Despite an onslaught of seemingly negative publicity, Force Protection Communications Director Tommy Pruitt insisted Tuesday from his office in Ladson, S.C. that the company has no plans to abandon its Person County facility at the intersection of Boston Road and Halifax Road. The building formerly housed Collins & Aikman.

Person County Economic Development Director Glenn Newsome also said Tuesday that plans were still on go for the Roxboro Force Protection facility.

“The company has affirmed on several occasions that they plan to continue the project here,” Newsome said. “It flies in the face of common sense and good logic to suggest otherwise.”

Newsome was likely referring to the vast renovations and upgrades that have been ongoing at the facility since late last year, but the company has yet to begin production of its Cheetah-brand armored vehicle here, as it had originally projected.

“Unfortunately, [Force Protection] has been the victim of an inordinate amount of negative regional press coverage, the genesis of which can be traced back to the Durham Herald-Sun,” Newsome said. “That has not helped our community, the project, or the existing and future employees of Force Protection.

“Rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated,” Newsome continued. “We look forward to working with the company to bring their Roxboro project to full fruition.” >>

While Pruitt said there were no plans of shutting down the Roxboro facility, which he said currently employs “20 or 21” people, he stopped short of guaranteeing production of the Cheetah, mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks, also known as MRAPs, at the facility.

“We are currently evaluating how we are going to use all of our facilities, not just Roxboro,” Pruitt said. “We are going through an evaluation now of how we are going to use them.”

When Force Protection first announced plans to locate in Person County, company officials guaranteed 270 well-paying jobs. That, Pruitt said Tuesday, “is still within the realm of possibility.

“We are going through the evaluation process now as to what is the right mix for all our facilities,” Pruitt added.

Last summer, Force Protection struck a deal with the state for grants totaling approximately $3 million if it met job-creation goals of approximately 65 each year from 2007 through 2010.

In August of last year, the Person Board of County Commissioners approved a $1.1 million incentive package for Force Protection, contingent upon the company’s generating a minimum $31 million in new investment, creating 270 jobs and generating county property taxes sufficient to replace the $1.1 million in less than five years.

As he did last month, Pruitt declined to predict a starting date for production at the facility but noted that work was continuing on the facility.

Pruitt and other Force Protection officials spent a portion of Monday afternoon in a conference call and Web cast discussing recent company events.

The question-and-answer session of the call was limited to institutional analysts and investors.

Also on Monday, Force Protection released a press release announcing that it received notice on March 19 from The NASDAQ Stock Market that the company was not in compliance with a Marketplace Rule as a result of failing to file with the United States Security and Exchange Commission its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2007. Because of that, Force Protection is subject to having its stock delisted from the NASDAQ Capital Market.

While that is far from good news, Pruitt said Tuesday that “it is not” something that should hinder Force Protection’s plans in Person County.

“It is something that we are addressing, but it will not affect our plans,” Pruitt said.

Monday’s press release noted that Force Protection “has requested and been granted an oral hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to review the Nasdaq Staff determination on its continued listing, which will result in Nasdaq providing Force Protection with notice of a hearing at which the Panel will consider whether such delisting is appropriate.

“The hearing request will automatically stay the delisting of Force Protection’s common stock pending the Panel’s decision,” the release continued. “There can be no assurance, however, that Force Protection’s stock will not be delisted.”

Monday’s release also pointed out that the company was informed on March 18 by Elliott Davis LLC, the company’s independent public accounting firm, that it was resigning its duties immediately.

Force Protection’s “Audit Committee has accepted this resignation,” the release read. “Although the company is in the process to engage a new independent registered public accounting firm, one has not yet been appointed.”

Elliott Davis has reportedly not completed or issued a report on the company’s consolidated financial statements or internal control over financial reporting for the past year.

“Elliott Davis, LLC stated that the material weaknesses reported by the company in Form 12b-25 on March 3, 2008 and, in its professional judgment, the company’s lack of internal controls necessary to be able to develop reliable financial statements at this time, prevents Elliott Davis, LLC from completing its audit and forming an opinion,” the release read.

In addition, Force Protection officials face several lawsuits filed by shareholders this month alleging illegal stock market manipulation.

Last week, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported that Force Protection’s shares had fallen to less than $2 after standing at close to $25 late last year. The report cited the U.S. Defense Department as a source for its claim that in recent months Navistar International and BAE Systems, Force Protection’s chief rivals, won 99 percent of the latest $1.1 billion awarded for MRAPs.

Late last year, the company began work on the Roxboro Force Protection facility and estimated at the time that there would be 70 persons employed by this time and that production of the Cheetah would be underway.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that with violence in Iraq subsiding, Force Protection would begin realizing a drop in production.

According to the report, the Marine Corps initially planned on buying 3,700 of Force Protection’s vehicles, but recently trimmed that total by 1,300. The report went on to say that the Army is considering a similar reduction.

Former Force Protection chief executive Gordon McGilton, who retired last month, told The Wall Street Journal that the company could possibly overcome future cutbacks by retrenching, selling trucks to foreign militaries and producing MRAP spare parts. He went on to say that he believed the U.S. Military would order more of the company’s armored vehicles, including the new Cheetah, because the success of MRAPs in Iraq has raised expectations that U.S. forces will be protected from roadside bombs no matter where they are deployed.