Peace Corps closing Denver office

DENVER - The Peace Corps plans to close their Denver regional office by Jan. 1.

The closure is part of a change in recruitment strategy.

In the current structure, regional offices coordinate recruiting efforts for several states. The Denver office handles Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Kansas.

Under the new plan, recruiters will be located through out the states in an effort to do more field based recruiting.

Management of the Denver region will be merged into the Dallas office.

Seven current employees are expected to be affected by the closure and will be given priority consideration for other positions within the Corps.

Some employees will not be affected by the closure due to a five-year limit on Peace Corps employment. Their tenure of employment will expire prior to Jan. 1.

The regional office in Minnesota will undergo a similar merger and will be managed out of the Chicago office.

Through the mergers, the Corps expects to save up to $1.5 million a year in rent, administrative costs and travel expenses.