Infinite Tech team eyes buyback

MINEOLA - The co-founders of Infinite Technology Group, one of the fastest growing companies on Long Island before it imploded in May, are leading a bid to buy the firm's assets out of bankruptcy.

President James McGowan, Chairman Mark Dresner and Chief Financial Officer Barry Hintze are seeking

Infinite Technology, a provider of tech consulting and computer services and a seller of hardware and software, filed for Chapter 11 protection May 10 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York.

The effort to rebuild comes two years after ITG scrapped plans to go public following meteoric growth. It marks a comeback attempt by executives who in 1994 created what became one of Long Island's most high-profile, privatelyowned high-tech firms.

A hearing to consider the proposal to buy the assets is set for Oct. 15. The executives are represented by Pryor & Mandelup, a Westbury law firm.

"We put an offer in. There's no guarantee we're going to win it," said McGowan, who with Dresner founded ITG a decade ago. "It'd be a different company. We'd provide a higher level of service in a boutique way as opposed to trying to grow quickly. We'll be much more closely managed."

Peter Goldsmith, president of the Long Island Technology Network in Great River, said the firm had grown and then been hit by a series of difficulties.

"They were fast moving. They got caught up with what happened with 9/11 and the economy," Goldsmith said, "Jim is a real leader. When he gave you a tour of the place, he understood every facet of it. The people who worked for him were motivated. They got caught up in the times."

The company has downsized considerably to about 30 employees in one Mineola building from more than 130 in Newark, Manhattan and four buildings in Mineola. But it has continued to operate with a stable of clients such as The Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank and German bank IntesaBci.

"We've been successful in retaining the clients" said McGowan, who noted ITG's ability to help companies immediately after Sept. 11 helped it keep them on board. "We're looking to come out of this as a new company, retaining the name Infinite Technology Group."

ITG, which grew to 130 employees and $80 million revenues in its heyday in the 1990s, repeatedly made the Inc. 500 list published by Inc. magazine. It rocketed from the 105th position to the top 10 between 1995 and 1996. It also earned a reputation on Long Island, where it was named to Deloitte & Touche's Fast 50 list.

McGowan and Dresner, along with ITB 'executive vice president Andrew Arlo, snagged the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur for of the Year Award in 1999 for software and information systems.

The company was very close to its initial public offering in August 2000 and had even filed documents saying it planned to raise $20 million. But ITG scrapped the offering after spending $1.5 million to prepare for it.

"When that didn't happen, we had to look at reorganizing the company," McGowan said. "The timing wasn't that good. We withdrew the deal."

When the economy went south, companies cut back on their tech orders, ending ITG's growth spurt. The Sept. 11 attacks actually produced a one-month spike in ITG's business, McGowan said.

In the first three days after the attack on the World Trade Center, 27 ITG employees delivered 1,400 desktop systems to The Bank of New York, which set up temporary offices in Pleasantville, N.Y.

"One of the successes the company had was in getting their money clearance systems going after Sept. 11," McGowan said.

ITG also helped other companies, including Sun Microsystems and FatWire, who had lost the use of their offices in the attack.

But after a strong September, ITG's sales virtually evaporated.

"Every company stopped buying," McGowan said. "The only thing that kept us going was our services business. It was like a Domino effect. The marketplace shut down for four or five months."

The firm, which had $40 million revenues and 70 staffers in 2001, started as a partner of Sun Microsystems, Compaq and some others, selling hardware and software. ITG then expanded into consulting, offering services designed to diversify and expand.

"The biggest thing that directed us to move in that direction was a reliance on one company," McGowan said last November. "You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. You really need to develop your own products."