Fears of a struggling economy are hitting home for almost five hundred Green Country workers who will soon be out of a job as a manufacturing plant in Pryor closes its doors.

The Labinal Aerospace Manufacturing Plant announced the move today. The plant makes up about ten percent of the workforce at the Mid-America Industrial Park -- a booming area after just having a job fair in April, now it's taking a major job hit.

At today's press conference, Labinal CEO Norm Jordan announced 485 employees will be laid off in the coming days. He says the plant is simply not making money, not because of the economy or Boeing's strike, but because of 9/11.

Jordan says the aerospace industry took a major hit then and they haven't been able to turn a real profit since.

"This decision was a business necessity," Jordan said. "But, it has nothing to do with the people we have in this plant or the location. We've enjoyed our business here and we have great relationships and I wish it would continue, but it just can't."

Sheryl Shearer is just one of the faces of Labinal's closing.

"It's just a shock, you know? It's just heartbreaking because everybody's without a job now."

That includes her son, her daughter-in-law and her husband.

"He's going to re-train to do something else," Sheryl says. "As far as my son and daughter-in-law, we don't know yet what they're going to do."

An entire family, in the same boat as almost five hundred other workers.

"That's a lot of people and it's going to hurt," says Shearer. "There's going to be a lot of people out there looking for jobs. It's almost Christmas, so there's going to be a lot of small Christmases."

"I think the timing can never be good," says Jordan. "I'm obviously concerned about the effect it has on the employees and the local community."

Sheryl says her family will bounce back, somehow.

"We're just going to pray and let the Lord lead us to where He wants us to go," she says.

The first wave of layoffs will be in about sixty days. Three more will follow until the plant closes its doors for good in April 2009.