More than 170 people are out of a job after Republic Steel on Route 5 in Blasdell announced it's ceasing operations indefinitely.
Employees say they were blindsided by the news and showed up to work Thursday not expecting to learn the plant was stopping production.
Grupo Simec, which acquired Republic Steel in 2005, announced Thursday it will "indefinitely idle" steelmaking operations at its mills in Blasdell and Canton, Ohio, putting 500 people out of work.
READ MORE: Republic Steel shuts down steelmaking operations in Blasdell
Lia Lando spoke with an employee who's been working in Blasdell for nearly 30 years. He did not want to be identified but said, "the amount of trucks going out the door has drastically decreased over the last year."
He continued on to say that he is still processing the news after cleaning out the locker he's had since 1996. "I've been there 28 years...it's all I've done since I was 22 years old."
He also said his grandparents use to work at Bethlehem Steel years ago and the fact that another plant is shutting down is, "not good for the area as far as jobs... that's obvious and yeah, it will be looking a little desolate in that area."
So what's next? We turned to Hamburg Town Supervisor Randy Hoak to see what hope may lie ahead.
Hoak said, "we are trying to find the silver lining here and there has been a great history of steel making on this property. Since that history is so long, there are some very serious infrastructure needs and there might be some brownfield concern. " He continued on to say a $200,000 Brownfield Opportunity grant from the state should help address some of those concerns.
Hoak said they're voting Monday to award that contract to a firm and will be, "looking at Woodlawn, Blasdell and this area around Republic Steel to see what fits, what type of new industry we can we bring to that area, what type of retail opportunities are there, and also we're looking at access to Lake Erie."
Meanwhile, more than 170 local employees are left looking for a new job including one we spoke with who says, "the majority of them guys had 20 plus years as well and we kind of grew up together. I have to figure it out and push through it."
