Starting over after a layoff One man's search for a new life

Date AddedJune 15, 2009 12:45:41 PM

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Bass, 53, is among the no-longer Nortel -- the army of engineers, marketing and other employees laid off from the technology company's Research Triangle Park operations in recent years. He worked there for almost a quarter-century handling contract negotiations.

In March 2008, Bass was let go.

"That was OK with me," he confesses. "If Nortel told me my job was safe for the next 10 years, I was ready to do something else just to have control over my own destiny."

It's a common sentiment in these tough economic times. Workers who dedicated their professional lives to companies such as Nortel, GlaxoSmithKline and Sony Ericsson are finding themselves unemployed for the first time in years.

Some are turning the challenge into an opportunity to dust off dreams or take gambles on themselves.

Bass started the process long before his layoff. He knew the day could come, and although he figured he could find work at another RTP staple such as Cisco Systems or IBM, he also assumed it would be only a matter of time before he would find himself in the same old rut.

He first explored buying a local business with an aging owner ready to retire, but he worried that such a deal could leave him struggling should business go south. Bass began looking at the possibility of buying a franchise to have more operational, sales and marketing support.

It was a process of elimination.

BY JONATHAN B. COX - Staff Writer

Mike Bass has gotten a kick lately watching his two sons greet pretend customers.

They're excited. And so is he. A little nervous, too.

Tomorrow, he will open a dry cleaning establishment, a new business for Cary and a new start for him.

Bass bought a book that detailed franchise options and began marking off those that required too much time, too much money or too much risk. Then, about a year ago he spotted a newspaper ad for a franchise exposition while having coffee with his wife. He decided to visit for a few hours.

"I talked to people in everything from servicing transmissions to changing oil to lawn maintenance," he says. "I talked to the guy from Martinizing [dry cleaning] and was interested. ... I kept circling back around to him."

Bass said it's ironic that he settled on the dry cleaning business -- he originally thought he'd end up with something like a Papa John's pizza franchise -- because he's never been a big dry cleaning customer.

But the more he investigated, the more comfortable he felt. Dry cleaning is relatively recession resistant, he said, and the technology isn't that difficult. The business allows him to focus on customer service, which he considers a personal strength, without having to give a hard sell, which he doesn't enjoy. The hours are more agreeable to a family man who doesn't want to be stuck at work all weekend and on holidays.

And Martinizing Dry Cleaning uses a "green" solvent for cleaning, which Bass figures could be a competitive advantage in these days of increased environmental conscientiousness.

Setting up a Martinizing Dry Cleaning costs about $500,000, an expense Bass financed through an arrangement that let him invest funds from his 401(k) into the business without penalty.

If all goes well at his first location on Cary Parkway, Bass intends to open three more.

"I'm excited, and I'm scared to death," Bass said. He's practiced on some garments but says the first customers' clothes will be handled "with kid gloves."

He misses his friends from Nortel, which is now in bankruptcy, but not the work. The way he figures, he's found his calling.

"I guess I finally figured out," Bass said, "what I want to do when I grow up."

jonathan.cox@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4948

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