OTTAWA (CBC) - The third-largest employer in Smiths Falls, Ont., has announced plans to close its plant, putting 175 people out of work and leaving the town reeling after similar announcements by its first- and second-largest employers.

Stanley Works, an American toolmaker based in New Britain, Conn., that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, announced earlier this week that it will close its industrial tool box factory in Smiths Falls within three months.

The announcement comes at a time when the eastern Ontario town of 9,000 is trying to cope with the loss of the Rideau Regional Centre, which directly and indirectly employed more than 800 people, and the Hershey chocolate factory, which provided more than 500 jobs.

Mayor Dennis Staples said Thursday the total job toll is a "pretty significant challenge for a community of this size."

He added that he is disappointed that he found out about the plant closing through the media and not from the company itself.

Hershey announced in February 2007 that its Smiths Falls plant would be closed completely by the end of 2008. The closure of the Rideau Regional Centre, a facility for the developmentally disabled, is scheduled to be completed in 2009.

Smiths Falls is located about 75 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.

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