Contact: Aaron Collins, 608-266-2254 or 608-512-8389
Foxconn Announces “No Factory”
MADISON – Today, Reuters reported that Foxconn will no longer be producing LCD panels at their Mount Pleasant campus. Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, told Reuters, “In Wisconsin we’re not building a factory. You can’t use a factory to view our Wisconsin investment.” It is unclear what the future of the Mount Pleasant development will now entail with Foxconn only stating that they would be focusing on engineering and research. Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement on this project scope change:
“Every step of the way Foxconn has overpromised and underdelivered. Today’s announcement is the consequence of rushed policy making and politically driven legislation. Democrats warned at the time this legislation was being debated that the project made little economic sense and that the state assumed all the risk.
“This news is devastating for the taxpayers of Wisconsin. We were promised manufacturing jobs. We were promised state of the art LCD production. We were promised a game changing economic opportunity for our state. And now, it appears Foxconn is living up to their failed track record in the U.S. – leaving another state and community high and dry.
“Desperate politicians tend to make the worst policy decisions. Scott Walker and a Republican Party in decline were so desperate to save their own political careers that they sold out the future of our state with the Foxconn deal.
“Thankfully, we now have a Governor who understands that you can’t buy sustainable economic development. Instead, he is prioritizing investment in education, infrastructure, and growing Wisconsin small businesses.”
