JUNE 17, 2009 -- To help unemployed workers in Oakland County and neighboring areas with questions and problems they may be having with their claims for unemployment benefits, the state is opening today a temporary Problem Resolution Office (PRO) in Pontiac.
"The office is in the Phoenix Center, 51111 Woodward Avenue, in the city of Pontiac," Stephen Geskey, director of Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), announced.
The Pontiac PRO will be open weekdays from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will provide free parking to those visiting the office.
Geskey said the office will have a staff of nine and is intended to help those who may have issues with or questions about their unemployment claims. It will also have computers on hand for those wishing to file for unemployment benefits online at the agency's website (www.michigan.gov/uia).
"We are opening this temporary office in anticipation of layoffs at auto and auto supplier plants in Oakland County and among other businesses that will be affected by these layoffs," Geskey said. "And we want to have as many venues in the area as possible to help those who may soon be losing their jobs or who have already lost their jobs."
The Pontiac PRO becomes the eighth Problem Resolution Office operated by the Unemployment Insurance Agency and the third in the metropolitan Detroit area. UIA has PROs in Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Livonia, Marquette and Saginaw.
Geskey noted that visitors to these offices have increased by over 300 percent from 2008 to 2009 for the January to May period. For the five months through May 2009, some 127,000 people have visited the agency's PROs compared to 31,600 for the same period last year.
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