Hello,

Ben here. I want to take a minute to answer some of your questions.

(1)  Who are/were the owners of GDS?

The original owners were Doug Strouse (Pres/CEO), Andrew Veliuona (VP), and Tim Druzgala (EVP). Andrew left in 2016.

(2)  Why didn't you quit when you found out how bad things were?

I didn't start to learn the extent of Global's problems until two years ago. Prior to that, I was just a middleman between GDS and our clients, helping with title issues.

In 2015 I learned how bad our problems were - especially the payment issues. A big client in eastern PA had stiffed GDS for over $200,000. Other smaller clients had stiffed Global for over $150,000 in total. The company was in a big hole. I asked the owners if they were planning to close. They assured me they wanted to do the right thing, stay open, and pay their bills. (They would repeat this promise to me many times over 2015 and 2016.)

The bottom line was that I couldn't quit. I had a huge pile of credit card debt from a medical crisis back in 2000. I have no savings. I tried to find another job but nothing I found would pay my bills. I was trapped.

(3)  Why did you keep sending out orders when you couldn't pay people?

Starting in 2015, I did my best to make sure GDS paid its vendors as much as possible. The owners promised me they wanted to keep the company going, so I decided to try to make things right. Anyone who worked with us in 2015 and 2016 knows that our payment performance got a lot better once I was involved in it. I never once believed that the owners would close the company. They promised me they would keep it going.

(4)  Why did you think you could save it?

I made the owners agree to all sorts of changes. We cut costs by laying off staff and cutting pay. I took a pay cut and became a W-9 employee. We raised prices to clients as much as possible. All the extra money went out the door to vendors. The one cost I couldn't cut: the expensive company office in Towson MD. The CEO had signed a long lease and the company was stuck with it.

(5)  Why is GDS closing?

Simply put: the owners got sick and tired of dealing with it. They had started this company because they wanted an easy investment. Instead, they were stuck with a struggling company that demanded their attention. I tried to get them to let me run it my way, but they refused. 

I was devastated when I heard the news. I had been working 12-hour days, six days a week, for the last two years, trying to save this place. Now all of that was for nothing.

I never intentionally misled anyone. When you called me to ask for payment, I asked the owners. Once they promised me to send a check, that's what I told you. I didn't know they were often lying to me until too late.

I am sorry for my involvement in this company. I never wanted to be a part of people being treated this way. Was I naive not to realize what was really going on? Sure. But I tried my best to make things right and to treat people properly. I hope you can understand that when I fell down, it was because the rug was yanked out from under me.

Sincerely,

Ben