He said he doesn’t see any additional sources of funding in the immediate future, but he said that can change at any time.

Paul Britton, manager of the O’Sullivan plant in Lamar, said the majority of the employees will stay on during a transition period from now through July. Some will remain until October, when the plant closes.

Britton said that in the weeks to come, he will dismiss between 5 percent and 10 percent of the 735-person work force. He said the rest should stay on for at least three months, continuing their health-care coverage, vacation pay and benefits.

“It was the best option from O’Sullivan’s standpoint,” Britton said of continuing the production schedules for three months. “It’s the lesser of two evils. We were hoping and planning to give these people as much time as possible to find another job.”

Britton said one of his employees’ biggest questions is what will happen to their pensions after the company folds. He said that when O’Sullivan was sold several years ago, the employees’ pensions were rolled into a 401(k) account that remains untouched by the company’s financial problems.

“It’s all safe,” he said. “That money is completely separate. It’s not ours, and we’ve always known that.”

Ana Compain-Romero, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social Services, said the Family Support Division is always ready to help on a day-to-day basis and during an emergency. She said people affected by the Lamar plant’s closing can go to their local Family Support Division offices to sign up for food stamps and child-care help.

“Our doors are always open,” she said. “We’re always here, so this won’t change it.”

Melissa Dunson is the business writer for The Joplin Globe.

Cash-flow crisis

O’Sullivan Industries’ decision to close came after it declared bankruptcy in 2006 and tried to restructure its debts. The company struggled for months to survive its cash-flow crisis, asking the city of Lamar to delay its utility payments and shutting down the plant for two weeks before the announcement was made Monday.