"We've been standing around all day, just waiting," says 22-year Von Weise veteran Val Anderson through tears. "Today they'll announce it. We're done."

Anderson describes it as a pit in the bottom of her stomach: reading a letter delivered to all 212 Von Weise employees at their homes Monday, confirming their worst fears.

"It basically said yesterday they were gonna start laying people off if they didn't sell the company in two weeks, we were gonna be done," she says.

The WARN notice says it's unknown if operations at any of the manufacturer's three Eaton Rapids facilities will continue and layoffs may start this week.

But Von Weise management, speaking through Representative Mike Simpson, confirms the cuts have already begun.

"There are jobs terminations happening today," Simpson, of Liberty Township, says. "We're not sure how many people being let go."

This is a drastic turnaround for the company. It was just in April the company announced, along with the Governor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, they'd be taking advantage of tax incentives and bringing hundreds of jobs to Michigan. Those jobs now won't be coming.

The Governor in April had highlighted a $1.1 million tax credit for Von Weise; now, with that not happening, Mayor Jamie Davidson feels blindsided.

"Now it's all going the other way," he says. "This was a complete surprise."

Surprise or not, it hurts just the same.

"We're a big supplier for GM. It's been the trickle effect. It took a while, but it finally got us," says Anderson.

The Governor's office didn't comment except to say they would be disappointed if the company does in fact close down. Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Governor Granholm, says the state does not pay companies tax incentives until they bring jobs to the state. However, Simpson says his office and Jim Epolito with the MEDC will be looking into whether or not Von Weise took any tax incentive money before bringing jobs here, as a pre-incentive, because if they did, the state will have to recover all those funds.

The company has not filed for Chapter 11 or bankruptcy, though that option still remains.