Woodward, Okla. — Mutual of Omaha is closing its satellite office in Woodward, for good this time.

The official announcement came Tuesday morning.

According to a notification that was issued to the Woodward employees, the insurance company "plans a permanent closing of the Woodward Customer Service Center, 3200 Oklahoma Avenue, Woodward, OK 73801 (the "Center") on or before March 30, 2012, but no sooner than February 1, 2012."

A copy of the notification was also sent to Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill along with a letter from Sheryl Abegglen, Mutual of Omaha vice-president of claims processing and customer service.

In the letter, Abegglen told Hill there would be "an estimated total of 53 affected employees."

Jennifer Whitney, corporate communications manager for Mutual of Omaha, said those employees were notified of the impending closure at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Then throughout the day, the company had "human resources people visiting with associates about severance benefits and outplacement services," Whitney said.

While Abegglen's letter said "job 'bumping' rights do not apply," Whitney told The News that the employees "do have the opportunity to post for open positions throughout the organization if they are interested in moving here to Omaha to work."

In addition, Whitney said, "potentially a couple of associates may do some telecommuting work with the home office; our HR department will work with them on that as applicable."



DECISION WON'T CHANGE

In April 2007, Mutual of Omaha made a similar closure announcement, stating plans to close the satellite office after the insurance company sold off it's employer-based group health insurance business.  

However, in Jan. 2008, the company made the decision to keep the Woodward office and transition it into a claims management center, with a certain emphasis in short-term disability claims.  However, by the time that decision was made, the center's payroll had dropped from 99 employees to approximately 60 employees.

But Whitney said the community shouldn't expect another change of heart this time.

She echoed statements made by the vice president of claims processing and customer service in a company press release concerning the closure.

"Unfortunately, due to business alignment needs and cost-effectiveness of operations, we haven't achieved the scale we had hoped for at the Woodward location," Abegglen said in the release.  "Due to these factors, as well as changing business demands, a remote location does not make business sense for Mutual of Omaha at this time."

Whitney said the Woodward center was Mutual of Omaha's only satellite office.

She also told The News that the closure will come only months before the expiration of a 5-year lease for office space in the building at 3200 Oklahoma Ave.



REACTION FROM LOCAL OFFICIALS

Woodward's mayor said he was shocked and "really disappointed" when he received news of the closure.

"We have had things in the city going so well and to lose one company with 53 employees like this, I'm very disappointed," Hill said.

However, since things are going well otherwise with the city economically, he said "I think we, as a city, can withstand this blow."

Instead, the mayor's concern was primarily for the affected employees.

"I hope it doesn't affect the families that depend on it too much," Hill said.

He said he hopes the current boom elsewhere in the city's economy will afford those who are losing their jobs at Mutual of Omaha with other opportunities.

"I know in the newspaper there have been an awful lot of job want ads.  I just hope everyone who needs a job after this can find one," he said.

Hill's comments were similar to those expressed by LaVern Phillips, president of the Woodward Industrial Foundation, which was influential in originally bringing Mutual of Omaha to Woodward in 1991.

"Naturally we were disappointed," Phillips said about his reaction to news of the closure.

And like Hill, his concern was for the individuals that will lose their jobs.  But he too shared "confidence in the Woodward economy."

"All you have to do is look in the Woodward News and see the employment opportunities there are," Phillips said.  "We have a strong economy in Woodward and Northwest Oklahoma, so there are opportunities out there."

But unlike Hill, Phillips said he was "not totally surprised" by the closure announcement.

Regardless of the previous near-closure in 2007-2008, Phillips said he has seen how "the Mutual of Omaha business model has changed over the years and their products have changed," which he understands contributed to the closure.

Also contributing, he said, is the fact that "technology has replaced a lot of work that employees had done in the past."

Despite Tuesday's sober announcement, Phillips said "on the positive side, I'm thankful we were fortunate to have Mutual of Omaha in our community for almost 21 years."

He said it is now the Woodward Industrial Foundation's "challenge to get some other company that offers back office jobs like Mutual of Omaha did to fill the void."

"We will be working to try to find someone to go into that building," Phillips said.