The Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association is pulling the plug on its downtown Coos Bay business. The business, at 180 N. Second St., is a call center that raises money for volunteer firefighter programs. The telemarketing business is slated to close the end of this month.

The Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association is getting out of the telemarketing business, which will mean fewer jobs in the Bay Area.

In May 2006, the nonprofit opened a call center in downtown Coos Bay, at the corner of Commercial Avenue and North Second Street. Employees called residents all across the state, asking for donations to fund programs provided by the firefighters organization. But within the past month, the group’s Board of Directors decided to close the facility, effective at the end of the month. As a result, about 20 to 25 employees will lose their jobs.

Steve Schneiderman, a spokesman for the association, said the public’s disdain for telemarketers as well as fraudulent use of the group’s name led to the decision.

“In the year and a half we’ve been doing this, we’ve raised good money to support the volunteer firefighters of Oregon,” he said. “At the same time, there’s always some people out there that take a good thing and exploit it.”

Examples emerged in which donations were solicited by scam artists who asked for credit card numbers or bank account information to collect donations. The association’s callers never use such tactics, Schneiderman said. Instead, they ask residents to pledge a certain amount and then send payment forms in the mail.

“We want to protect the citizens that we are already serving,” he said. “We don’t want them to be scammed by people using our good name.”

The idea of creating a call center run by the association was first broached in 2005.

Schneiderman, who was president of the organization at the time, said Coos Bay was selected for several reasons.

“We have a community college. We have a large base of people needing employment and we are in an area served by volunteer firefighters,” he said.

He said about half a dozen locations were in the running for the center, but some were eliminated because they are served by career firefighters, not volunteers.

More than 8,000 volunteer firefighters belong to Oregon fire departments. The money raised by the association helps pay for training, equipment, uniforms, insurance and further education for firefighters and their children.

“Our basic goal is to support our firefighters who support and protect their communities,” Schneiderman said.

The same commitment will be extended to the association’s call center employees, Schneiderman said. The group has contacted Southwestern Oregon Community College to arrange for former employees to receive training and direction in finding employment.

Although the association plans to close the call center at 180 N. Second St. on Dec. 31, operations will cease four days earlier, on the 27th.

Coos Bay City Councilor Jon Eck, a volunteer firefighter himself, said he will be sad to see the jobs leave the community, but the call center’s departure could have a silver lining. The city has recently been exploring ways to revitalize its downtown areas, and the property leased by the Firefighters Association could be used as retail space.

“Maybe we can do something good with (that space),” Eck said. “Only time will tell.”

For now, the Firefighters Association is exploring alternative ways to raise funding.

“We are looking at our options,” Schneiderman said. “We want a better, more efficient way to raise funds.”