Evers Says Foxconn Won’t Meet Jobs Goals

Design for Foxconn’s campus. Photo from the WEDC.

Gov. Tony Evers predicts Foxconn will continue to fall short of hiring goals at its Mount Pleasant manufacturing facility.

In an interview that aired Tuesday with CNBC, Evers said his administration now has clarity on the project. Foxconn will likely hire 1,500 people next year. That’s compared to 1,800 under the plan the company laid out, which would eventually hire up to 13,000 workers in the state, Evers said.

“You know for Wisconsin, 1,500 employees is important,” Evers told CNBC. “We’re looking forward to working with them. It is more concrete. In fact, I saw them pouring concrete.”

Evers spoke to CNBC in Madison on June 27, one week after visiting the Foxconn construction site in Racine County. Foxconn is currently pouring the foundation for an approximately 1 million-square-foot Gen. 6 fabrication facility in Mount Pleasant. A company official said it will be operational by the end of 2020.

The Evers administration did not respond to a request for an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio. Foxconn spokespeople did not immediately respond to an interview request either.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Gov. Tony Evers said Foxconn is expected to begin production at its new factory next year with fewer workers than initially promised. https://t.co/vBB1xtbOCT pic.twitter.com/YyE3W3Ofsc

— CNBC (@CNBC) July 9, 2019

The Taiwanese company fell short of its employment goal in 2018, hiring 178 full-time workers instead of the targeted 260. As a result, it failed to earn a tax credit of up to $9.5 million.

In November 2017, the village of Mount Pleasant and Racine County created a tax-increment district to pay for a $764 million investment to support the Foxconn project. The investment has since been increased to $911 million.

The costs are expected to be recouped over 30 years with funding and property tax revenue from Foxconn.

The $911 million is on top of the $3 billion incentives package approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by Walker.

Evers told CNBC transparency is important, as is making sure local municipalities remain involved.

Evers said employees will make covers for tablets and iPhones and there will also be space for research and development inside the facility.

Foxconn originally promised a 20-million-square foot facility where very large television screens would be built.

Evers said the process which Wisconsin approved the massive incentives package without knowing exactly what Foxconn would be doing was not what he would have preferred.

“It would have been better to think through exactly what it was going to be ahead of time,” Evers said. “It became part of the campaign. You know, (President) Donald Trump coming in and saying it was going to be the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World,’ it set us up for us having too much push and pull on the project.”

Listen to the WPR report here.

Gov. Tony Evers Tells CNBC Foxconn Won’t Meet Future Jobs Goals was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.