Year: 2000

Bogdanovich to kick off Eastman series

Film scholar and director Peter Bogdanovich will begin a collaboration with the George Eastman House on Saturday when he introduces “The Lady Eve,” the first of a series of films he has picked to be shown at the Dryden Theatre. The films correspond to those described in Bogdanovich’s new book, “Movie of the Week.”

1/7/00

Eric McInroy, until last month the president and CEO of Transmation Corp., today resigned from the firm.
McInroy worked at the company more than 20 years. He joined Transmation in 1978 and moved into the top spot in April 1998.

Fairport-based Canandaigua Brands Inc. today reported third-quarter earnings per share increased 45 percent to $1.60 from last year’s $1.10.
“The excellent results we posted in the quarter reflect the aggressive efforts we made throughout the 1990s to expand the breadth and depth of our brand portfolio,” said Richard Sands, chairman and CEO.

CPAC Inc. today named a new chief operating officer for its Stanley Home Products direct selling business.
Wendy Clay, who began at CPAC in 1982, has served as vice president of administration for the Leicester, Livingston County, firm.

New York has agreed to pay a settlement of $8 million to 1,280 inmates present during the 1971 Attica Correctional Facility riot, the AP reported. The state, which did not admit wrongdoing, said it would set aside money to settle the class-action suit by inmates.

Rochester Business Journal staff
Xerox Corp. has completed the purchase Tektronix Inc.’s Color Printing and Imaging Division.
The document company announced the acquisition in October as a $950 million deal but closed it today for $925 million due to various balance sheet adjustments. The addition of the Tektronix division puts Xerox in a second-place position to color-printer market leader Hewlett Packard Co.

1/3/00

Former Bloch Industries Inc. owner and president Paul Shambo has pleaded guilty to charges of rifling a Bloch employees’ retirement fund.
Shambo, who lost Bloch to financier Samuel Yacono in 1997 after borrowing money to prop up the financially ailing cabinet company, pleaded guilty in a Rochester U.S. District Court last Friday to a single count of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
He was charged with misappropriating $416,556 in workers’ 401(k) funds over a five-year period beginning in 1992.
Bloch Industries went into receivership and bankruptcy last year after Yacono, who was himself under Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny, committed suicide in August, leaving scores of investors out millions of dollars. A longtime custom-cabinet firm in Rochester, Bloch was revived by new owners after being sold in a bankruptcy auction last summer.
Shambo faces a possible five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.
Guidelines of the plea agreement he signed last week give a sentencing range of 21-27 months, a $5,000-to-$50,000 fine and a period of three years supervised release. Shambo was also ordered to pay back approximately $350,000 of the misappropriated funds.

1/3/00

Sales at IEC Electronics Corp. fell some $90 million in 1999 while losses continued to mount at the Wayne County manufacturer.
The company today said sales were $157.5 million, down from $248.2 million in fiscal year 1998. The company lost $20.6 million, or $2.72 a share, after restructuring charges, compared with a loss of $6.2 million, or 82 cents a share, the previous year.
The 1999 charges include $4 million for the closing of the company’s facility in Ireland and the disposal of the assets of its Irish subsidiary.
For the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, IEC (NASDAQ: IECE) reported revenues of $48.8 million, up from $39.9 million. It had a net loss of $14.8 million, or $1.96 a share, compared with $6.3 million, or 83 cents a share.
“Our performance does not yet reflect the results of David Fradin’s strategic efforts to strengthen and diversify our customer portfolio,” said Russell Stingel, chairman and acting CEO since Fradin’s death on Dec. 11.
The company is moving from its traditional PC industry focus to telecommunications, networking and industrial market segments. In addition, the firm has implemented expense-reduction programs.
“These programs will be aggressively pursued in the coming quarter and are targeted to return the company to profitability,” Stingel said.
He also expects the opening of a facility in Reynosa, Mexico, near its Edinburg, Texas, plant, to boost the company’s results in 2000.
The company on Dec. 28 closed an asset-based financing of $30 million with HSBC Bank USA and General Electric Capital Corp.
IEC is a contract manufacturer based in Newark, Wayne County.

1/3/00

Hope Hall receives $750,000 grant
Hope Hall, a non-profit school for students with attention deficit disorder and other special educational needs, has received a $750,000 grant from the Gleason Foundation. The grant supports a $2.7 million capital campaign to purchase and renovate the Hope Hall school building.

Nextera closes on credit facility
Nextera Enterprises Inc., which is based in Boston and has a Rochester office, today said it closed on a $55 million credit facility in a transaction led by BankBoston N.A. and Bank of America N.A. The additional borrowing capacity will help the company to fuel internal growth and make strategic acquisitions.

1/3/00

Sales at IEC Electronics Corp. fell some $90 million in 1999 while losses continued to mount at the Wayne County manufacturer.
The company today said sales were $157.5 million, down from $248.2 million in fiscal year 1998.

Former Bloch Industries Inc. owner and president Paul Shambo has pleaded guilty to charges of rifling a Bloch employees’ retirement fund.
Shambo, who lost Bloch to financier Samuel Yacono in 1997 after borrowing money to prop up the financially ailing cabinet company, pleaded guilty in a Rochester U.S.