Компания Noble Supply & Logistics предупредила о возможном банкротстве из-за сокращения Pentagon контракта на миллиард долларов

A Boston-based defense firm has warned it may file for bankruptcy within the next two months because of the Pentagon’s decision to cut short a billion-dollar hardware contract earlier this year. Noble Supply & Logistics, a material and equipment vendor headquartered in the Seaport, said in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the company is on “the brink of collapse,” because of a series of “decisions and delays” caused by the Pentagon’s procurement arm. “There is a meaningful probability that within the next 60 days, Noble Supply & Logistics will have no alternative but to file for bankruptcy protection,” Thomas Noble, the company’s chairman and CEO, wrote in the Aug. 19 letter. The company acts as a middleman between individual manufacturers and government agencies, offering a supply chain for products ranging from tactical gear to hydraulics and electrical equipment, according to its website. It would be a “bureaucratic failure” for the company to go under, the letter said. Last week, the company told state regulators that it expected to lay off 59 employees at its Seaport headquarters by Oct. 9. In a notice required under federal law, Noble said it would “have to permanently close” its Boston office “as a result of recent financial circumstances.” On Wednesday, however, a company spokesperson said Noble has not announced any specific plans related to the closing of the Boston office, adding that it is currently searching for alternative financing. Noble is pursuing a claim of approximately $100 million against the Defense Logistics Agency, a division of the Department of Defense, stemming from the “termination of a critical weapons support contract,” the spokesperson said. “DLA’s actions impact not only Noble, but a multitude of small businesses across America,” the spokesperson said. The Defense Logistics Agency on Wednesday deferred comment to the Pentagon, which did not return a request for comment. Noble is formally classified as a small business under federal procurement guidelines. But its operations involve the distribution of products from thousands of manufacturers, including gear, machinery, and maintenance supplies. The company also maintains offices in Chesapeake and Harrisonburg, Va., Lexington Park, Md., as well as in Kazakhstan and near military bases in Germany and on Okinawa, Japan. In 2022, the company was awarded a $1.2 billion contract for industrial hardware and abrasives — including screws, bolts, fasteners, coils, and other products — to be used in “multiple weapon systems.” The contract, initially set over a 10-year period, was shortened to less than four, according to the company’s letter. Noble continued purchasing inventory to meet its commitments under the contract, encouraged by the Defense Logistics Agency’s proposal of a one-year extension in October, according to the letter. But earlier this year, the Pentagon allegedly reversed course, said it would not exercise the extension, and imposed a “hard stop” on the program just three months later in June. That, according to the letter, left Noble with approximately $72 million in inventory purchases and commitments, which the company said it had only purchased because of the Pentagon’s indications of a contract extension. In the letter, Thomas Noble wrote that the company is pursuing a claim under the Contract Disputes Act, but said “that process takes time and resources the company no longer has.” The company’s commitment to the hardware contract has impaired its ability to pay suppliers involved in other Pentagon programs, he added. Noble urged the Pentagon to establish clear guidelines that would honor commitments to terminated contracts, “including obligations created when small businesses invest in inventory and capacity at the Government’s direction.” Those guidelines would include binding deadlines for making decisions on contract termination and inventory buybacks, as well as accountability ”for decisions left unmade, not just decisions made incorrectly.” He said the “underlying issue” goes beyond Noble’s predicament: if the Pentagon remains free to alter existing supply contracts without absorbing the costs, then “other small businesses will understandably hesitate to make similar investments.” Camilo Fonseca can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.