PLEASANT RIDGE – As yet another sign of a deepening recession nationwide, interactive promotions agency ePrize earlier this month laid off about 20 people from across the company to be “proactive and keep our costs down,” CEO Josh Linkner said in an interview Tuesday.

Linkner declined to say how much money the company would save, nor what specific departments were affected. He called it cost trimming across the company.

“This is not a result of problems at ePrize,” he said. “We’re seeing some softness from some clients. We wanted to make sure we’re well disciplined with this uncertainty in the economy. We feel bad for those families of laid off employees, but we need to make sure we’re acting responsibly for the company.”

Linkner said severance packages were provided for the departing workers. Even after the layoffs, ePrize employs what he said was “mid 300s,” primarily at a former brewery converted into an office in Pleasant Ridge, near Royal Oak. Other ePrize offices are in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and London.

In an interview last month, Linkner said ePrize employed 350 people. Tuesday he said the company’s overall operations remained intact.

The company experienced 31 percent sales growth in 2008, but only expects to generate a 20 percent sales increase in 2009, Linkner said. This year gross sales will range from $65 million to $70 million, he said.

Some of the client softness comes from former banking clients that have gone away through consolidation, he said. ePrize also has seen some softness among retail, travel and entertainment clients. Consumer packaged products, such as Coca Cola, remain strong. ePrize does very little Internet promotional work with the Detroit 3 automakers, who are seeking billions of dollars in federal aid.

ePrize got a $35 million investment from Quicken Loans co founder Dan Gilbert in 2005. Gilbert also owns the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, the Cleveland Cavaliers National Basketball Association team and other properties. Earlier Gilbert declined an interview with MITechNews.Com saying he would not speak with Michigan news organizations at this time.

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