Scotsman Media Group to close printing operations, eliminating 90 jobs

SYRACUSE — The Scotsman Press, Inc., which does business as Scotsman Media Group, today announced plans to close its printing operations in Syracuse and Chenango Bridge on July 3.

The closure means the layoff of about 90 employees, the firm said in a news release.

The decision will not affect The Valley News, which the company publishes in Fulton. Scotsman didn’t say how many people work for that publication.

Shuttering Scotsman’s printing operations is “not a reflection of the ability or skills of the company’s leadership or employees,” William Veit, company president, said in the news release. “The result is due to unforeseen business circumstances beyond the company’s control.”

Veit’s attempt to acquire the business or obtain additional financing was “ultimately unsuccessful,” according to the Scotsman release.

The Business Journal News Network interviewed Veit on Jan. 20 when the firm announced he had plans to acquire the Scotsman Media Group.

Badoud Enterprises, Inc., the Virginia–based owner of the Scotsman Press, on Dec. 17 signed an agreement to sell the company’s assets to Veit.

Neither side disclosed financial details of the transaction, which was expected to close on March 31, Veit said during the interview.

The owner, John Badoud, Jr., who has owned the Scotsman Press since 1989, wanted to retire, Veit added in the same interview.

The Syracuse headquarters of the Scotsman Press operates in a 65,000-square-foot space at 750 W. Genesee St. in a building that Badoud Enterprises owns.

The firm’s operations in Chenango Bridge, which is called Our Press, operates in a 10,000-square-foot office at 41 Kattelville Rd.

Incorporated in 1954, Scotsman most recently served hundreds of publishers by providing commercial-printing services throughout Central New York.

The customers include the Business Journal News Network. The Scotsman Press prints The Central New York Business Journal, The Mohawk Valley Business Journal, and The Greater Binghamton Business Journal.

As a publisher, Scotsman produced Today’s CNY Woman, Finger Lakes Vacationer, and the $ In Your Pocket coupon book, and built its business around its former Pennysaver products.

In 2013, Scotsman closed the Pennysaver business, cutting about 60 jobs. The Pennysavers included 16 different publications that covered communities stretching from Fulton to Cortland and Geneva to Fayetteville and Manlius. The papers reached 210,000 homes.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com