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Tech company Foxconn eyes Racine, Kenosha Counties for new plant

Posted at 7:50 PM, Jun 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-15 20:53:27-04

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Taiwanese company that assembles Apple’s  iPhones and other electronics is considering building a plant in  Racine or Kenosha Counties that could employ thousands of people.

According to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal, Foxconn is looking at two sites in the Kenosha Area and if they were to locate in Southeast Wisconsin, most of the jobs would come to Racine or Kenosha Counties

A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the state is in talks with Foxconn. At least one other state, Michigan, is also pursuing the plant.

President Donald Trump alluded to negotiations with an unspecified company during a visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday, saying Gov. Scott Walker might get “a very happy surprise very soon.”
Walker’s  administration deferred comment to the state’s chief economic development agency. Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation spokesman  Mark Maley said the agency doesn’t comment on pending or potential opportunities.

Tom Still, President of the Wisconsin Technology Council thinks the Badger State would be a perfect fit for Foxconn.

"We have a great work force," Still said. "We have the ability to train more workers. Our higher education system in particular is really set up to provide workers who would be good in a setting like Foxconn. Wisconsin, with its proximity to Chicago, with its proximity to the Twin Cities, is a better place logistically for a company like that to operate."