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Corporate
Communications
IndyStar.com & Indianapolis Star 5/4/01
Lock
maker Best eliminates 100 jobs, shuffles managers
By Norm Heikens
Indianapolis Star
May 04, 2001
Best
Access Systems has cut 100 of its 1,800 employees in the first forced layoff in
the Indianapolis company's 78-year history.
The
blue-collar employees, most of whom manufactured parts for door locks at Best
headquarters on the Northeastside, were informed of the action Wednesday. The
layoffs were effective immediately.
"We had
some positions we didn't need anymore," said spokesman Stephen Clark. "It's more
a reallocation of resources."
Best in
turn will hire 40 to 60 technicians to service electronic locks for its United
States and Canadian field offices, Clark said. Electronic locks are selling
faster than the traditional mechanical versions.
A
management reshuffling is accompanying the layoffs as the company is being
broken into leaner business units. Most of the approximately dozen displaced
vice presidents and department managers have been offered separation packages or
positions elsewhere in the company, Clark said.
Driving
the shakeup is Russ Best, 39, who took over in 1994 from his father, company
founder Walter Best, and is looking to dramatically expand the business.
A new
five-year plan calls for more than tripling Best's $150 million in annual sales,
Clark said. Most of the growth will come from deeper penetration of its current
North American markets, where Best focuses on university, government and
commercial buildings.
Clark
said Best Access intends to sell its headquarters building at 6161 E. 75th St.
and has courted companies interested in buying the building. However, he
emphasized there are no plans to sell the company itself, and that any move
would be to another location in central Indiana.
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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2001
Best Access Systems restructures,
eliminates 100 jobs
By Anthony
Schoettle
IBJ Daily Reporter
Indianapolis-based Best Access Systems cut 100 local
jobs Wednesday and announced that it is purchasing all of the 30 independent
sales offices across the country and Canada that market its products.
BAS officials said the job cuts were part of a
restructuring that also included the recent elimination of six of its 12 vice
president positions and 10 of 18 department head posts. Included in those cuts
were Chief Financial Officer John Hiatt and Controller Paula Tinkey.
BAS employees who were let go yesterday were
immediately escorted out of the company's headquarters at 6161 E. 75th
Street. A BAS employee who did not lose his job and asked to remain anonymous
said employees were given no prior notice of the meeting where the layoffs were
announced.
All the department heads and vice presidents affected
were offered reassignments or severance packages, said Stephen R. Clark, BAS
spokesman. All other employees who were let go were offered multi-week severance
packages and outplacement support, he added.
The cuts are not a sign of trouble at BAS, Clark
insisted. "This isn't reactive to the economy," he said. "We're strong
financially. Our production levels will not drop, but these changes will help us
gain efficiencies.
"The 100 positions being eliminated are viewed as not
essential toward helping us meet our strategic and business plan objectives,"
Clark said. "The company is changing, and the skills required to be successful
in the company are also shifting."
Clark added that any "high performing" employees whose
positions were found to be non-essential were offered other positions.
While BAS is cutting certain jobs company officials no
longer deem necessary, Clark said employees are being added who have expertise
in electronics and other skilled areas.
BAS was founded in 1925 in Seattle and moved to
Indianapolis in 1938. The company was previously known as Best Lock and focused
on making interchangeable door locks for commercial use. But now the industry is
changing, and BAS is focusing more on electronic access systems, Clark said.
BAS remains one of the nation's major makers of
industrial and institutional locks and has 1,800 employees nationwide.
Russell Best, 39, took over for his father, Walter, as
CEO of the company in 1996.
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