JANESVILLE, Wis. -- The news is setting in for General Motors workers in Rock County a day after the company announced it will close the Janesville assembly plant by 2010 or sooner.

VIDEO: Watch The Report | TALKBACK: What Do You Think?

But on Wednesday, area leaders said there will be a Rock County rebound after the GM plant closure.

Local officials said that most people often only hear about the status of companies in difficult times. They also said that in recent years, business in Rock County has grown outside the auto industry.

They said they hope that growth will help lessen the affect of GM's loss.

"Economic development, and the competition for new development projects, is a competition," said Doug Venable, economic development director for the city of Janesville.

Venable and other local economic officials have spent years preparing for life after General Motors.

Rebounding from the projected loss of thousands of jobs will be difficult, but progress from other businesses during the past 20 years might help.

The council has approved more than 40 tax increment finance agreements with companies that have created somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 million square feet of new industrial space. Venable said that today those companies employ more than 5,000 workers.

During the past four years alone, more than 30 industrial projects have helped expand Rock County's economy.

Among the latest is an expansion at Kerry Americas in Beloit, which will create 250 new jobs.

Officials said that other projects have started at home.

"Companies start in someone's garage, grow into a slightly smaller place; the ideas develop; it morphs. They add on, make investments and then you end up with a Lab Safety Supply, a Hufcor Corporation, a print corporation, a Freedom Plastics," said John Beckord, president of Forward Janesville.

Local companies will continue to grow, but officials said area will need to attract new business to continue economic growth.

Access to interstate, rail and air transportation will help present Rock County as a place to do business. Officials said they hope a proven workforce will draw business as well.

"Labor is huge component. The ability to document and demonstrate that you have available, qualified, shift-oriented and manufacturing-based employment is critical," said James Otterstein, economic development manger for Rock County. "It isn't the phantom labor that's going to commute in from three states over."

Officials said that it is unlikely that Janesville will ever see another employer the size of GM during its prime, especially since the manufacturing industry has changed. In the future, they said they expect a larger group of businesses carrying the economy.