A Chat With Dennis Garvey, chief operating officer, U.S. Cavalry

CS: What kind of employee turnover did you see as a result of the bankruptcy?

DG: I’m not sure because it was before my time. I know there was a significant reorganization that took place just to regain fundamental profitability. At the time there was a very large call center operation that was cut back. Most of the big impact was the management team. Many of them left. That was one of the biggest challenges, trying to maintain the business when its leadership is departing. That was before my time, but when I came on board, that was what I had to rebuild. I don’t know the numbers on turnover though, other than to say there was significant attrition in the call center. But the biggest problem was not the people who were laid off, but the loss of leadership and institutional knowledge that left. I looked back at some of the numbers, and the company peaked in 1997, and started to see a fall off in sales after that.