Company to lay off 153

By Tim Damos / News Republic

A Florida-based timeshare resort company will close three Wisconsin offices and layoff 153 workers, including 128 workers at the firm's Sauk County offices, state officials announced Tuesday.

The company, Bluegreen Corporation, manages more than 40 resorts nationwide that offer rentals and timeshares, including Bluegreen Odyssey Dells and Christmas Mountain Village in Wisconsin Dells.

It plans to close marketing facilities with addresses in Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo and Sun Prairie as of Jan. 20.

The layoffs are indicative of a national economic crisis, said Wisconsin Dells Mayor Eric Helland.

"I think it means they're not going to be building new (models) into the future," Helland said. "They'll just keep their marketing and sales base where it is."

The state's Department of Workforce Development announced the layoffs in an e-mailed notice Tuesday evening.

Workers contacted at Christmas Mountain and Odyssey said a local spokesperson was not available for comment. Phone calls to the company's corporate office were not immediately returned.

The company's third-quarter Securities and Exchange Commission filing said "staff reductions and sales office closures were part of its plan to slow its unit sales while conserving capital," the South Florida Business Journal reported Monday.

Although the DWD notice said the company intends to permanently layoff the employees, Helland said he thinks the jobs will eventually come back.

In the meantime, the DWD will send a rapid response team to the area to notify laid off workers of benefits and services available, said Dick Jones, a DWD spokesman.

Jones said services could include job search or career planning assistance.

He said this year's weekly statewide unemployment claim numbers have been running about 30 percent higher than 2007.

"It has been said the country is in the midst of a national economic crisis," Jones said. "It's impacting all states."