 By 1900 , the lumber industry had declined , and the city 's economic base rested on other industries , including a furniture factory , a paper mill , a fire brick plant , and a silk mill . In 1938 , the Piper Aircraft Corporation , maker of the Piper Cub and other light aircraft , moved its production plant to Lock Haven . It remained one of the city 's biggest employers until the 1980s , when , after major flood damage and losses related to Hurricane Agnes in 1972 , it moved to Florida . The loss of Piper Aircraft contributed to an unemployment rate of more than 20 % in Lock Haven in the early 1980s , though the rate had declined to about 9 % by 2000 . Another large plant , the paper mill that had operated since the 1880s in Castanea Township , closed in 2001 . By 2005 , 32 % of the city 's labor force was employed in health care , education , or social services , 16 % in manufacturing , 14 % in retail trade , 13 % in arts , entertainment , recreation , accommodation , and food services , and smaller fractions in other sectors . The city 's biggest employers , Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and Lock Haven Hospital , are among the seven biggest employers in Clinton County . 
