Publisher announces layoff

Multnomah Publishers eliminated 24 positions in a layoff announced to staff on Thursday, April 3.

According to a press release from company President Don Jacobson, the layoff was "the result of a decision to restructure and re-focus the firm's business."

"We took this decision very seriously and made it after examining all aspects of how we needed to structure the company for the future," Jacobson stated.

According to Senior Vice President Kyle Cummings, "The elimination of 24 positions leaves us 103 employees or open positions."

The restructure affects 22 positions in Central Oregon and two outside positions.

"We needed to examine how we are doing business in light of our company's mission and goals," said Jacobson.

"By focusing on fewer projects each year, we can concentrate our efforts on publishing books that better match our mission of being good stewards of life-changing content," he said.

According to Jacobson, Multnomah is still anticipating profitable growth in 2003, but at a slower pace.

The Christian publishing house earlier this year put on hold plans for building a campus on approximately 30 acres at the north end of Sisters.

According to Cummings, "the job eliminations by themselves do not necessarily impact our building plans.

"Certainly however current economics have forced a continued delay in moving forward with building a campus," he said.