ST. MARYS, Pa. (WTAJ)– The closure of an Elk County light bulb plant will have an effect on employees and the St. Marys community.

LEDVANCE LLC announced Tuesday it would close it’s St. Marys plant. The plant has a more than 100 years history in the area.

“We will be missing them and we hope that we can work with state officials, county officials, to figure out what the next steps are,” City of St. Marys Mayor Lou Radkowski said.

Around 175 employees will be affected by the closure.

The team at Workforce Solutions is prepared to help the employees in any way they can.

“We’re on top of it,” director of strategic planning Pam Streich said. “The PA Careerlink will have, through us, resources for retraining for these individuals if they’re interested. Additional resources, job opportunities.”

St. Marys Area Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Mahoney said other manufacturers in the area are in need of workers right now to fill open jobs.

“I’m hoping with our large number of jobs that need to be filled, our larger industrial sectors will be able to be able to fill that gap for those affected employees,” Mahoney said.

Officials from the plant say they made the decision to close because the market for traditional light bulbs has declined, and the switch to led bulbs means less replacement bulbs are purchased.

Production will be completely phased out by October.

The company will also provide help to employees through the transition.