McDONALD — The McDonald Steel plant on Ohio Avenue will shut down by year’s end, putting nearly 100 employees out of work.

Ralph “Sam” Cook, secretary / treasurer and principal officer for Teamsters Local 377, said company officials called a meeting Tuesday and employees were told the mill would be shuttered in September or October, and the warehouse would be closed at the end of the year. He said approximately 70 steelworkers and 20 office workers will lose their jobs with the closure.

Cook said company officials said orders for existing customers will be fulfilled but its regular customers were told to start looking for another company for future needs.

McDonald Steel Corp. was founded in 1981 by a group of local investors who saw opportunity in the recently shuttered McDonald Works of U.S. Steel. Over the past 42 years, the management and employees of McDonald Steel have expanded its product offerings to more than 500 symmetrical and asymmetrical hot-rolled shapes. These shapes are used in the production of bridge decking and expansion joints, wheels for both on- and off-road applications, automotive door hinges, spigot sections and a number of applications in the rail and rail car industry, according to its website.

The mill was built in the early 1920s and company officials said $60 million would be needed to upgrade it and the company already was losing money, Cook said.

“The union has a lot of questions for the company and hopefully they can answer them,” he said. “We have had some slow periods over the years where we have had to cut production, but this announcement was a surprise to everyone today.”

Cook said the union plans to call U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, to see if any federal grants are available to revitalize the plant and help save it. However, he said that is unlikely because illegal steel dumping by China has not been an issue for several years.

“If we can’t save the plant, the union will negotiate for a good severance and health care package for the workers who will lose their jobs,” Cook said.

He said some of the workers are of retirement age, but younger employees had hoped to make their careers at McDonald Steel.

McDonald Mayor Marty Puckett said news of the closure came as a shock.

“It is really sad. The company has been a staple in the community since its inception, and the village has always been identified with it,” Puckett said. “This seems to be happening more and more with these manufacturing jobs going somewhere else. It is sad to see one of the last steel mills in the area close.”