AmeriQuest Chairman DeWindt Will Resign

AmeriQuest Technologies Inc. said its chairman and chief executive, Steve DeWindt, has decided to resign rather than take part in the company’s planned move to Florida.

Harry Krischik, an executive with AmeriQuest’s parent company, was named chairman.

Michael Dressen, who was recently appointed president of AmeriQuest, will also be appointed to the company’s board of directors. The company said that the CEO position will not be filled.

AmeriQuest, a computer products developer and distributor, said last month that it will move its corporate headquarters to Hollywood, Fla. in early October.

The struggling company also revealed plans to lay off 60 workers.

DeWindt joined the company in August 1995 after serving as co-president of Computer 2000 AG, a German company that last year acquired a controlling interest in AmeriQuest.

“I grew up in Southern California, and this is where my roots are,” DeWindt said in a written statement. “I really can’t see moving my family again, nor can I continue with this level of travel.”

DeWindt’s resignation is effective Sept. 30.

AmeriQuest reported a loss of $8.47 million on sales of $111 million its fiscal third quarter.

The company’s CMS Enhancements subsidiary, which makes computer disk drives, will remain in Anaheim and is not affected by the move.