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TODAY'S HEADLINES

Summer Chum pulled back from brink of extinction

Hatchery chum kept much like wild ones

Former mayor struggles to live

County moves closer to Silverdale campus

Fired civilian claims retaliation

New Westpark land-use designation gets green light

An affair to die for

Club closes rifle and pistol range

• COUNTY JAIL: Construction work hours limited because of noise

• SILVERDALE: Rummage sale to benefit assault programs

• PUBLIC LANDS: Fees will be waived Saturday

• BAINBRIDGE ISLAND: Economic conference set for Saturday

• BREMERTON: Garden society celebrates first harvest

Pollution cancels S'Kallam tribe's oyster harvest this winter

Auctioneer says Kalakala bidder defaults; bidder disagrees

City won't swallow espresso tax

Governor gives emergency blood donation

Hail and glare lead to car wrecks

EPA sets deadline for study plan

Youth pastor arrested crossing border with teen in car trunk

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ROUNDUP
• EDS Leaving Poulsbo but Employees Will Stay


By Susie L. Oh, soh@kitsapsun.com
July 27, 2005

Poulsbo

EDS Corp., a Texas-based Fortune 500 technology firm, will close its Poulsbo office and distribute the 150 employees working there to other EDS offices or to client sites. In addition, some employees will work from home.


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The move is part of a company-wide effort to reduce expenses and consolidate real estate, said Maxine Levy, a spokeswoman for EDS in Plano, Texas. Management in the Poulsbo office declined to comment.

Since January, 125 people have been moved out of the Poulsbo office. More than half were relocated to client sites. Levy did not reveal the names of clients, but EDS is a Navy contractor.

The rest of the relocated individuals are working from home or were sent to other EDS locations. The company has offices in Bellevue, Federal Way, Keyport, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Vancouver, Wash.

The employees in Poulsbo are mainly skilled technologists, such as programmers.

"Our employees are accomplishing the same work as before," Levy said.

By Sept. 15 the remaining 25 employees in the office will be moved. Levy said she did not know of any layoffs at the Poulsbo location, although the company offered its Poulsbo employees early retirement options last year. EDS reported last year that it could eliminate up to 20,000 jobs by 2006 to cut costs. The company employs 118,000 people globally.

EDS rents space in an 8th Avenue building in Poulsbo Village. Part of the decision to close the office was made because the lease is up in November, Levy said.

Poulsbo Village manager Bev Lyon said the building owners are working on several leads to fill the space once EDS vacates. She expects there will be additional retail in the building to incorporate it into the retail core of Poulsbo Village. Building tenants besides EDS include Curves for Women, Kitsap Children's Clinic and the Glen Eden Institute.

Poulsbo Councilman Ed Stern said the news had a silver lining. For one, more Kitsap residents working from home is a positive trend. Stern believes the future of the Kitsap county workforce depends on the use of technology to work from home and reduce commute time.

EDS established a work-from-home policy for its employees prior to the office closure. In 2003, 23 percent of employees in Poulsbo worked from home at least once a week and of those, more than half worked at home full time.

Teleworking, as its called, also has a positive impact on traffic.

"There might be less people going to Starbucks or Quiznos, but there's going to be less people using Highway 305 by the same token," Stern said.

EDS has had a Poulsbo presence since 1984. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It had $20.7 billion in revenues in 2004.

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