By KEN ROSS

kross@repub.com

HOLYOKE – A center in the city that helps deaf people statewide communicate on the phone will close in June, resulting in the elimination of 62 jobs.

“These kinds of things don’t help the local economy,” Mayor Michael J. Sullivan said yesterday. “It’s a sign of the times. The economy continues to shrink.”

Communication Services for the Deaf plans to “permanently close its entire relay office” at 489 Whitney Ave. on June 30, according to a letter sent to Sullivan dated Monday from the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company.

The company was contracted by the state to provide telecommunications relay service statewide for deaf people, according to Rick Norris, the company’s communications director.

The service allows deaf people to communicate on the phone by typing text and having it read aloud by someone from the company to another person.

The company’s contract with the state expires on June 30 and the contract was not renewed, Norris said. He added he did not know which company will take over providing the service in Massachusetts on July 1.

Communication Services for the Deaf has been operating in the Holyoke office since April 1, 2004, when it took over an existing contract another company had with the state to provide the federally mandated phone relay service for deaf people, Norris said.

Employees at the Holyoke office earned a starting salary of $8.25 per hour, Norris said. The average salary for the 62 workers there was approximately $10 per hour.

The center is one of the 11 nationwide operated by the company, Norris said. In general, the Holyoke office provides relay services mainly for state residents. But Norris said the office can handle overflow calls from other states.

The job losses are the latest in a string of recent local business closings or layoffs in recent months. In March, MassMututal laid off 30 workers from its retirement services division….