Vegas loses more tech jobs

Kevin Ferguson

Monday, June 18, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

PurchasePro, an ailing Las Vegas-based software firm, said this morning it plans to lay off another 200-plus employees, bringing its headcount to below 300. The company fired 103 employees in May.

Also, Shawn McGhee, PurchasePro's president for the past few months, announced his resignation to accept a job elsewhere, the company said in a statement. His last day is scheduled for June 30. A PurchasePro spokesman declined to elaborate on McGhee's resignation.

The company said this is part of "sweeping and significant" changes to PurchasePro's strategy, senior management and employee base.

"Our most immediate task, with our vision and strategy in place, is clear: The rebuilding of PurchasePro's credibility and with it, the company's financial stability," said Richard Clemmer, PurchasePro's newly-appointed chief executive.

PurchasePro -- the largest and most visible Las Vegas technology company -- develops marketplaces that allow business to buy and sell products on the Internet.

Clemmer, a former chief financial officer of Quantum Corp, came on board last month as CFO, but was elevated to CEO shortly after PurchasePro's founder Charles "Junior" Johnson quit in late May.

Johnson departed with a cloud of accounting problems hovering over the four-year-old company he founded. The company badly missed first quarter earning estimates, and the company has been forced twice to revise its earnings downward.

Clemmer said the company plans to issue second quarter earnings guidance in a conference call Tuesday.

PurchasePro's shares were down 8 cents in late morning trading today at $1.44. That's significantly down from its 52-week high of $47.75 reached on Sept. 29.

Earlier this month, Allen Winder, 44, was named chief operating officer, filling a position that was then held by McGhee. Winder joined the company in March as senior vice president of sales.