When a doctor recently recommended Lloyd LaCroix's wife have an MRI scan, the couple hurried to schedule it for this week. That's because LaCroix and the about 150 other workers at the Merillat particle-board plant don't know what to expect as Friday, the anticipated date for the sale of the business, approaches.

None of the workers have been told who their new employer will be, they say, and while they've been told they will all be offered jobs, they don't know what the jobs will be, what they will pay or whether the jobs come with health insurance and other benefits.

The plant's manager is trying to keep morale high, said LaCroix, 42, also a city alderman. He has worked at Merillat 21 years, now as a floor lead, coordinating material between the floor and the shipping department. But boosting morale isn't easy.

"A lot of them are trying to keep a positive attitude, but you're getting down to the final call," he said. "There are a lot of single parents. Rent's due the first, and if you're not hired back … ."

It's been a rocky year for Merillat. As the recession slowed new home sales, dozens of employees were laid off this past winter at the plant, which makes raw particle board and laminate and also cuts them into cabinet components.

In March, the remaining workers were told the facility would close in September and that those who stayed on would receive severance packages, with a week's pay for each year of service - more than six months' pay for some. In July, they were given a closure date of Sept. 18.

But in August, officials from parent company Masco Builder Cabinet Group of Michigan said the plant would be sold and all workers would be offered jobs.

Although some workers were glad for the promise of a job, the change of plans upset many who hoped to use the severance pay and a federal education benefit to go back to school, change careers or ease an unexpectedly early retirement.

Now, with no word on a buyer, employees have started to wonder if the sale will even go through, and if so, what the future holds.

"We have absolutely no information," said Keith Bella, 46, who has worked there almost 25 years.

"Who knows if the 18th is my last day, or if I can come back to work on the 21st? I haven't been offered a job. I don't know if I have my wage; I don't know if I have my benefits."

Bella, the father of two teenagers, makes a little more than $15 an hour as a shipping lead at Merillat and said he could lean on his side jobs of cleaning air ducts and delivering newspapers for the Rapid City Journal if he is laid off. His wife was laid off from Sanmina SCI when that plant closed earlier this year and now works in maintenance at Prairie Edge.

Bella is angry that the severance was promised, then taken away.

"They sold us with the building," he said.

Machinist Paul Burdick, 64, also said he felt used and lied to. Merillat has been a good company to work for, he said, but he is disappointed with how its presence in Rapid City is ending and in how many short shifts and furlough days workers have had to take lately.

He said morale is low because no one knows what's coming.

"The people who are most affected by this are the ones who know the least," he said. "Mentally, it works on you. You lay awake sleepless so many nights trying to figure out what's best for your family before it starts to take a toll on you."

He was home last week, using up his vacation time because he didn't know whether a new owner would honor it.

The employees take pride in their work, in how they've increased their skill and efficiency over the years. The company has a "president's club," honoring those who work for a whole year with less than an hour of missed time, and the majority of workers are in it, Bella said.

"This plant has a lot to offer if the new owner has vision," Bella said. "You've got people that are really dedicated to their jobs."

LaCroix remains optimistic about the company's future and agreed that whoever buys the plant is getting a dedicated and skilled work force.

"The new company's going to come in, and I don't know exactly what they plan on building, but I'm looking forward to working for them and getting out from underneath Masco," he said.