Hartland-based Johnson Creek Enterprises LLC, once one of the fastest growing companies in the region, will cease operations today, according to an announcement on the e-cigarette juice maker’s website.
Heidi Braun, Johnson Creek chief operating officer, wrote in the post that the hope “is to come out of bankruptcy and continue to make and sell products, but this is yet to be determined and we have no timetable to determine this.”
“I’m so very sorry that we’ve failed you,” Braun wrote.
Johnson Creek was named to the MMAC’s Council of Small Business Executives “Fastest Five” as recently as 2014 as the popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping continued to rise and was also named to the Inc. 5000 that year.
The company employed more than 50 people, according to February Hartland village board documents. Johnson Creek and vaping industry representatives asked the Hartland village board to intervene against new Food and Drug Administration regulations. Braun told the board at the time the regulations would cost Johnson creek up to $1 million to get each of its 200 products put back on the market.
In Monday’s post, Braun thanked the village “for going to bat for us with FDA”
“Hartland will forever hold a piece of our hearts,” she wrote.
Braun also thanked customers for their support and encouraged them “not to give up on the industry.” She also thanked employees for teaching her “what true leadership is.”
“We’ve figured out how to both scale a business and downsize a business together. We’ve won together, we’ve lost together and I hope we bounce back together,” she wrote.
The state Department of Workforce Development has not posted a notice regarding the business closure and a spokesman said one has not been received. State and federal online court records in Wisconsin do not show any bankruptcy or receivership filings related to Johnson Creek Enterprises as of Tuesday at noon.
