JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Janesville residents and city officials said that General Motors' announcement that the automaker would close its plant by December will impact every member of the community directly or indirectly.

VIDEO: Watch The Report | VIDEO: Local Residents React To Plant's Closing

City officials held a 15-minute news conference at Janesville City Hall on Monday afternoon to talk about what happens next.

Amy Loasching, Janesville's city council president and a GM worker, said that while the news of the closure isn't a surprise, the timing made her heart sick.

City officials said that the economy will play a big role in how the community weathers the closing.

"There's definitely not enough jobs, and there's definitely not enough good-paying jobs so we'll continue to look for new possibilities and new economic development opportunities to try and get them the work that they need."

Officials said that a GM task force is in talks with the company trying to bring in a line of small cars to the factory. GM officials have already said whatever these talks conclude will not have any impact on the closure, WISC-TV reported.

Meanwhile, city leader said that they're still hopeful but they'll also be re-doubling their economic effort to reach out to large employers

Acting city manager Jay Winzenz said that they hope GM will remain part of the equation.

"We haven't given up that General Motors is leaving Janesville permanently," he said. "We're still hopeful that they'll continue to be a presence here and that those affected workers who chose to stay in Janesville will continue to be General Motors' employees."

Despite those hopes, Winzenz said that the city is also in talks with employers that would call for 100 employees right now, WISC-TV reported.

Officials said that they will continue to help GM workers find other jobs.

Based on their union contract, city officials said that GM workers should get 85 percent of their pay for the next four years despite the closing.

Closing Could Affect Other Businesses

The ripple effect of this shutdown will be felt literally feet from the plant.

Richard Wolff's family has owned the Zoxx 411 bar that sits in the GM parking lot for nearly 30 years. He said that he's hopeful they'll make it, but realizes even tougher times are ahead.

"When you're so used to doing the same thing all the time, it's a family," he said. "You get grown on those people. It's like a family at a factory or any place. (You have) just been around so long that change is hard on you, hard on a lot of people."

Meanwhile, officials with the Rock County Job Center are also not giving up hope that GM could put a new product on the line.

However, they said that their focus right now is making sure that out-of-work autoworkers develop a new skill set and find a new job to keep their lives in line. The center recently received more money to help with re-training, to lift the burden of going back to the books when unemployed, WISC-TV reported.

"We're going to be getting guaranteed $1.6 million from the National Labor and Emergency grant, with the promise that could go up to $3.8 million," said Bob Borremans of the Job Center. "And we work with the Department of Workforce Development to get those funds to specifically address the auto workers."

The Job Center estimates some 4,500 GM-related jobs will be lost this year while some studies suggest the closing's effect could extend to nearly 9,000 jobs.