PARKER, Armstrong County — As news about UFP Industries’ upcoming closure of its Parker facility circulates through the state’s smallest city, Ronak Patel finds himself wondering how the closure will impact his friends, neighbors and his own business, where UFP’s 28 employees often stop for a lunch of burgers, loaded fries or chicken Parmesan.

Business owners and residents like Patel, who operates Parker Country Market near UFP along North River Avenue, fear the potential ripple effect which will follow the closure, announced in late August, of the major area employer.

“A lot of (employees) stop by here during lunch or on breaks, and not having them be able to stop here quickly is going to hurt me,” Patel said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Patel has owned and operated the city’s sole gas station and grocer for over two years, and while he said business has been successful, he worries about a future without a chunk of his customer base.

Abby Mitch, a spokesperson for UFP Industries, confirmed Aug. 26, its facility at 116 N. River Ave. will undergo a phased closure over the span of eight weeks.

According to the company’s website, the Parker location specialized in manufacturing industrial packaging materials, including pallets, crates and prefabricated products such as aluminum decks and balconies.

She said the company is actively connecting its employees with jobs at operations across Pennsylvania — including Shippenville — and offering relocation assistance for job opportunities in the northeast region. Severance packages are also being offered.

“As the local employer in many of our communities, we recognize the hardship this places on a community,” Mitch said in a statement. “It is important to us that we protect as many of our hardworking employees as we can.”

In a place like Parker, where the estimated population sat at 642 according to the 2023 U.S. Census data, the closure of UFP and the potential loss of nearly 30 jobs and families, signals yet another potential period of economic upheaval for the region.

Once, Parker was more 30 times its current size. According to its website, the city was home to more than 20,000 during the Pennsylvania oil boom of the 1870s, but after oil prospecting moved west, it shrank down to 1,000 within a decade.

The city took a hit yet again in 1982 when Glass Containers Corp. shuttered its Parker plant, but UFP’s addition brought hope and job opportunities back to the city.

Leslie Rankin is a lifelong resident who said she is proud to have been born and raised in Parker, but having watched the city’s history, she fears for the its future.

“This will be devastating to us,” Rankin said. “We’re a small town and we don’t have a lot of opportunities here without driving. There are not enough jobs around here for everyone.”

She remembers the glass plant’s closure, saying it hurt the community.

“When the glass plant closed, so many people had problems finding work and had to move away,” Rankin said.

This included many of her high school classmates.

Now, she said she worries for UFP employees. She noted that even though they have the opportunity to transfer elsewhere, not everyone who works there has access to a car.

“I know a lot of the guys just walk down to the facility in the morning and walk back in the evening,” she said. “Not everyone has a driver’s license or a car, and now, they’ll have to somehow get to Shippenville.”

Bob Amsler, a city councilman and owner of Bob’s Place, a restaurant at the corner of Washington Street and North Wayne Avenue, also wondered what was ahead for city residents.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do,” he said. “We don’t have another big business like UFP here, so I just hope that everyone who’s able to get into Shippenville does.”

While Bob’s Place has its fair share of regulars and visitors flock to the restaurant for homemade mac and cheese, Stromboli and sweets such as raisin-filled cookies and slices of apple crumb pie, he said a portion of his customers work at the UFP facility.

Amsler said his hope is that another party shows interest in the property, helping to fill the gap in the city’s economy and bring more employment opportunities to the area.

That hope was echoed by Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea, who said the county is doing everything it can to help both Parker and UFP.

“We are aware of the situation happening and our planning department is working closely with UFP to make sure things run smoothly,” he said.

Shea added that while any discussion would be too preliminary, the county will try to avoid the plant sitting closed too long without any activity.

“It’s a great piece of land along the Allegheny River,” he said. “Once the closure is complete, we’re going to look over our options and see what we can do. I hope it’ll be reused for a commercial or even residential project soon.”

According to Darin Alviano, Armstrong County’s executive director of planning and development, the county was informed of 28 jobs affected by the closure.

Alviano said the company is working to reassign the employees, adding it is working with the state Department of Labor and Industry’s rapid response team to assist any workers displaced by the closure.

Mike Wulfert, a resident of Parker, said he worked at the facility for a majority of his career before retiring. While he said he had a positive experience during his time at UFP Industries, he said he believes the impact will be rough for the surrounding area.

“It’s not going to be good for us. I haven’t been there in seven years, but it’s our No. 1 employer,” Wulfert said.

Meanwhile, Patel at the Parker Country Market said he has no choice but to see what happens. The market has become a common spot for employees to stop for lunch, serving hot food in daily lunch specials. While Patel said the specials are very popular, the future of them is now in jeopardy.

“A lot of the workers come here and get the food, and I just don’t know. We’ll have to see how things change once the plant closes,” Patel said.