BAKER CITY — WorkSource Oregon, a state agency, is sponsoring an event May 6 in Baker City to help employees from the Safeway grocery store, which the company is closing within the next month, learn about job opportunities and social support services.

A spokesperson for the company that owns Safeway and Albertsons stores confirmed March 31 the Baker City Safeway store, which includes a pharmacy, will close “on or before” May 25.

The Albertsons store, which is across Campbell Street from Safeway, will remain open.

Company officials haven’t said anything about the potential use of the building that houses the Safeway store at 1205 Campbell St. The building is 35,862 square feet and was built in 1977.

The May 6 event for employees is known as a “rapid response resource rodeo,” said Donna Benjamin, a career specialist with Training and Employment Consortium, which is working with WorkSource Oregon on the event.

Benjamin said affected employees can attend either of two sessions on May 6, or both.

The morning session is set from 10 a.m. to noon, the afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Both will take place in the break room at the Safeway store.

According to a letter that Safeway-Albertsons sent to state and local officials, including Baker City Mayor Randy Daugherty and Shane Alderson, chairman of the Baker County Board of Commissioners, the Safeway store employs 82 people, all of whom are union members.

The majority — 47 — are all purpose clerks, according to the letter. There also are seven courtesy clerks, five pharmacy technicians, three meat cutters, two meat clerks and two “persons in charge.”

The store workforce also includes one each of the following: store director, administrative coordinator, assistant store director, baker, bakery manager, cake decorator, clerk-retail inventory control, deli manager, GM/HBC manager, grocery manager, home shopping department manager, pharmacy manager, meat manager, pharmacist, produce manager and service operations manager.

The letter from Debbie Willer, director of human resources for the company’s Portland Division, states although some employees from the Baker City store could be reassigned to other company stores, “the limited number of nearby locations may unfortunately result in separation from the company.”

According to Willer, while the store will close by May 25, some employees “may continue to work at the store to close operations for a period of time after that date.”

Benjamin said although there are job openings in other businesses in Baker City, those might not be suitable options for some of the former Safeway workers.

The goal of the May 6 event, she said, is to help employees find other jobs.

In addition to giving workers information about other jobs, Benjamin said the event will include information about how to sign up for unemployment, the Oregon Health Plan, food stamps and other services.

The idea, she said, is to make for a “softer landing” for Safeway employees who are losing their jobs.

The list of people tentatively slated to participate in the May 6 event includes representatives for both of Oregon’s U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, an official from Safeway-Albertsons, and representatives from the Grocery Outlet store in Baker City, Oregon Department of Human Services, veterans services, Blue Mountain Community College, Community Connection, Oregon AFL-CIO, and the health insurance marketplace.

More information about the event is available by calling 541-975-0503.