Warranty company’s operations to move to Ohio

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BY MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star

Heritage Administration Services’ troubled run in Lincoln appears to be coming to an end. Heritage owner Allegiance Holdings announced Friday it will move the bulk of the Lincoln operations to its home office in Dublin, Ohio.

Allegiance bought Heritage, which sells vehicle service contracts through agents and car dealers, in July 2004, after the company ran into legal and regulatory trouble and its founders, Rod and R.J. Beery, left the company.

In a news release, Allegiance, which was called National Administration Solutions Corp. when it bought Heritage, said its Lincoln operation was duplicating many of the functions of another company Allegiance bought in February.

Allegiance said it tried to find a way to keep Heritage in Lincoln, “but in the end this redundancy could not be overcome.”

In an e-mail to the Journal Star, Allegiance President J. Michael Hester said, “We regret the necessity of leaving many wonderful people behind in Lincoln that this type of physical move dictates.”

When Allegiance bought Heritage last year, it said it planned to keep all 115 jobs at its 8055 O St. office. But by September of this year, after restructuring and laying off 30 people, the company was down to about 60 Lincoln employees. At the time, however, Heritage President Larry Roseberry said that number might double.

Hester said some jobs will remain in Lincoln, but he did not say how many.

Both the release and a letter Roseberry wrote said some employees would be  moving to Ohio while some would stay in Lincoln.

Neither the documents nor Hester addressed whether employees would be offered severance or assistance in finding new jobs.

Roseberry was in meetings Friday and unavailable for comment.

George Anderson, who is a consultant to Heritage and also does marketing for the company, said Roseberry worked hard to try to keep the company in Lincoln, and even tried to get Allegiance to move its headquarters here.

Anderson said it was especially hard for the company to leave Lincoln because the city had been so friendly and welcoming.

“Everyone has more than bent over backward to make us feel welcome, and we are heartsick over the decision to leave,” he said.

But Anderson said that when Allegiance bought Dublin-based Dimension Service Corp., like Heritage a vehicle service contract administrator, it changed Heritage’s future.

He said the Lincoln office was losing money, “and the bleeding just had to stop.”

Anderson said Roseberry will move to Ohio and remain Heritage’s president. Anderson said he also will continue to have a role with the company.

In 2001, Heritage was ordered by a Lancaster County District Court to pay $850,000 to an Arizona company that sued Heritage for interfering in its business.

The company also faced state regulatory action and issues in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, South Carolina and California since 2001.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.