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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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ClearEdge Power buyer will sell hub in Oregon

The Columbian
Published:

PORTLAND — The apparent final act of ClearEdge Power in Oregon begins next Tuesday.

Bidding opens that day for more than $40 million worth of machines, parts, computers and furniture that fill its darkened factory and office in Hillsboro.

The rising fuel-cell startup shuttered the space four months ago, when it abruptly closed and sought bankruptcy protection. South Korea-based Doosan Corp. acquired nearly all of its assets weeks later in July.

Yet it wasn’t ClearEdge Power’s Oregon hub that attracted the buyer. It was a relatively new Connecticut outpost where workers made 400-kilowatt fuel cells.

In an email to The Oregonian, a spokeswoman for the newly-established Doosan Fuel Cells America said it would focus solely on larger cells made in Connecticut, not smaller models engineered in Hillsboro.

“Therefore, there are no plans to continue operations in Oregon.”

A bill for the online auction lists everything from gas chromatographs and plasma cutters to forklifts and kitchen furniture.

ClearEdge was once among Oregon’s top venture-backed startups. It secured $73.5 million in 2011, the largest disclosed deal in Oregon that year. It also had received $8.2 million through the state Business Energy Tax Credit program.

In February 2013, ClearEdge acquired Connecticut-based UTC Power. But it slashed about 40 percent of its workforce weeks later and shifted its headquarters to California.

Executives said the final blow came this spring after a large order didn’t come together quickly enough. Its board of directors decided in April to seek bankruptcy protection. ClearEdge subsequently closed and laid off more than 250 people.

Though the new deal leaves little hope for any future Oregon foothold, a union representative said there are signs that workers may be called back in South Windsor, Conn.

“They’re talking about reopening the operations and producing product again,” said Mike Stone, of the International Associations of Machinists, which represents about one-third of the former ClearEdge employees in South Windsor.

The workers, along with other ClearEdge creditors, are still waiting for any payouts that may arise from the bankruptcy case.

“It sounds like they’re getting close, but no one knows how much is going to be left for the creditors,” said Andy Duyck, the Washington County chairman whose Forest Grove business, Duyck Machine Inc., is owed more than $255,000.

When it filed for Chapter 11 protection, ClearEdge and its subsidiaries reported more than $100 million in assets and $100 million in debt.

The liquidation of its former Hillsboro belongings will take place entirely online, although prospective buyers can stop by the site on one of the days, Monday, Sept. 8. The seller plans to accept bids Sept. 2-9.

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