NAPPANEE — Monaco Coach has announced it will shut down all of its manufacturing plants in Elkhart County and move operations to Oregon. News of the layoffs is another tough blow for people in Nappanee.

The city is still recovering from last fall's tornado and a budget crisis from property taxes. But people there remain hopeful the community can bounce back once again.

In the small community of Nappanee, it didn't long for news of the layoffs at Monaco Coach to spread.

"It is very shocking to hear of this because I have a family member and a lot of friends that work there, and they all are going to be devastated by this,” said Nappanee resident Dorothy Alderman.

"I just don't know what they're going to do with the economy we have today, what are they going to do to survive?” wondered Jackie Sult. “So we have to help one another."

The feeling with many in the community is that the town will pull together much in the same way it did when Nappanee was hit by a tornado last fall.

"We’ve been through a lot, but we will persevere and pull through somehow, we'll overcome it,” said Nappanee resident Lisa Beachy. “We will just try to back them up and support them however we can."

“It is a shock to us and our community,” said resident Russ Miller. “I think we'll pitch together, and so I think we'll go on from here. I don't know what will go in those big plants."

Dennis Martin at Martin Hardware is already looking for ways to help workers who are losing their jobs.

“We'd like to help out, so at Martin Hardware, if you bring in a pay stub telling us you worked at Monaco, for example, I will be happy to give you a ten percent discount, as just one small way we can help out,” he said.

Nappanee Mayor Larry Thompson is in Colorado at a conference. He told WSBT News by phone dealing with the Monaco layoffs will be the first order of business when he returns.