MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle will lead a delegation to Detroit on Friday to talk with General Motors officials about the planned closing of its Janesville plant.
The meeting is the first Doyle has had with GM officials in Detroit since the company announced it planned to close the Janesville plant by 2010.
The state is trying to work with the company to see what can be done in Janesville, said Wisconsin Department of Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny.
"We want to continue to work constructively with the company," Hozeny said. "That's why we're going over there."
Joining Doyle on the trip will be Tim Cullen, a Janesville school board member and former state senator and state Health and Human Services secretary, and Brad Dutcher, president of the local United Auto Workers union.
Doyle appointed Cullen and Dutcher to lead a community effort to keep a GM presence in Janesville after the automaker announced in June its intention to close the plant, leaving hundreds without jobs. The company blamed high gas prices for curtailing the market for SUVs, which are made in Janesville.
Cullen did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Dutcher's voice mail box at the UAW office was full and he could not immediately be reached.
Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said he couldn't comment on what specifically may be talked about at the meeting, saying the process is sensitive.
While talks with GM continue, the state is putting on hold any effort to recover millions of dollars the state gave the company for improvements at the GM plant, Hozeny with the Commerce Department said.
"We really want to focus on a constructive relationship and see what can be done," he said.