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Thread: Bak USA shuts down operations immediately

  1. #1
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Bak USA shuts down operations immediately

    Bak USA shuts down operations immediately

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - Bak USA, a tablet maker seen as one of Buffalo's biggest success stories in recent years, has abruptly shut down operations, putting 77 people out of work.Employees were notified of the decision today.
    "It is with great sadness that I announce today that Bak USA will close its doors," Bak USA Chairman J.P. Bak said in a statement. "My family started this business nearly fours years ago with a gold vision: to empower American students and workers by producing computers in the United States. Through the innovation and hard work of our talented team, we achieved more than we dreamed. Regrettably, the economic pressures on our young company have become too great to withstand."
    https://www.wkbw.com/news/bak-usa-sh...ns-immediately


    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8X...2W7x7Fx51hQVqw










    Bak USA Breaks Ground in Buffalo, New York - Bak USA


  2. #2
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s 2015 Year in Review Address (Segment) - Bak USA


  3. #3
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Introducing Bak USA and Our Product Workshop - Bak USA



    Seal Rugged Tablet "Infomercial" - Bak USA


  4. #4
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    How much aid did they get from Zemsky, Hoyt and Empire State Development. I bet a couple million would’ve gone a long way. But wait, why help a Buffalo business when you can give 3/4 of a billion to a whack job pillhead from another state who happens to be a major Dem contributor and you can let your other campaign contributors siphon a few million off the top for themselves.

  5. #5
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    So this business wasn't operating in Buffalo before they were handed financing from us tax payers?

    Bak USA Breaks Ground in Buffalo, New York - Bak USA





    So they weren't operating here originally? The state invested in this and brought them to Buffalo? Or did the state only give them tax free status?



    Who did they compete with to get this contract?

    That’s because Bak USA has been awarded a General Services Administration (GSA) contract, which means that our Atlas 2-in-1 laptop and our rugged tablet, the Seal, are listed in an online purchase library that the U.S. government and local, state, and tribal governments across the country can use to purchase technology.
    https://www.bakusa.com/news/bak-usa-gsa-contract/

    In Erie County, New York, the Board of Elections uses the Seal and 4G LTE to securely transmit election results in real-time. The county’s Department of Health equips field workers with the Seal, which they use when treating patients to create a care plan that links other county departments as part of a grant-funded initiative to fight the opioid epidemic.
    What other tablets did the county review against the BAK units?




    $30M

    https://www.crunchbase.com/organizat...ction-overview

    So after generated sales, tax free status they fold up in about 3 years they still burnt through $30M.

    $10 million a year to employ about 77 people in the end. I wonder what the average employment was over the 3 years by quarter.


    Organization Name
    Funding Type
    Money Raised
    Announced Date

    1.
    Venture Round - Bak USA
    Bak USA
    Venture - Series Unknown
    $16,000,000
    Aug 16, 2016

    2.
    Venture Round - Bak USA
    Bak USA
    Venture - Series Unknown
    $10,000,000
    Sep 18, 2017

    3.
    Venture Round - Bak USA
    Bak USA
    Venture - Series Unknown
    $4,000,000
    Jul 14, 2015



    Would that be money from the state or all private sector investment?

    https://www.crunchbase.com/search/fu...g_total/bakusa

  6. #6
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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  7. #7
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I think I'm going to attend this auction.

    epilog laser fusion engraver

    Don't know the exact model but this is cool



  8. #8
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Shuttered Bak USA owes $25.5 million to Tom Golisano, its largest investor


    Bak USA, the tablet maker that abruptly closed in November, owes more than $39 million to its creditors – including $25.5 million to billionaire investor and former Sabres' owner B. Thomas Golisano.

    The company's recent filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation shows Bak USA has $39.4 million in debts and just $147,000 in assets.

    https://buffalonews.com/2019/04/11/s...box=1555002960




    Bak USA opened with fanfare in January 2015 with the vision of manufacturing low-cost tablet and laptop computers in the United States. Founded by J.P. and Ulla Bak, it billed itself as a social enterprise and often hired technicians from Buffalo's refugee community.
    That doesn't seem to be the way to run a company.

    "It is obviously a catastrophic outcome for a business that bucked the industry trend to offshore manufacturing of electronics, sold over 40,000 devices worldwide and trained over 130 people, many of whom had never worked in the tech industry before," Christian Bak said in an email.
    That doesn't seem to be the way to run a company.

    Bak USA reported generating $6.76 million in revenue in 2017 and $6.8 million last year. But, as with many startups, Bak relied on raising capital to fund operations and expand.
    I really don't know much of anything but net profit seems to be a little more important than revenue.

  9. #9
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    Well, if you bill yourself as a social enterprise you’re bound to fail as a business. I’m sure all the “refugees” they trained simply flocked to the other high tech companies flourishing in western New York...you know, the unnamed ones we’re always reading about in the shoe shine rag that are revitalizing our local economy...still the 3rd poorest city in the United States. My only question is what in hell was Galisano thinking?!

  10. #10
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Former tablet maker BAK USA has more than $39 million in unpaid bills

    Bak USA shuts down operations immediately

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Now-defunct tablet manufacturer Bak USA is in serious financial trouble.

    A review of the company's March 29 Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing shows that the company only has $147,430 in assets, but owes nearly $39.5 million to various creditors, including former employees, legal and accounting firms, and Rochester billionaire and former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano.

    Bak USA abruptly shutdown operations at its Michigan Avenue headquarters in November, laying off all 77 employees. At the time, company leaders cited Trump-era tariffs as the reason for the company's peril, saying "the economic pressures on the young company had become too great to withstand."
    https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news...P83SCKjKtF6bBQ

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