BUFFALO, NY – Changes May Be Coming to Bak USA, the Buffalo based tablet maker, which was one of the first to be accepted by Governor Cuomo’s Start-Up NY tax-free zone program in 2014.
In a statement to 2 on Your Side, the company confirmed that “shareholders today reached an agreement in principle for a management buyout of the company. These are all the details we are sharing at this time. We will issue a formal announcement in the future once the deal is finalized."
Bak USA finally met a promise to have 100 employees early in 2018 (two years after the original deadline set by the state) in order to operate virtually tax free under the Start Up NY program.
However, as of now, it is far short of its promise to have 267 workers employed by the end of 2019 at its facility in the former Sheehan Hospital on the outskirts of downtown Buffalo.
Bak USA cut its staff by almost 10 percent in June, and then later missed payroll for half of its employees, which it blamed on a delay in receiving a $2.1 million payment on a large order from Africa.
The largest shareholder, Former Buffalo Sabres Owner Tom Golisano, was in town today for the meeting, and told WGRZ-TV that rumors that the company is in dire financial straits and in danger of folding were not true.
The company also said as much in its statement, a portion which read: “the rumors that Bak USA is shutting its doors are patently false. Bak USA is and will continue to be in operation as a social enterprise building computers in Buffalo.”