Sun Prairie-based Kollege Town Sports, a team sports and apparel company, was sold by Riddell, its parent company, to BSN Sports, according to a Riddell release. Terms were undisclosed, but locally, the transaction means 106 workers will lose their jobs by the time the company closes for good in April.
When Riddell purchased Kollege Town in 2015, the businesses announced they’d be building a new facility in 2016 and moving from Windsor to Sun Prairie. Sun Prairie created TIF District 12 to help the company build a new $7.5 million facility, which Kollege Town moved into in May 2017. As part of the agreement, the company was also going to expand to 240 jobs by 2021, according to a Sun Prairie Star story.
When contacted by the local newspaper, Neil Stechschulte, economic development director for the city of Sun Prairie, provided the following statement:
“This past week, the City of Sun Prairie was notified that Riddell Sports Group had sold the Kollege Town Sports business line and that they intend to close the Sun Prairie facility by April 2020.
“Since 2016, the city has worked in good faith with both the employer and the building owner to ensure that a quality building with quality employment opportunities would be constructed. The completed industrial building ensures that enough property taxes will be generated to prevent any negative impact to city taxpayers.
“While we are disappointed that the project will be unable to fulfill its employment obligations, we look forward to the next employer who can take advantage of the rare opportunity presented by a new industrial building becoming available in Sun Prairie.”
