‘I have my doubts.’ Former Braidy CEO questions project viability following firing.

Former Braidy Industries CEO Craig Bouchard said Wednesday in an interview with the Herald-Leader that he doubts a $1.7 billion aluminum mill will ever get built in Kentucky if he loses his legal fight to retake control of the company.

“I have my doubts,” he said when asked if he expects the company to complete construction if he loses his lawsuit.

Bouchard’s statement echoes language within his lawsuit and a press release he issued Tuesday, magnifying concerns voiced by lawmakers about the future of a $15 million taxpayer investment that former Gov. Matt Bevin made in Braidy Industries in 2017.

The lawsuit, which Bouchard filed in Deleware, asks a judge to force the company’s board members, who voted to oust Bouchard late last month, to resign from their posts, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

The details surrounding Bourchard’s removal remain unclear. Bouchard said he isn’t sure why the board voted to remove him as CEO and board chairman late last month, and company representatives declined to provide further details to lawmakers during a hearing last week.

Kaylee Price, a Braidy Industries spokeswoman, said the company had several concerns with Bouchard’s performance as CEO, and was not satisfied with the status of financing for the mill.

“Thus, as part of its fiduciary role on behalf of the shareholders, the board voted to take action that it believes will be he upheld in court under Delaware law,” Price said in a statement Tuesday. “Mr. Bouchard, as CEO, must be held accountable and the board of directors is willing to do what it takes to ensure that occurs.”

Company officials said they are still confident that the mill will be completed “as promptly as possible.”

The lawsuit argues that Bouchard has the “unilateral, unqualified contractual power” to remove company board members, and that on Feb. 5, one week after the board voted to remove him, Bouchard sought to exercise that authority.

Board members and two investment firms — one of which is Commonwealth Seed Capital, the state-sponsored investment group that gave $15 million to Braidy Industries in 2017 — declined to act on Bouchard’s order to remove the board members, according to the suit.

Braidy Industries was heralded by Bevin and others as an economic savior of northeastern Kentucky, bringing hundreds of jobs to a region decimated by the decline of coal and other industries.

The company has likely been supported by several local investors, according to an economic development official in Boyd County, and the Ashland Community and Technical College has created a program tailored specifically to train students for employment at the mill.

“I’ve met all the students,” Bouchard said. “They are one of the finest group of students I have ever met in my career, and my heart bleeds for them.”

Bouchard’s lawsuit indicates that several potential investors were concerned about the disputed leadership change. One investor, which was considering a $200 million investment, said it wanted to see “the dust clear” before it moved forward, according to the lawsuit.

Another, considering a $60 million investment, was reluctant to move forward without Bouchard at the helm, the suit claimed.

Bouchard said he had secured promising investment opportunities that could have funded the mill in its entirety, but said he was no longer in contact with those investors and could not provide updates on their status as of Wednesday.

Braidy Industries officials told lawmakers earlier this month that the company still needs $500 million to complete the project. The company is well behind schedule by any measure.

As part of its $15 million investment agreement with the state, the company faced a deadline of investing $1 billion in the mill by the end of 2020 — a deadline it will almost certainly miss.

While both Bouchard and current company officials said they have made significant strides, including securing necessary permits from the federal government, substantial construction has yet to begin at the site.

During his interview, Bouchard said the turmoil of his ouster could damage his mission to bring jobs to a region of Kentucky that has faced several blows in recent months, including news that the Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital will close within the year.

About 1,000 employees could be impacted by that closure.

“This is a disaster when you think about a town that size,” Bouchard said. “I believe firmly that the job of the CEO is to look out for shareholders and look out for the community, and try to build both.”

“Who is going stand up for Ashland if it’s not me, because it doesn’t sound like it’s anybody else,” he said.