McNeilus Steel has laid off workers at plants in Riceville, Dodge Center and Dexter as the sluggish economy continues to hit.

Mr Ann Stawski spokesman of McNeilus said that "We were asking questions and boss says well do not worry about it don't worry about it everything will be fine. That was probably, we all got called in our break room and pretty much told us pack up your personal stuff we are shutting down."

Mr Stawski said that "We are faced with never before seen market conditions and to meet those challenges we need to manage the business and unfortunately as part of that we did need to close the Dexter facility."

He said that since June 2008, the company has cut nearly 15% of more than 15,000 employees. He added that "We do hope that we can see a turnaround with the recession unfortunately we do not know the full effect or the duration."

Meanwhile, whether the company will re open the plant is up to the economy and right now that's a big unknown.

(Sourced from www.abc6.com)