Foxconn nearing decision to invest in Wisconsin
Foxconn Technology Group will make a midweek announcement in Milwaukee that Wisconsin is the company's choice, or at least its leading choice, for a huge new electronics factory, a source told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday.
The announcement probably will not name a specific site for the Wisconsin operation, the source said. Sites in Racine County and Kenosha County have been thought to be under consideration.
A second source separately told the Journal Sentinel that Foxconn would announce its plans for Wisconsin this week, but didn't know where the announcement would be made.
At least two other reports Monday indicated that Wisconsin was close to being named a winner in the multistate competition for the plant, which could employ thousands of workers.
The Wall Street Journal said Foxconn could announce its U.S. investment plans this week and implied the company will build a factory in Wisconsin. Citing three people briefed on Foxconn's plans, the newspaper said Foxconn is looking at producing display panels for large-screen televisions in Wisconsin.
Also, WISN radio talk show host Mark Belling said an announcement that Wisconsin has been chosen by Foxconn will be made Thursday at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Belling, too, said Foxconn will not name a specific site this week.
"We don't comment on events," Amanda Peterson, the art museum's director of marketing and communications, told the Journal Sentinel. "We have private events booked every night this week."
Strictly speaking, news that Wisconsin is the frontrunner for the Foxconn plant isn't new. Other media, including the Journal Sentinel, have reported for weeks that Wisconsin is a leading candidate for factories employing thousands that Foxconn is considering building in the United States.
Monday's reports, however, were stronger in suggesting that the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer — known for assembling Apple iPhones, among many other electronic devices — has chosen Wisconsin.
The Wall Street Journal also said Foxconn is looking at the Detroit area for an additional plant. But the report named none of the other states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, that have previously been said to be in the running for the billions in investment the firm has said it is contemplating.
Foxconn officials have visited Wisconsin and other states in recent weeks to meet with top elected leaders as they mull their options.
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Last week, Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Gov. Scott Walker's administration is working on a memorandum of understanding with the company.
Fitzgerald said he discussed the possibility of the firm's coming to the state with Walker and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) last Wednesday as part of budget negotiations over rebuilding I-94 in Racine County.
Sarah Hauer of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.