Two years later, Foxconn plans still languish

What a difference a couple of years makes. It was November of 2017 when the largest development deal in Wisconsin history was signed. Governor Scott Walker signed the multi-billion dollar development deal with Foxconn, with the potential for the largest tax subsidy to a foreign company in American history on the table. We were told there would be a $10 billion investment by the Taiwanese manufacturer of flat screens and glass panels. We were told the huge plant would employ 13,000 people in Wisconsin. Two years later, things haven’t exactly panned out for Foxconn, or for Wisconsin. The jobs created so far are in the hundreds, not thousands. Foxconn’s plans for so-called innovation centers in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Racine and Madison have stalled. The huge manufacturing plant promised in Mt Pleasant isn’t so huge. Originally billed as a 22 million square foot plant, that has been reduced to just one million square feet. Critics of the original plan warned at the time the deal was signed that the company was unlikely to meet its projections, given the volatility of the flat screen industry, where technology changes rapidly. We were told by Governor Walker to go suck lemons. Turns out those lemons have left a sour taste in our mouths.