<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 |
|
|
|