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<No.708>
Hopes, Fears in $10 Billion Wisconsin Foxconn Deal
When Gonzalo Perez bought the Castlewood Restaurant

in Sturtevant, Wisconsin

last December,

it was one of the few outposts

among these corn and soybean fields

where farmers could go out to eat.


It could become much more than that

for Perez.


"It’s my lottery ticket."


That’s because one of the largest economic development projects

in the United States

is moving in

right next door.


Taiwanese company Foxconn plans

to build a massive flat screen manufacturing and technology facility

in Mount Pleasant,

employing thousands of workers

when completed.


The site is only a few kilometers away

from Perez’s restaurant,

and he hopes

it does not take too long

to start cashing in.


"I hope I get a lot of business

from construction people

in the beginning."


"As they build this facility,

they are going to require 10,000 construction employees,

plus another 6,000 indirect employees.


When this ecosystem is up and running

in the state of Wisconsin,

it will be 13,000 additional employees to the state,

and another upwards of 20,000 indirect or induced jobs."


Mark Hogan heads the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation,

which helped attract Foxconn to the state.


"We passed special legislation,

which really created a pathway

for the company to be successful

in the state.


And that had to do with environmental regulations.


It had to do with incentives."


The package offered to Foxconn includes approximately $3 billion

in tax incentives,

if the Taiwanese company invests $10 billion

in its facility.


Those incentives have drawn fire.


Economics professor Steven Deller says

one of his primary concerns

as a taxpayer

is the potential

for the state to actually owe money

to Foxconn.


"There is the Wisconsin Agricultural and Manufacturing Tax Credit.


The way

that the taxpayers may be on the hook

for paying some money

is that, if Foxconn is not paying any taxes,

and they have a tax credit,

that means that the state is now paying Foxconn."


But for Gonzalo Perez,

who came to the United States from Mexico

30 years ago,

his biggest concern is not the tax incentives -

he is looking at the potential increase

in the number of his customers.


He may not have to wait long

to see an uptick in business.


Groundbreaking on the new facility is planned for next year,

and as many as 1,000 Foxconn employees could be working

in the state

later in 2018.


Kane Farabaugh, VOA News, Racine, Wisconsin
 

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