Troubled longtime firm looking ahead.

Longtime video equipment firm Hoffman Video Systems has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Glendale-based Hoffman, which was founded in 1941, completed its reorganization last month and is now seeking to regain much of its lost market share after a tumultuous 2002.

"We feel we've been very lucky," said Rob Shepherd, Hoffman's chief executive.

Hoffman received formal court approval of its reorganization plan in February after its customers and debt holders voted to approve the reorganization.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2002 after a series of setbacks that could have forced the company to close, Shepherd said.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the company has $7.4 million in secured and unsecured debt and lost $4.8 million on revenues of $24 million during 2001.

Hoffman reported a slight profit on about $25 million in revenue for 2002 as the company went through reorganization. Shepherd estimates that revenue for the company will be about $30 million this year.

Hoffman's primary secured creditor, California Bank & Trust, is owed $3 million. As part of the agreement Hoffman reached with the bankruptcy court, California Bank & Trust will receive full repayment of the company's debt, while unsecured creditors will receive up to 50 percent of what they're owed.

Taly Walsh, a spokeswoman for the International Communications Industries Association, a trade organization based in Virginia, said Hoffman is an old and well respected member of the organization with much brand recognition.

"It's hard to see a company like that go through a difficult time," she said.

The company's bankruptcy filing came as it struggled with nearly $1 million in losses from its two-year-old Northern California office which it opened as a partnership with local vendors.

"We were in a partnership with people who didn't have a financial stake and so they just ran up huge bills and we had to close things down," Shepherd said.

At about the same time, the company's new Denver and Atlanta offices were failing to meet revenue figures as the economy began to sour.

"We thought things couldn't get worse, but they did," Shepherd said.

As Hoffman struggled with dropping revenue, it was sued by its much larger competitor, Media Consultants Systems Integrators Inc. which claimed Hoffman had stolen one of its accounts.

"We didn't know this at the time, but one of our new employees had left that company and brought with him a purchase order." Shepherd said.

Although the company agreed to settle the matter, Shepherd realized there was not enough cash left to pay for the settlement.

Also, the bankruptcy of one of its customers which owed Hoffman $1 million for a project left the company with few options.

"There was not other choice for us but to go Chapter 11," Shepherd said.

The company went from 138 employees to 60 and those left were forced to take a 10 percent pay cut as company officials met with creditors.

But as the company faced a bankruptcy court hearing, it continued to do business as it saw its market share shrink.

But some companies still valued Hoffman's work despite their troubles. Los Angeles-based Turner Construction hired Hoffman just after the bankruptcy filing to design and construct Loyola Law School's Court Room complex with digital cameras and computers to operate the equipment.

The company went on to finish a number of projects toward the end of last year, totaling about $7 million in products and services for the firm.

"We're going to be a lot more choosy when we pick a business partner," said Shepherd.