Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou signed off on a $3 billion contract for the Taiwanese company to build a massive display screen factory in southeast Wisconsin.
Walker and Gou signed a contract Friday that locks the state into providing up to $3 billion in tax incentives if Foxconn invests $10 billion on a new display screen manufacturing factory and campus near Racine. The Taiwanese company would also have to hire 13,000 workers to get the full benefit.
The ceremonial signing event at S.C. Johnson in Racine was much more than just speakers at a podium, rather a show and tell of what’s to come in Mount Pleasant.
Gou showed a crowd of Wisconsin lawmakers, business leaders and Foxconn representatives a first look at what the massive manufacturing plant will look like. Foxconn representatives said it will be up to 32 million square feet, the size of 15 Lambeau Fields.
“We are working on something very exciting and very new that no one has ever done before,” Gou said.
Gou said the plant will be home to first of its kind technology, specifically 8K screen displays using 5G network internet speeds. Gou said the products will change lives far more than just entertainment purposes, starting with security thanks to crystal clear images.
“We can identify threats, find a child at an amusement park,” said a Foxconn representative.
Foxconn believes this technology will also revolutionize the future of healthcare through safer, faster and more cost effective surgeries.
“We are going to take the world over in terms of technology,” Walker said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan hopes the potential of 13,000 jobs at the plant is just the start of a ripple effect in southeastern Wisconsin.
“We can be the midwest Silicon Valley,“ Ryan said.
