Tulsa Business Closes Without Warning, More Than 100 People Jobless

By Dan Bewley, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- More than 100 people have lost their jobs after a Tulsa business closed without any warning. Automated Research and Marketing told employees to go home on Tuesday after it couldn't provide any paychecks. Now some employees say it has put a cloud over Christmas.

"Well, I never thought I would actually work for a company that would just run off with my money," said Myia Cole, a former employee.

"I feel like I was robbed, that's how I feel like," said Eunice Reed, a former employee.

Eunice Reed and Myia Cole are close friends and both are out of a job.

"It's just devastating that I can be working somewhere and then all of the sudden someone just disappear," said Eunice Reed.

They both worked for Automated Research and Marketing or ARM Services, it's a telemarketing company at the Fontana Shopping Center.

The doors are now locked and the building is vacant after shutting down operations on Tuesday. No one answered the phone when The News On 6 called the Tulsa location and the number for a corporate office in Arkansas is disconnected. 

Cole and Reed say the company owes them three weeks worth of paychecks.

"I'm just holding on. I mean, it's Christmas, (a couple of gifts) is all I got right there for my kids," Myia Cole said. "What am I supposed to do now?"

The Tulsa Better Business Bureau says the employees may be able to get their money back, but it will be an uphill battle. So while the employees want the money by Christmas, the BBB says it will most likely take several months, if they get it back at all.

"No food, no job, no money," said Myia Cole.

"Lost" is how Cole describes her life now. She's not sure what will happen next. She's not even sure why she has no job.

"Just high and dry. You try to do the right thing, try to be a good citizen and this is what you get, this is what you get in the end," said Myia Cole.