The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is undergoing a financial transformation to secure its future.
Under a plan announced Thursday, Mitchell Reiss, president of the foundation, said it would outsource some of its operations and lay off 71 employees.
In an open letter posted on the foundation’s social media sites, foundation Reiss said, “to be able to continue to tell our story requires us to be financially stable and, sadly, that stability is threatened unless we take decisive action.”
The plan announced Thursday includes outsourcing its golf operations, retail stores, most of the maintenance and facilities operations and commercial real estate management. After what he describes as “tough negotiations,” the vendors have agreed to hire each Colonial Williamsburg employee for at least a year. Employees will receive severance whether or not they agree to take the job with the new employers.
