The announcement this week that Packaging Corp. of America plans to purchase Boise Inc. should benefit shareholders but its impact on others is less certain.

For instance, it’s not clear how the sale will affect workers employed at Boise’s mill in International Falls, already bracing for the loss of 265 employees by the end of next month.

Nor is it readily apparent whether the mill will still produce paper or be converted solely to the production of packaging materials. Any difference in the mill’s operations will reverberate across the region should the demand for wood supply or the mix of wood it uses change. The state’s timber industry, already struggling, could be facing yet another challenge to its survival.

That’s why the sooner that PCA can provide more clarity on its plans for the mill, the better it will be for both the community of International Falls and the region. It’s difficult to prepare without a road map to your destination. PCA and Boise should share as much detail as possible regarding the sale’s implications.

But one thing is certain; the key to economic survival is diversity. For decades, International Falls’ fortunes have been tied to Boise’s. During the boom years, the community prospered because Boise did and that prosperity extended to the timber industry in northern St. Louis and Koochiching counties.

In the past decade, however, Boise and the paper industry have fallen on hard times. Boise Cascade Corp. has gone through a succession of changes, divesting its timberlands and other interests. Renamed Boise Inc., the company had announced earlier this year it would shut down two of its four paper machines, reducing its work staff by nearly 300. Those job reductions are still on track, but the numbers could potentially swell as a result of the sale to PCA.

A diversified economy that doesn’t rely on a single large employer would help communities like International Falls avoid such huge swings in employment. More tourism is one option, but jobs in the hospitality industry traditionally can’t compete with the wages offered by manufacturing. And tourism jobs are typically seasonal.

There needs to be a more concerted effort to attract new industry to the region, no matter how small. Even 50 to 60 jobs that pay a good living wage can serve as a building block to a more diversified economy. Katie Clark Sieben, commissioner of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, shares that assessment. “Small businesses, which account for half of our private sector jobs in Minnesota, help drive the state’s economy,” she said.

By the same token, we need to encourage more local business investment. Those with a stake in the communities in which they operate businesses are more apt to retain and expand their operations there.

If anything, Boise’s recent history should serve as a strong warning against putting all your economic hopes in a single industry. History is constantly being written and what was fine in the past is no longer tenable in the future. The days of the one-horse town are gone and communities that aren’t able to evolve and expand their economic bases live under the shadow of becoming casualties of history.