PORTAGE (WKZO-AM/FM) — State Farm will be closing its Portage claims office, consolidating their work force and moving the jobs to Bloomington, Illinois, Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix.
Over 600 people work at the office, handling phone calls and claims from customers all over the region.
The Portage Road facility is just one of eleven nationwide that will be closing over the next several years. Local positions will begin to be transferred out in 2018 and the facility will close at some time in 2019.
The company says it is making the announcement now to give employees time to make professional and personal decisions.
State Farm’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer Mary Schmidt says their decision was made to better serve their customers by “gaining efficiency through streamlining and improving processes, leveraging technology, and concentrating employees in larger locations”.
Both Rep. Brandt Iden, R-Oshtemo, and Sen. Margaret O’Brien, R-Portage, have issued statements, urging the company to reconsider their decision and keep the operation in Portage open.
As for the local workers O’Brien says, “their lives and their families’ lives are changing, and my heart goes out to them.”
