“Five Caterpillar administrators drove to Steele County on Thursday to tell 100 employees the bad news that they will be without jobs when Caterpillar’s Owatonna plant closes on March 1, 2013.

“Caterpillar spokesperson Rachel Potts said the forest products plant in Owatonna will ‘ramp down production’ between now and March 1. She also said that eventually all forest products made in Owatonna will transition to other Caterpillar forestry plants in Prentice, Wis., and LaGrange, Ga.” reports Owatonna People’s Press.