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When Agrium USA closed its fertilizer plant in Nikiski last year, it spelled an end to more than 160 long-term jobs and incomes that were an important part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's economy.

Prior to the company's decision to close the plant, a result of unreliable gas supply and high prices, earlier layoffs already had reduced the workforce from a high of about 235.

Layoffs began in earnest during the fall of 2007, and were conducted in stages through much of last year. In response, the state Department of Labor opened the Agrium Transition Center in December 2007 to offer assistance to company employees as they searched for new jobs.

Through that program some 67 percent of the 163 workers laid off so far have found new jobs, said Shawna Harper, coordinator of the state's Rapid Response Program. According to Harper, about 20 percent were or are being trained for new occupations. Job search assistance was provided for the majority of the workers and 52 percent received financial help to cover assorted costs of looking for new work, such as transportation.

Lisa Parker, spokeswoman for Agrium, said the Transition Center had been "a valuable asset" to employees who already have left, as well as some of those still working at the shutdown plant.

The Transition Center stays in contact with the former Agrium workers, providing a steady stream of email updates and networking opportunities. Quarterly peer newsletters are sent to each former employee's home containing job-market information that is helpful to those still out of work and those who may be seeking jobs closer to their former Agrium pay scales, Harper said.

"Even though 67 percent of the work force has been hired into new occupations, only 42 percent have replaced at least 80 percent of their Agrium wages," she said. "Many of the workers who have not obtained at least 80 percent of their former wages continue to rely on the transitions center for assistance in finding more lucrative job prospects."

Parker acknowledged that a third of the former employees had yet to find jobs.

The closure of the plant has had an impact on the local economy in several ways, including on the personal level.

"One of the more unsettling statistics is that after the closure of Agrium, 23 families moved from the Kenai area in order to secure other work," Harper said.

Tax revenue fell. In late 2007, the plant had an assessed valued around $49 million. Subject to a 12-mill tax levy, it generated about $588,000, according to Shane Horan, borough tax assessor. Today, figuring in not only the plant, but also some Agrium-owned land and taxable personal property, the total taxable value is only about $19 million and is subject to a smaller 11-mill tax rate.

"That only brings in about $209,000," he said.

Though the plant is now cold, there is at least a hint of heat on the distant horizon. Parker said Agrium continues to discuss future access to gas with Enstar Natural Gas, which is pushing a bullet-line project to bring gas to Southcentral Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula. Under the right circumstances, Agrium might decide to reopen the plant if the potential for gas is there in the next five to seven years, she said. It all depends on the gas price and pipeline shipping fees, she said.

"It has to be competitive to break even or make money," Parker said. "At this time, it's not there as to the gas or pipeline costs."

Agrium is not talking with Cook Inlet producers at this time. For seven years, the company attempted to reach price deals with producers in an effort to make affordable gas available, and even explored joint-venture drilling projects, Parker said. No such deals were struck. The company eyed a coal-gasification project called Blue Sky, but eventually walked away from that, too, when the bottom line didn't pencil out.

The transitions center is currently scheduled to close May 31. Center staffers will spend the month of June assisting the remaining workers in the smooth transition to the Department of Labor's Career Support and Training Office located next door.

"The goal," Harper said, "(is) no one falls through the cracks."