CHICAGO — The Polish American Congress announced Friday it will close its office in Jefferson Park, and move all of its operations to Washington, D.C.
“We are adjusting to a changing economic and technological landscape that poses new challenges, but also offers new opportunities to continue carrying out our mission, ” Polish American Congress President Frank Spula said in a statement.
One person who worked part-time at the office handling adminstrative matters for the national organization has been laid off, said Susanne Lotarski, the group's vice president for public relations.
The office of the Illinois Division of the Polish American Congress will remain open in the same building at 5711 N. Milwaukee Ave. to serve Chicago-area Poles, Lotarski said.
"Thanks to email and teleconferences, it doesn't matter where people are anymore," Lotarski said.
The group was founded in 1944 during World War II to demonstrate the commitment of Polish-Americans to the U.S. war effort against Germany and Japan.
Chicago boasts the highest concentration of Poles outside Warsaw, according to the Census Bureau’s 2008-10 American Community Survey. New York has the largest number of Polish immigrants, the census found.
