Lawsuit over local development loan goes to trial Monday

Source: The Montana Standard, ButteDec.儲存 31--The Butte Local Development Corp. could get an answer soon in its efforts to recoup $200,000 from an office-supply company that once planned to locate a major distribution center in Butte.A jury trial in the BLDC's breach-of-loan lawsuit against Masters Group International, Inc. is set to begin Monday before District Judge Kurt Krueger. As part of the same case, the company is suing Comerica Bank over a $9 million loan.The BLDC loaned Masters Group $200,000 as part of a financing package in 2006 to help the company in its plans to build a distribution center in the Port of Montana Business Development Center in Butte-Silver Bow.The company, now based in Rockford, Mich., makes and sells office supplies to stores like Staples. It did not follow through with its p迷你倉ans in Butte.The BLDC sued in late 2011 seeking to recoup its $200,000 loan plus interest for a total of nearly $216,000.Daniel Manson, an attorney for the BLDC, said its portion of the case is only expected to last one day. The part involving Masters and Comerica could last nine days beyond that, he said."We always try to collect on loans so we believe we have a reasonable chance," he said.Manson said there were numerous disputes in the Masters and Comerica portion of the case and the BLDC will not get an answer to its claims until the jury renders a verdict in the overall case.- Reach Smith at mike.smith@mtstandard.com or 406-496-5511.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Montana Standard (Butte, Mont.) Visit The Montana Standard (Butte, Mont.) at .mtstandard.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉