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Reports: Foxconn Likely To Announce Wisconsin Deal This Week

Specifics Of State Economic Incentives Remain Unclear

Kin Cheung/AP Photo

Multiple reports say global electronics giant Foxconn will announce this week that it’s choosing Wisconsin for a plant that would make display panels.

Foxconn will probably not announce a location for the plant, which would employ thousands of people, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WISN Radio. Racine and Kenosha counties are reported to be the leading candidates.

WISN talk show host Mark Belling said Monday an announcement is set for Thursday at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The Taiwanese tech giant has been meeting with officials in several states.

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State lawmakers have said the Walker administration is working on a memorandum of understanding that could give Foxconn millions of dollars in incentives for locating in Wisconsin.

So far, very little has been said publicly about what tax breaks, subsidies, free land and other financial incentives or promises Gov. Scott Walker and state economic development officials may be offering.

The prospect is raising some concerns among analysts and some members of the state Legislature.

Steve Deller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of agriculture and applied economics, said Tuesday he hopes “cooler heads prevail when putting these incentive packages together.”

He said sometimes states lose sight of the costs of incentives in the race to land major manufacturers.