NEWARK, Calif. -- The head of a White House task force came to the Fremont area Friday to help coordinate efforts to help thousands of workers who are expected to be laid off when the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. auto plant shuts down at the end of March.

Ed Montgomery, the executive director of the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, said President Obama "recognizes that auto communities such as Fremont are going through a difficult time."

Speaking to reporters at Ohlone College's Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology, where he met with NUMMI workers, local elected officials and community leaders, Montgomery said, "The president recognizes that the casualties are the workers at the auto plants, the workers in the supply chain and the community at large."

Montgomery said he will focus on ways the federal government and its partners in local government can cut through red tape to move resources quickly and efficiently to the communities hardest hit by the economic crisis and job loss in the auto industry.

He said representatives of nine different federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Commerce, accompanied him to talk to workers about issues such as job training, social services and justice services.

Joining Montgomery at the meeting, U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said NUMMI and Ohlone College already have a relationship and he's hopeful that the college can help train workers at the NUMMI plant in Fremont so they can develop skills to get new jobs.

"For workers who will lose their jobs, it's important that they get the training and networking they need," McNerney said.

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson said if NUMMI closes its door at the end of March as expected, 5,400 autoworkers will lose their jobs and another 21,000 workers at the facility's suppliers will also be affected.

"This will have a resounding impact on the local economy but we'll do our very best to weather this problem and challenge by maximizing the resources available for this community," Carson said.

NUMMI is a 25-year-old joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, but GM announced in June that it would withdraw from the partnership and Toyota announced on Aug. 27 that it won't order any vehicles from the auto plant after next March.

Toyota plans to keep making Toyota Corolla cars and Toyota Tacoma trucks at the Fremont facility until that time.

Carson said, "We want to keep the plant open as long as possible" but he said if it closes as expected county officials are "aggressively reaching out to a number of entities" to see if they would like to use the facility.

He said one group the county has met with is a group from China that currently manufactures cars.

Sergio Santos, the president of United Auto Workers Local 2244, which represents most workers at NUMMI, said, "We're going to do everything possible" to try to keep the plant operating.

Santos said the union has started a petition in which people are pledging not to buy Toyota cars and trucks if it doesn't keep the NUMMI plant open.

"We've got 15,000 signatures so far and we want to get 50,000," Santos said.

However, Greg Young, NUMMI's director of special projects, said at Friday's meeting that although the plant has been called a joint venture, without GM and Toyota, "We cannot continue the venture alone" and "NUMMI will shortly be at its end."

Young said, "We must look ahead and find the best and highest use of the property, particularly to benefit Fremont and the Bay Area new economy."