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The Springfield chamber's full- and part-time employee count has been cut to 25 from 30. The chamber operates at the John Q. Hammons Enterprise Center.
SBJ file photo
The Springfield chamber's full- and part-time employee count has been cut to 25 from 30. The chamber operates at the John Q. Hammons Enterprise Center.

Chamber reduces workforce as furloughed employees return

Posted online

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is implementing a workforce reduction as some employees return from furlough.

In a statement provided to Springfield Business Journal, chamber officials said the organization's new total of full- and part-time employees will be 25, down from 30 planned in its 2020 operating budget. The chamber furloughed 12 of its 28 employees in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SBJ previously reported. For the full statement, click here.

"Our goal was to bring all or nearly all of those employees back to the chamber staff team, when circumstances permit. I am pleased to share that, by the end of July, most of those employees will have returned to work with us," chamber President Matt Morrow said in the statement. "However, as the full measure of the economic impact of pandemic mitigation efforts comes into clearer focus, it also has become evident that a reduction in the chamber's workforce is required."

The statement indicates some of the positions budgeted for 2020 will no longer exist and that remaining staff members would take on new responsibilities and roles. Chamber officials declined to say which employees and job titles were impacted by the decision.

Morrow in April told SBJ that chambers of commerce are not eligible for forgivable federal loans through the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Springfield chamber ranked No. 1 on SBJ's list last year of the area's largest chambers of commerce, published in December. The chamber reported 1,550 members and a 2019 budget of roughly $3.3 million.

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