The new chief executive of a Kodak spinoff company is in town this week, and Ralf Gerbershagen sees some good growth prospects for the business.
Gerbershagen, a former executive with Motorola Mobility, is the CEO of Kodak Alaris , which was spun off last year when Kodak came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Kodak Alaris is owned by a UK based pension fund for Kodak, and Gerbershagen says that fund has a long term commitment to owning the Alaris business. Kodak Alaris includes personalized imaging, which involves the photo kiosk business, and document imaging, which is the scanner business.
In an interview with WXXI News Gerbershagen , who has only been CEO for about a week, says it’s too early to say if the current employment level of about 700 staffers in Kodak will get larger, but he does place a lot of importance on the Rochester operations.
“A strong focus on go- to-market, see which areas we are strong, where we can expand. I would say Rochester provides the lifeline into our business at the moment , is a strong support (for the company), and will remain as is.“
Despite declining film sales in an increasing digital world, Gerbershagen says the kiosk business is going strong, with 110,000 Kodak kiosks, and he also points to Alaris’ recent new iPad app, “Kodak Moments HD App,” which connects a users digital picture archive with the Kodak kiosks. He also says Alaris is developing document management software for medium and large-sized businesses.
Gerbershagen also had good things to say about the Rochester workforce after his initial meetings here, and says that’s one of the things that attracted him to the job. He currently lives in the UK and he will continue to be based there.
