picture-7Less than a week after its parent company announced pay cuts and a salary freeze for upper earners, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal is laying off staff. Last Wednesday, Ray Shaw, chairman of American City Business Journals, told employees via an internal memo that the national chain of 40 business papers would be cutting pay by five percent pay for employees making more than $35,000 a year and freezing existing salaries.

Editor Dirk DeYoung at the Twin Cities paper would not or confirm or deny the layoffs, but only said, “I’m not supposed to comment.” Publisher Tammy Mencel has not yet returned my call for comment, but David Brauer at MinnPost reports that copy editor Jenny Woods and marketing assistant Michael Rand have been let go, adding that still has some open positions, including for a web reporter slot and a sales staffer.