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Foxconn Confirms Plan to Build LCD Screen Plant in Mount Pleasant

FOXCONN TWITTER

It's official: the Racine County community of Mount Pleasant will be home to Foxconn's huge LCD screen manufacturing plant. 

The company made the announcement Wednesday morning.

Mount Pleasant is a community of about 26,000. It's about 25 miles south of Milwaukee and 60 miles north of Chicago.

Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave says the plant will be a "turning point" for the county.

ORIGINAL STORY (10/3/17):For weeks, observers have been predicting that Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn would build its LCD screen manufacturing plant in Racine County -- possibly near the intersection of I-94 and Highway 11. The wait will be over on Wednesday, when the company formally announces the site.

Foxconn and government officials will meet to share the news at 11:00 a.m. in Sturtevant.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says its sources confirm that the plant will be built in Mount Pleasant, just east of I-94.

Foxconn says it could invest up to $10 billion in the factory, employing 3,000 people initially. The company says over time, the plant could create up to 13,000 jobs. Gov. Scott Walker and most Republicans in the Legislature have heralded the development as "transformational" for the state, providing the much-needed jobs, and generating business among suppliers and others. Walker's team brokered a $3 billion incentives package -- along with a rollback of environmental regulations -- for the company.

Most Democratic legislators have been skeptical of the deal. They're concerned about the environmental impact of the development. They also believe the incentives package is too big, for a company that critics say might not deliver on its promises. They also question whether the jobs will go to the Wisconsin residents who need them the most.

While the Legislature approved the incentives package, it's up to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation -- Gov. Walker's job creation agency -- to approve the final contract with the company. WEDC took up the measure at its meeting last Thursday, but did not vote on it. WEDC CEO Mark Hogan said people shouldn't read anything into the fact that the agency didn't approve the contract at that meeting. He says the agency is taking "whatever time it takes to get the contract right."

Ann-Elise is WUWM's news director.
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