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Obama Center subcontractor shuts down amid $4M fight, lays off 25
foxnews.com ^ | Fox News | Michael Dorgan

Posted on 07/23/2026 6:19:10 AM PDT by V_TWIN

Weeks after the Obama Presidential Center’s star-studded opening in Chicago, a subcontractor who previously claimed his company was stiffed for nearly $4 million has shut down operations and laid off 25 union workers.

Mike Owen, the owner of Chicago-based Adamson Plumbing Contractors, told Fox News Digital that the financial fallout forced the company to abandon about half a dozen other construction jobs and left it on the verge of collapse. Owen described the shutdown as a painful decision he believed was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy.

"Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do," Owen said. "It’s a hard thing to do, especially when you know you can finish them and the company can still make money. But we were put in a pretty bad corner."

The company is one of several subcontractors to report financial trouble after working on the center, which was promoted as a transformative economic opportunity for small and minority-owned businesses.

A previous Fox News Digital investigation identified several subcontractors — including Black-owned firms the project was specifically intended to support — that said they were owed money or had absorbed losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. The largest dispute involves the Concrete Collective, which is seeking more than $40 million in additional payment.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: chicago; illinois; kenyanbornmuzzie; moneylaundering
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To: V_TWIN

41 posted on 07/23/2026 9:40:29 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: V_TWIN

well at least he gets to tell people he volunteered a lot of plumbing work for Obama


42 posted on 07/23/2026 9:51:22 AM PDT by b4me (Pray, and let God change you. He knows better than you or anyone else, who He made you to be.)
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To: V_TWIN

Has this claim been adjudicated? There could be reasons the tab wasn’t paid. Incompetence, quality of work, etc.
The courts are made for this.


43 posted on 07/23/2026 10:00:02 AM PDT by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness)
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To: V_TWIN

“But we were put in a pretty bad corner.”

Hey Mister Contractor, you put yourself in the corner when you took advantage of being black. Embrace the suck.


44 posted on 07/23/2026 10:32:18 AM PDT by caver ( )
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To: V_TWIN

“You Effed up! You trusted Obama!”


45 posted on 07/23/2026 11:01:10 AM PDT by oil_dude
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To: V_TWIN

With his dough, the messiah could erase this debt and make the subcontractor whole in a minute. But, as with libs (and mafiosi), spending one’s own money...


46 posted on 07/23/2026 12:42:46 PM PDT by DPMD (u)
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To: oil_dude

47 posted on 07/23/2026 1:29:08 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: V_TWIN
Im surprised there’s not loud speakers on the roof for call to prayer 5 times a day.

I suspect the electrical and bracketing forthis are installed and just waiting for the right time to be used.
48 posted on 07/24/2026 8:24:03 AM PDT by The Louiswu (USA FIRST...USA FOREVER)
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Comment #49 Removed by Moderator

To: V_TWIN
My guess is O'Dumbo hired minority contractors. My guess is that it's just possible that said minority contractors expected to slide on this project the way minorities, in general, expect to slide. On everything.

They (as a demographic) are entitled and have become masters at extortion. (Affirmative action, et al.)

It's more than just possible that the contractor in the article didn't do his job and the overseers of O'Dumbo's monstrosity are withholding payment.

50 posted on 07/24/2026 8:43:16 AM PDT by LouAvul (They're doing it again because you didn't hang them last time.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

Having the honor of serving ‘Dear Leader’ should be all the payment they need.


51 posted on 07/24/2026 8:50:16 AM PDT by captmar-vell
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To: V_TWIN

52 posted on 07/24/2026 9:36:52 AM PDT by al baby (i know )
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To: brownsfan

The structure looks like some type of Islamic architecture sans minarets.


53 posted on 07/24/2026 9:40:47 AM PDT by Rlsau1
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To: V_TWIN

Simple, you’re a plumber, make sure the toilets don’t flush. The building will be condemned, Trump will buy it for pennies on the dollar, and have a pay per view demolition extravaganza!
It’s not if, it’s when.


54 posted on 07/24/2026 10:19:39 AM PDT by Fireone (1. Avoid crowds 2.Head on a swivel 3.Be prepared to protect & defend those around you 4.Avoid crowds)
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To: V_TWIN; lightman; Navy Patriot

The obama Center is a fraud!

Here are some real Presidential libraries:

https://www.nixonlibrary.gov

https://www.jfklibrary.org

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov


55 posted on 07/24/2026 11:47:56 AM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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