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Old 04-12-2007, 12:24 AM
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Carl@Semroc Carl@Semroc is offline
Junior ??? Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Knightdale, NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dwrunyon
I wonder why he was fired and how Damon's taking over had anything to do with it? Were they just trimming overhead or was there a reason for singling him out? I would also be curious as to what Vern thought of that... was he against it and powerless, or was it at his suggestion for some reason? I know nothing about him other than what's listed above!
Bill was the Vice President at the time. He was the guiding force that helped take Estes from the Volume 1 and 2 MRN that was typeset by hand to Volume 3 that set the standard for model rocket newsletters. He also designed the first full color catalog (1966) that left the spot color early catalogs behind.

From listening to Gleda and Vern, I gather that there was a lot of mutual respect and admiration between the three of them, along with a great working relationship. In my opinion it shows in the volume of work after Bill came on board.

I asked them how long Damon kept them after the sale was finalized. Gleda stayed the longest helping transition the production over to Damon leadership. Vern stayed on several years as a spokesman. When I asked how long they kept Bill, Gleda said "They got rid of him the same day!" I gathered it was a surprise the to Estes' that they were not keeping Bill.

When I thought about it later, they had to clean out all the top management, especially those that were loyal to Vern and Gleda. That is just the way companies absorbed companies back them. Would have been a lot different today if they had kept the same team in place and just provided expansion capital!
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