As First Brands founder Patrick James and his brother, Edward, begin court appearances connected to their federal indictments on fraud and conspiracy charges, certain operations at Emporia’s Hopkins Manufacturing plant are on hold.
Local staff have confirmed production employees have been furloughed until the business sells, but all other local operations — including administration and warehouse — are moving forward. Hopkins and other companies under the First Brands umbrella are waiting for the results of an asset auction this upcoming Monday. At this time, it’s unclear if Hopkins will sell with all its current product lines included or whether some of those product lines would be bought separately.
Hopkins has been based in Emporia since 1953 and had established itself as one of the top sellers of towing electrical products, snow and ice tools, vehicle cleaning products and fluid management tools in North America, including several product acquisitions or company acquisitions per year for years, before being absorbed into First Brands in December 2023.
First Brands, meanwhile, had positioned itself as a leader in automotive aftermarket goods — but it went bankrupt this past September. When it declared, it reported around $5 billion in net annual sales worldwide but also declared $12 million in cash for its corporate bank accounts along with over $9 billion in liabilities. Prosecutors say the James brothers and at least one other person, Peter Brumbergs, used several schemes to gain money from several international financial institutions. Brumbergs has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is cooperating with federal prosecutors as the case against the James brothers develops.
