Chapter 11 For Collection Firm
Contracts Awarded: Night Vision
Corrections or additions?
This article by Barbara Fox was prepared for the July 16, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
Kenneth L. Foxton closed the doors of his Canal Pointe-based
franchise, New Horizons Computer Learning Center, on Tuesday, July
8. Any back pay for eight former employees will be determined by bankruptcy
court, he said in a telephone interview.
Based in Anaheim, California, the New Horizons chain led the pack
of computer trainers by beating out IBM in 2001. Its web page lists
280 centers in 47 countries that deliver about 3 million student training
days per year. But the headquarters office disavows responsibility
for any of its franchisees’ debts and refers all calls to Linda Schwimmer
of Markowitz, Gravelle and Schwimmer, the Princeton Pike-based law
firm that represents the Princeton franchise.
“It’s a general downturn in the training industry. New Horizons
isn’t the only one,” says Foxton. “Our corporate clients were
drawing back from purchasing. Our major client was the State of New
Jersey, and they have been buying very little for the last year and
a half. Training is one of the first places that gets cut.” He
said he waited until July 1 to make the decision based on state contracts.
“In the new budgets the numbers aren’t there.”
Schwimmer says she has filed a motion with Judge Katherine C. Ferguson
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to do a voluntary conversion of Foxton’s
bankruptcy case from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. “The people who
were scheduled to take classes are being notified by Mr. Foxton,”
says Schwimmer. “Arrangements to reschedule the classes will depend
on whether the franchise is sold.”
Employees who are owed money must get in line behind secured creditors
(such as the franchisor, the landlord, and the bankruptcy trustee)
who will get paid first. The bankruptcy code designates employees
who are owed up to $4,500 as “priority creditors,” according
to Schwimmer.
Those who have paid for training could travel to receive the training
in Iselin or King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. “Other New Horizons
locations will honor the training that has been paid for,” says
Foxton. Another possibility is that someone will buy his territory
and assume the responsibility. “When we took over this franchise,
Lehigh Valley, two years ago, we honored a ton of free training.”
Foxton is an alumnus of the University of Maryland, Class of 1986,
and has an MBA in finance and economics from Chapman in Orange, California.
“I’m not the only one in the economy facing this right now,”
says Foxton. “How I lived my life is that there is always a silver
lining in every cloud. I thought it was the best thing for everybody
involved to throw the towel in and move on to something else.”
New Horizons Computer Learning Center (NEWH), 100Canal Pointe Boulevard, Princeton. Kenneth Foxton, president. 609-452-9770.Www.newhorizons.comTop Of PageChapter 11 For Collection FirmOSI Collection Services Inc., 50 Millstone Road,Windsor Corporate Park, Building 100, East Windsor 08520. Frank Boni,director of operations. 609-426-4165; fax, 609-308-7110. Home page:www.osioutsourcing.comA collection service company with 100 employees at Windsor CorporatePark has seen its parent company, Outsourcing Solutions Inc., go intoChapter 11 bankruptcy. Based near St. Louis Missouri, the holdingcompany says it is conducting business as usual and refers callersto a hotline at 972-535-7150.Before its acquisition, OSI Collection Services was known in New Jerseyas Payco. Among the three dozen other trade names that OSI CollectionServices uses are Furst & Furst; Retail Merchants Collection Service’American Child Support Service Bureau; and Medical Billing Systems.As a receivables management service, it helps other companies managetheir credit during the entire collections process.Isn’t it an irony that a collections company has filed for bankruptcy?”Some people have pointed that out,” says David Garino, aspokesperson for the firm.”OSI’s Chapter 11 filing was prompted by a debt burden, not anoperational problem,” he explains. “Anticipating a strongeconomy, the company had made a series of acquisitions and took ondebt of $600 million. Before the filing, OSI had reached an agreementwith the majority of its creditors to reduce the debt to about $175million.”Top Of PageHotel TaxWith the exception of Trenton, all municipalities inCentral New Jersey are taking advantage of the new tax on hotel stays.They have introduced ordinances to piggyback their own taxes ontothe state tax that goes into effect on Friday, August 1.The new law, approved by the state legislature on June 30, allowsthe state to impose a seven percent state tax on hotel stays and permitsmunicipalities to charge an additional one percent tax.Also under the law, starting next July, the state hotel tax will dropto 5 percent, and municipalities can increase the local tax to 3 percent.Even as the legislature signed off on this tax, ground was being brokenon the new Marriott Residence Inn to be built behind AmeriSuitesat Carnegie Center West. Carnegie Hotel Development Association, thejoint venture that includes, among others, Alan Landis and the ParamountHotel Group, is building the 120-suite hotel. Bill King of King Interestsis managing the development.In Ewing near Merrill Lynch’s new campus, a Courtyard Marriott isunder construction. West Windsor has approved a Hilton Garden, andPlainsboro has three hotels planned, including a Marriott Courtyard.Thismonth in South Brunswick a Woodbridge-based developer will resumeconstruction on a Hampton Inn, a project that had been stalled byfire.As for the city of Trenton — it has decided not to add a municipaltax because some of its funds are invested in the city’s flagshiphotel, the Marriott Conference Hotel at Lafayette Yard.Top Of PageContracts Awarded: Night VisionSensors Unlimited Inc., 3490 Route 1, Building12, Princeton 08540. Gregory H. Olsen, president. 609-520-0610; fax,609-520-0638. Home page: www.sensorsinc.comThe fiber-optic company has a nine-month $890,000 contractfrom the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to developa camera that will work under moonless night conditions with no perceptibleimage lag.The camera will be the first all-solid state night vision 640×512room temperature InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera with thislevel of sensitivity. Small, lightweight, and using low power, thecamera will be able to detect a camouflaged man at 100 meters understarlight only conditions, says Martin H. Ettenberg, director of imagingproducts.”This is the next generation in night vision imaging technology,and will enable the U.S. to continue its dominance in military imaging,says Chris Dries, vice president of R&D. “This contract underscoresthe military’s confidence in our technological innovations.”DARPA aims to provide the soldier with multispectral imaging information.It uses networking to let soldiers use what a press release calls”collaborative visualization.”Founded in 1991 by Gregory Olsen, the 45-person firm makes indiumgallium arsenide (InGaAs) PlN and avalanche photodiode arrays thatare used in shortwave and near infra-red imaging.MISTRAS Holdings Group/Physical Acoustics Corp.,195 Clarksville Road, Princeton Junction 08550. Sotirios Vahaviolospresident and CEO. 609-716-4000; fax, 609-716-0706. Home page:www.pacndt.comMistras Holdings has acquired Conam Inspection, a unit of StavelyServices North America Inc. With accredited laboratories and 750 qualitycontrol experts nationwide, Conam offers quality assurance, qualitycontrol, and training services.”I can’t think of a better fit as we begin to look ahead at theexpansion of our company worldwide,” says Sotirios Vahaviolos,president and CEO of Mistras Holdings. Founded as Physical Acoustics,his firm provides technology, equipment, and services for nondestructivetesting and predictive maintenance, including the use of acousticemission, ultrasonics, eddy current, and vibration monitoring.Top Of PageNew in TownAnalytic Stress Relieving Inc., 9A South Gold Drive,Trenton 08691. Mike Macomber, district manager. 609-588-5701; fax,609-588-5703.Analytic Stress Relieving Inc. has opened a metal heating and heattreatment for refineries facility in Trenton. Founded in 1979, corporateheadquarters are located in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company sellsequipment and provides service for clients such as PSE&G and the Pennsylvania-basedPP&L.Fidelity Investments, 3518 Route 1 North and MeadowRoad, Princeton 08540. Robert Taylor, branch manager. 609-544-4719;fax, 609-716-1821.Fidelity Investments opened its fifth office in New Jersey at theLowe’s center on Route 1 North, opposite MarketFair. “Our decisionto build a full-service Investor Center in Princeton was driven bythe demand from our large base of customers in the area,” saysRobert Taylor, branch manager of the 7,300 square foot office. Analumnus of Ramapo College, he has been with Fidelity for 10 years.Top Of PageName ChangesAxens North America, 650 College Road East, Suite1200, Princeton 08540. Armand Koskas, president and CEO. 609-243-8700;fax, 609-987-0204. Home page: www.axens.netIFP North America Inc. (IFPNA) has changed its name to Axens NorthAmerica. Axens was founded in the beginning of 2002 after the mergerof IFPNA and Procatalyse US. Headquartered in France, the companyis a petroleum research and licensing organization focusing on alternativeenergy.Top Of PageLeaving TownBusiness Management International Inc. (BMI), 1350Broadway, New York 10018. 212-643-9530; fax, 609-655-5882. Homepage: www.bmiusa.comThe E-commerce and business consulting company closed an office at2540 Route 130 in Cranbury. Calls are being taken at the New Yorkheadquarters.Gindre Copper LLC, 220 Mill Avenue, Greenwood,South Carolina 29646. 864-227-5262. Www.gindre.comGindre Copper LLC has moved from 2553 Route 130 in Cranbury to Greenwood,South Carolina, with corporate headquarters in France. The companyprovides copper products for the electrical industry, including copperbars, flat strip in coil, flat and rod wire, and copper components.Top Of PageManagement MovesNew Jersey Chamber of Commerce, 216 West StateStreet, Trenton 08608. Joan Verplanck, president. 609-989-7888; fax,609-989-9696. Www.njchamber.comAnne Evans Estabrook has been elected as the first woman chairmanfor the state chamber in its 92-year history. Estabrook, who livesin Spring Lake, owns Elberon Development Co., a family-owned realestate holding company, and is also president of David O. Evans Inc.,a property management and construction company.Top Of PageDeathsBarbara A. Harvard, 63, on July 2. She was an administrativeassistant at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland and Perretti in Trenton.W. David Duthie Jr., 60, on July 6. In 2001 he closedhis Lambertville restaurant, David’s Yellow Brook Toad, to embarkon a round-the-world sailing trip.Judy Prasch, 50, on July 12. She was an accounting assistantat the New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. on Sullivan Way.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
