CRANBERRY TWP — Government officials and Westinghouse employees looking for insight into the future of the Cranberry-based company might have to wait another month to get the definitive answers they were expecting on Monday night.

At 10 p.m. Monday, when Toshiba was expected to release its third quarter earnings report for 2016, it issued a news release saying it had applied for a one-month extension from Japanese regulators, citing auditing problems and an internal investigation into a Westinghouse-led acquisition of a nuclear construction and services business from Chicago Bridge and Iron in 2015.

Toshiba’s earnings report was a highly anticipated event in Butler County because of its potential impact on more than 2,200 jobs at Westinghouse’s headquarters in Cranberry Township.

The company is the township’s largest single employer, according to data kept by the township, but has been a troubled part of Toshiba’s portfolio since its acquisition in 2006 as part of Toshiba’s foray into the U.S. nuclear sector.

Ultimately Toshiba released unaudited third quarter numbers early this morning that exceeded the worst predictions about losses at Westinghouse. The company said it expected to book a $6.3 billion write-down to Westinghouse, which will drag Toshiba’s earnings into a net loss for the year and put the company $1.7 billion in the red for 2016.

That loss led to the resignation of Toshiba’s chairman.

A write-down is when a company adjusts its financial records to reduce the value of an asset. The move often occurs when a company files its quarterly earnings report, as Toshiba was set to do today. But the company can’t simply alter its books to reflect a lower market value for Westinghouse. It has to raise enough capital on hand to offset its financial liabilities and commitments.

Toshiba also said Tuesday that it is willing to sell a majority of its lucrative flash memory business to cover the Westinghouse write-down. But what it hasn’t said is what it intends to do with its troubled U.S. nuclear arm.

That has led to concern among Westinghouse employees, government officials and economic development experts across Butler County, who are paying attention and floating worst-case scenarios.

At a meeting last week with county commissioners and members of the Butler Area and Pittsburgh North chambers of commerce, Cranberry Township manager Jerry Andree laid out in a presentation what the parties could do if Westinghouse were to ultimately leave its headquarters at Cranberry Woods business park, where the company currently occupies three buildings.

With Toshiba’s decision to delay its report, however, news of what might happen to Westinghouse has been delayed as well.

“There’s certainly a lot of uncertainty,” Andree said Tuesday morning. “It would be irresponsible for us in local government to put our heads in the sand.”

Andree said that a special working group has been formed, including Butler County commissioners, Community Development Corporation of Butler County, Seneca Valley School District, and the two chambers, to monitor the situation. The group is also tasked with preparing to market any buildings that might be vacated by Westinghouse should Toshiba decide to sell off all or part of the company, or reduce its participation in the nuclear construction business — a sector where Westinghouse has landed several multi-billion-dollar contracts in recent years.

Those involved with last week’s presentation said Friday that it wasn’t intended to be a prediction, but they felt it was important to be prepared for whatever happens regarding Westinghouse Electric Co. Westinghouse has 4,500 employees in the Pittsburgh region — about half of which work at its Cranberry Township facility.

“We are familiar with Westinghouse’s current predicament, and we are preparing like any good community should,” said county Commissioner Kevin Boozel, who confirmed he was present for the information session at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center Thursday.

Boozel stressed that neither he nor Andree, who compiled the presentation, expect the worst-case scenario to come to pass. But he wants to be prepared regardless.

“I don’t think it’ll ever get to that level, but we should be prepared to support the families and anyone affected by (Toshiba’s) decision.”

Westinghouse moved its company headquarters to the township from Monroeville starting in 2009. The process took several years to complete, and was officially finished in June of 2012.

Andree stressed that the presentation, which he said was compiled by the township and used news reports and township data, was a “what if” scenario and not a prediction.

“Nobody knows (what will happen), but the point is we want to be proactive,” Andree said Friday. “We don’t anticipate wholesale changing, but it was a way to say to everybody who was impacted by this: ‘we understand what’s going on and we’ll be prepared whatever comes down the road.’ It’s better than sitting back and putting our heads in the sand.”

According to the presentation, which is titled “Being Prepared for What Lies Ahead for Westinghouse,” and dated Feb. 9, a decision by Toshiba to sell off all are part of Westinghouse could strip as many as 2,263 jobs from Butler County.

Most of the company’s 2,263 employees live outside Butler County, according to the presentation; 605 employees live in the county, with more than half (338) living in Cranberry Township.

If the company were to leave, the presentation suggests, local stakeholders would want to establish a group focused on filling the company’s shoes, and tap partners that range from the office of Gov. Tom Wolf to the county CDC to make that happen.

The presentation also notes that the Cranberry Woods building which houses Westinghouse currently benefits from a tax abatement program that will extend for another four years — something that could be leveraged to entice prospective tenants should the building become vacant.

Cranberry Township Supervisor Bruce Mazzoni echoed Boozel’s comments regarding the presentation, and said he didn’t believe Westinghouse would be leaving the township anytime soon.

“That’s not even an issue in my opinion,” he said.