Effective immediately, Associated Business Systems will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh Americas Corporation and be known as Associated Business Systems – A Ricoh Company. Craig Knouf, president of ABS will remain in his current position and have day-to-day responsibility for all sales, service and administrative operations. Additionally, Knouf will be responsible for Ricoh Business Solutions (RBS), operations in Oregon and Washington and will work to integrate these operations over the next few months. “We are very pleased to have ABS as a member of the Ricoh Group as we expand our operations in the Pacific Northwest, which has proven to be a most competitive marketplace,” said Kirk Yoshida, chairman and CEO of Ricoh Americas Corporation. “By bringing Craig Knouf into the Ricoh Group, we will have an established and successful business owner overseeing Ricoh operations. Craig has been an outstanding Ricoh dealer and is well positioned to help us grow and succeed in this market,” Yoshida added.
“I look forward to helping Ricoh continue its growth in the Pacific Northwest by offering the most advanced product line in the industry,” said Craig Knouf, president of ABS “No other company is better positioned than Ricoh to be a top performer in this marketplace. The merging of the RBS operations into ABS creates a very powerful, entrepreneurial business with tremendous resources to deliver to our customers at a local level,” Knouf added.
ABS was founded in 1997, and has 176 employees. ABS has been named to INC. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S. Additionally, ABS was named 2007 Dealer of the Year by the Business Technology Association and ABS was recently awarded Ricoh’s Chairman’s Award.
