A Missouri Town's Sweet Dreams Turn Sour

It was a bright July morning in 2010, early enough in the day for those gathered to be pressed and creased and hopeful. The former governor of Missouri, Bob Holden, stood on the muddy edge of acres of prairie just beyond the city of Moberly. With him were the mayor, local economic development officials, residents, and a short, chubby, well-dressed executive from Beverly Hills named Bruce Cole. His company, Mamtek U.S., would soon break ground on what he promised would be a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture its Sweet-O brand of sucralose, an artificial sweetener. Moberly had been so enthralled by Cole that within a mere three weeks after he first came to town, officials gave initial approval for $39 million worth of municipal bonds for Mamtek. Cole told Moberly the plant would open in about six months, operate 24 hours a day, and eventually employ 612 people.

The first employee was Olivia Lindsey. She was hired that November as Mamtek’s human resources director. Lindsey had been working as a consultant in St. Louis, “laying people off since 2002,” she says. “It was heart-wrenching. I couldn’t do it anymore.” She moved to Moberly, and her grown kids and their families all bought homes there and opened a restaurant. “This seemed like an incredible opportunity,” Lindsey says. “Cole seemed like he had millions and millions of dollars. And the government was talking the same way.”