almost as comfortable as the Ultima and to my knowledge has an unblemished record. I would wear a Second Chance Monarch if it were up to me.
