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Foxconn (from 13) Today, the once long faces of members
of the Wisconsin Economic Development
a portion of Highway I-94 from six to Corp. and Mount Pleasant village officials
eight lanes in anticipation of the increased have changed to wide smiles.
traffic generated by Foxconn workers.
After receiving a barrage of invective for
giving away so much of the taxpayers’
According to a March 2023 story in the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Foxconn’s money for so little in return, another tech
investment, earlier pegged at $10 billion, giant has come to the rescue.
has been reduced to about $672 million.
Look for the Silver Lining
But it’s not all gloom and doom for Mount This new savior is big, much bigger than
Pleasant. Despite not a single LCD panel Foxconn, and it’s based in the U.S. — none
having ever been produced there, Foxconn other than Microsoft.
has become the largest tax payer, disbur-
sing millions in property taxes to Mount In March 2023,
Pleasant and Racine County. the Washing-
ton state-based
The MJS reports that many of the software king
hundreds of property owners were in- said it planned to
censed with the land grab by the village. invest billions in a
Even before the Foxconn deal was official, data center cam-
however, some large property owners sold pus on the very
their acreage and became millionaires. same site where
A new opportunity Foxconn never
made LCD panels. President Joe Biden during a press
While Foxconn’s plans to produce panel event in Mount Pleasant in 2024.
displays fell by the wayside, the COVID-19
pandemic opened another opportunity for At a May 8, 2024 press conference that
the Asian company in 2020, when It began featured Pres. Joe Biden; Gov. Evers; and
to make respirators in partnership with the assorted village politicians, Microsoft said
international medical electronics company it was prepared to invest $3.3 billion in
Medtronics. Mount Pleasant between now and the end
of 2026.
In 2020, Foxconn also contracted with
Sharp to make ASTM Level 1 procedure The bitterness over Foxconn’s failed pro-
masks, and reportedly produced 100,000. mises to bring high tech to the small vil-
lage is unlikely ever to be forgotten. Many
In 2021, Foxconn announced that it would of the politicians that pursued Foxconn
buy start-up EV truck maker Lordstown have been voted out of office, have retired
Motors for $260 million in Lordstown, or — like Ryan — have changed careers.
Ohio.
In 2017, when the big Foxconn announ-
This joint venture, which was finalized in cement captured the hearts and minds of
May 2022, became part of Hon Hai’s EV the local residents, few locals knew Fox-
business which includes several EV car conn. But everyone in this tiny hamlet
lines. that owns a Windows computer knows
that Microsoft will keep its promises.
