ISD

[imanut]

International Sign & Design Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the move could mean contraction out of Alabama.

The Largo advertising sign manufacturer filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Middle District of Florida reporting assets of up to $1 million and liabilities of up to $10 million. The catalyst for the filing had nothing to do with missed payments but instead ISD’s efforts to gain more time to pay some outstanding bills, said attorney David Jennis of Jennis & Bowen, who is representing the company.

“They have plenty of work as their major customers keep growing, but as payment terms grow longer, it has impacted their cash flow.”

ISD, which operated using 80,000 square feet of space in Largo and an additional 30,000 square feet in Monroeville, Ala., creates signage for businesses like Dairy Queen, TJ Maxx, AmeriSuites and others. ISD opened its Alabama plant in November 2005 following a difficult hurricane season and a booming demand in signs to replace damaged ones, now employing up to 50 people and under the management of company vice president Eric S. Sekeres.

Business, however, is not keeping up with capacity, and contraction could be in the cards, possibly even a closing of the Alabama plant, Jennis said.

“We’re looking at all options right now, including a consolidation of operations,” he said. “But they are committed to Largo. The Largo facility will continue to operate no matter what.”

ISD still owes Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV) $7 million in secured mortgage loans from its Alabama expansion, but ISD has remained current on those payments, Jennis said. In fact, ISD plans to be able to pay all of its existing debt and is simply looking to get more time to pay it off.

ISD’s top 20 unsecured creditors are owed more than $1.7 million, according to court filings. That includes $400,501 to Tubelite Co. Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., $230,271 to Landstar Logistics of Jacksonville, and $210,701 to T&C Metals of Fort Lauderdale.

Read more: Largo sign manufacturer ISD seeks bankruptcy protection | Tampa Bay Business Journal

[Brian]

I thought they filed in 08?

[Signsfast]

400k to tubelight!!!

[Guest Signtiffic]

Yeah... 08... this is old news.

[imanut]

Damn- you guys are right. here I thought I was doing a public service announcement - but the date on the article was 2009.

gn