QUEENS INC. / Edgix to Close, Lay Off Most of Its 100 Workers
Edgix Corp., a provider of technology that speeds the
delivery of popular Web pages, is closing down and laying off most of its 100
employees, a person familiar the company's plans said yesterday.
The Manhattan-based company, the latest Internet company to fail, told
employees of the decision in a midday meeting on Wednesday that was also
carried by conference call to Edgix's offices in South America, Europe and
Utah, the person said on condition of anonymity.
Edgix officials didn't return calls. A spokesman with a public relations
firm that used to represent Edgix declined to comment.
Much like Kozmo.com Inc., the online delivery service that shut down last
week, Edgix executives chose to act before the company was forced into
bankruptcy, the source said, noting that workers are getting a "very generous"
severance package that might not have been possible if the remaining money was
used to keep operating.
Edgix is a provider of computer systems that an Internet service would
place at the outermost points of its network - closest to the end user and
their personal computers. The servers would be continuously updated with
popular content, such as Web pages from Yahoo or America Online, for download
by Internet users on their personal computers.
In effect, the servers acted as duplicate sources of the same Web content,
providing more firepower to deliver information quickly, rather than connecting
back to a Yahoo or AOL server every time a user clicked on a new link.
It wasn't clear when the company would cut off service for the
small-to-midsized Internet service providers that use Edgix to help run their
networks more smoothly.
Edgix tried to cut back sharply on expenses in February by laying off about
50 people, but Internet service providers were also cutting back in a bid to
weather the economic downturn that's ravaged many small Internet-related
companies. -The Associated Press
47 More Laid Off
At NY Times Digital
The New York Times Co. is cutting 47 more jobs at its Internet division,
closing the offices of Winetoday.com and Abuzz, an online information-swapping
service, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.
The cuts, which are part of a broad job reduction program that the company
announced last week, were the second to affect New York Times Digital this
year. The company cut an additional 69 jobs there in January.
The online division has also lost additional jobs through attrition,
transfers and the sale of GolfDigest.com, leaving it with about 250 employees
after the latest cuts, company spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said. The company's
annual report lists the division as having 450 employees as of the end of last
year.
The offices for Winetoday.com in Santa Rosa, Calif., will be closed and its
operations managed out of the company's offices in New York. Likewise, the
Cambridge, Mass., offices of Abuzz will be closed and those operations handled
out of Boston.com.
-The Associated Press
LaGuardia 1st in
Concessions Contest
LaGuardia Airport's central terminal won first prize in the large airport
category for food and beverage programs at the Airports Council
International-North America's fourth annual Excellence in Airport Concessions
Contest.
LaGuardia competed against airports in Philadelphia, Atlanta and other
larger North American cities.
"In repeated surveys, our customers have told us that one of our top
priorities should be providing a range of restaurants offering good food at
reasonable prices," said William R. DeCota, the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey's aviation director, in a statement.
The Port Authority chose MarketPlace Development Inc. for an $18 million
development program at LaGuardia that will create about 50 new shops and
restaurants at the central terminal.
The Port Authority won an Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine award
for limiting flights at LaGuardia during peak periods last fall. The airport
also won three first prizes in the Airport Retail News Best Airport Concessions
2001 competition.
-Katia Hetter
