PARSONS ? An agreement has been signed that should keep a major weapons manufacturer in business in southeast Kansas for the coming years.

Officials with the local redevelopment authority in Parsons signed the deal with Day & Zimmermann Inc. to allow the ammunition maker to keep operating after the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant is officially closed by the government.

The plant was targeted for closure by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, transferring the work to three other Army sites. Local officials have been trying to develop the property as an industrial park, with Day & Zimmermann remaining as a tenant.