SILOAM SPRINGS — This Friday, October 9, is the last day the Arkansas Western Gas Company office in Siloam Springs will be open.

It has been consolidated with the AWG office in Fayetteville.

The office at 2075 E.

Main St., Suite E, will permanently close to customers at 5 p.m. Oct. 9, said Len Mize, director of corporate communications for SourceGas.

The parent company of Arkansas Western Gas will close the office to consolidate the company’s customer service center into one location, Mize said.

“We’ve taken resources and consolidated to Fayetteville,” he said.

The Fayetteville office on Millsap Road, west of North College Avenue, will become the customer service hub for SourceGas. The Lakewood, CO-based company will use the office to serve its customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska andWyoming.

The office will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Service technicians and construction workers willcontinue to work out of the Siloam Springs office.

Arkansas Western Gas Company staffed an office in Gravette starting in the mid-1950s when the firm began gas service in the area. That office closed almost 20 years ago when it combined with the Siloam Springs office.

The Siloam Springs office is the only one of the company’s in Northwest Arkansas that will close, Mize said.

The decision to close was not based on the amount of customers who use the office, he said.

“AWG continually looks for ways to operate more efficiently and control rising costs,” a company press release showed. “Therefore, we are making changes to the way we serve our customers.”

Bills can be paid using a credit card without a service fee on the Internet, Mize said. The Web site address is www.awgonline.com. Bills may also be paid by mail.

SourceGas purchased Arkansas Western Gas from Southwest Energy Co. in July 2008.

News, Pages 9 on 10/07/2009