Gradco Lays Off 20 Employees to Cut Costs

Gradco Systems Inc., now under a new management team led by New York publisher Martin E. Tash, said Friday it has laid off about 20 employees from its printer systems subsidiary and corporate headquarters.

Joseph Sanchez, president of the company’s printer systems unit, said the layoff is aimed at cutting corporate overhead and bringing the money-losing computer printer subsidiary closer to the break-even point.

The layoffs, just two weeks after a Tash group won control of Gradco in a proxy battle, were not surprising. Gradco’s management had indicated earlier that cost-cutting moves were being planned for the maker of copier sorters and printers.

At the company’s annual meeting on Oct. 12, Sanchez said the subsidiary was losing $600,000 a month when he came on board in April and that layoffs would be necessary to make the unit profitable by year end.

Sanchez said no strategic decision has been made about Gradco’s plans for the printer systems market. He said the options the company is considering are either downsizing the subsidiary or making major investments in new technologies. But he said no final decision is expected for several months.

Bernard Bressler, newly appointed corporate secretary for Gradco and corporate secretary for Tash’s Plenum Publishing Corp., said the company laid off employees to try to bring its costs under control.