JULY 2008: AROUND THE STATE

HP pulls out of chamber


 CORVALLIS  While the much-discussed 400-job-cut rumor at Hewlett-Packard’s campus in Corvallis never materialized this spring, the company made another, if just as revealing, cut: It withdrew from the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition.

The loss will not be devastating to the chamber. HP represented about 3% of membership dues; the chamber may have to eliminate a staff position. The company’s withdrawal follows several years of dwindling support for community projects by the HP as workforce levels dropped from 6,000 in the mid 1990s to about 2,500 today.

Several years ago, HP dropped out of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce; its Vancouver campus is currently up for sale.



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