Center Partners confirms Idaho Falls closure

Center Partners, an Idaho Falls call center, confirmed Wednesday night it will close its Idaho Falls operation.The Fort Collins, Colo.-based company said one of its clients gave notice it is consolidating vendors worldwide.

In an email, Center Partners said the Idaho Falls center would tentatively close on March 31, 2014. The company said it was working through transition issues with Center Partner employees. The company did not disclose how many employees would be affected.

Several employees with Center Partners in Idaho Falls have said layoffs could begin immediately, and will continue until March 31. Employees have said they were instructed not to share any information with the media.

Our reporter attempted to go into Center Partners on Wednesday afternoon, but was met by security in the parking lot and directed to the company’s corporate office.

Other Center Partners locations in Idaho are in Coeur d’Alene, and Hayden.

Idaho Department of Labor’s regional economist Will Jenson said if a large layoff happened locally in this industry the outlook would be generally positive for many employees.

“If individuals that are impacted in that industry are looking to stay within the industry, there’s probably going to be good job prospects for them,” said Jenson.

Jenson said a lot of skills are developed at call centers, and those skills can apply to other areas. Employees are required to maintain strict schedules and maintain professional communication with clients. He said these are great traits to have when job searching.

“That’s very marketable, especially in retail trade, or other customer service applications,” said Jenson.

He also said in the event of a large-scale layoff, sometimes the Idaho Department of Labor will apply for additional funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, so they can provide proper services to the affected people.