Wisconsin News

Foxconn qualifies for Wisconsin state tax breaks again

December 13, 2022 / 4:19 PM CST / AP

Report: Foxconn may not create the 13,000 jobs it promised Wisconsin

NOTE: The video above is from 2019

MILWAUKEE - Foxconn Technology Group qualified for tax breaks from the state of Wisconsin for a second year in a row in 2022 under revised contract terms that lowered benchmarks the technology company needed to meet.

The Taiwan-based company qualified for $8.6 million in tax credits based on creating 768 eligible jobs at its southeastern Wisconsin facility and making a $77.4 million capital investment by the end of 2021, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday. That's on top of nearly $30 million in tax breaks Foxconn earned in 2021.

"With hundreds of employees verified by economic development officials based on 2020 and 2021 reporting periods, the company now has over 1,000 employees working in Wisconsin," Foxconn Technology Group said in a Tuesday statement. "The company thanks Governor Tony Evers and his team for their partnership as we continue to invest in Wisconsin."

Evers revised the state's contract with Foxconn in April 2021. Under the new deal, Foxconn is expected to invest up to $672 million by the end of 2025. The original contract, entered into by former Gov. Scott Walker in 2017, envisioned a $10 billion investment by Foxconn that would employ up to 13,000.

Under that original deal, Foxconn could have qualified for nearly $4 billion in state and local tax breaks.

Foxconn has four buildings in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, which it describes as a nearly 1-million-square-foot "advanced manufacturing" facility; a 300,000-square-foot "smart manufacturing center;" a 120,000-square-foot "multipurpose building;" and a 100-foot tall "high-performance computing data center globe."

Kelly Gallaher, whose group, A Better Mount Pleasant, has been a vocal critic of Foxconn, said it remains the largest failed publicly funded economic development project in U.S. history.

"Foxconn's late summer hiring spree for public dollars will inevitably lead to new year layoffs," Gallaher said. "It's become an annual event in Mount Pleasant."