Turn-Around Specialist Named CEO at CalComp

Computer graphics equipment maker CalComp Technology Inc. said Thursday it hired turn-around specialist John Brincko as its new chief executive, to guide the company through its liquidation.

Brincko, who resigned as president of Irvine apparel maker Mossimo Inc. last year, was brought in for his experience in selling groups of separate subsidiaries within a company, said Mike Pollock, a CalComp spokesman.

In January, Lockheed Martin Corp., CalComp’s majority shareholder, cut off the Anaheim company’s line of credit, forcing the liquidation.

“Lockheed Martin sees the shutdown of CalComp as being important enough to bring him in to make sure that the dissolution goes smoothly,” Pollock said.

CalComp has sold or begun negotiations to sell most of its operations. Its San Jose-based CrystalJet division, the company’s most significant asset, is among the few remaining operations for which it has not found a buyer. The liquidation is going smoothly, Pollock said. Worldwide, the company has 275 employees.

“Suffice to say that we have had significant interest expressed in all of our businesses,” Brincko said Thursday. “We will try to do this as quickly as possible, but it’s hard to say how long it will take. We’ll try to get it done in the next six months.”

At Mossimo, Brincko helped curb the fashion designer’s losses by slashing jobs and salaries, restructuring management and putting the company’s headquarters up for lease. Mossimo chose not to renew Brincko’s one-year contract in December.

Brincko’s Los Angeles-based turnaround firm also has been involved in major restructurings of Sunworld International, a Coachella Valley produce grower; Knudsen Corp., the Los Angeles dairy operator; and Barney’s New York, the menswear retailer.

Brincko succeeds John Batterton, who continues as CalComp’s president.