A meeting with state officials is in the works to see if anything can be done to save 500 jobs at Werner Co.'s Sugar Grove Township plant.

Penn-Northwest Development Corp., Mercer County's lead economic development agency, is working with state Sen. Bob Robbins, R-50th District, Salem Township, to arrange a meeting with the state Department of Community and Economic Development, said Larry Reichard, executive director of Penn-Northwest.

"We want to see if there's anything we can do, to sit down with the company and explore some issues in greater detail,'' Reichard said.

Werner announced Wednesday it's seriously considering yanking all ladder and related product lines from its local plant. The operations may be moved to other Werner plants in the United States. Talks are now under way with the United Steelworkers union, which represents more than 500 workers at the plant through Local 3713-0 to see if that can be averted. A final decision is expected by the end of the month.

Meetings were held Wednesday and future talks will be held on a regular basis between the two sides but Werner and USW officials would not give further details.

Werner said it has been investigating the move for some time because its largest customer now buys 25 percent of its ladders from Mexico, leaving 25 percent to Werner. The same customer, which the company declines to identify, has now started buying ladders manufactured in China.

Werner's aluminum extrusion operations and its headquarters at the site would not be affected, the company said.

Employing 1,050, Werner is Mercer County's second largest industrial employer, just behind Wheatland Tube Co.

On a separate front, no new meeting has been rescheduled yet with Wheatland Tube, the USW and a potential unnamed buyer of the company's Wheatland plant on Clinton Street.

A meeting among the three had been set for Wednesday but was canceled without explanation.

"We'll reschedule but I'm not sure when,'' said Tom Maykowski, unit president of USW Local 1016-07. "I asked the company (Wheatland Tube) why the meeting was canceled and they said they weren't allowed to divulge that because of confidentiality.''

Wheatland Tube declined to comment.

Local 1016-07 represents 100 production and maintenance workers at the mill which employs a total of 115. Mainly producing mechanical tubes, the 300,000-square-foot-plus plant was formerly owned by AK Steel Sawhill Tubular Division, which was part of Wheatland Tube's deal to buy all of Sawhill's plants last year.

Wheatland Tube said it tried unsuccessfully to generate profits at the plant but now must close the mill within two months unless a deal with a buyer is found. A formal 60-day notice to shutter the plant is expected to be given to workers and Wheatland within the next couple days to satisfy requirements of the federal plant-closing law.