The $2.85 billion in tax credits offered to Foxconn Technology Group is nearly 25 times more than the total incentives offered to the next 49 largest projects the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. supported this year.
The agency released a list of its 25 largest projects, measured by projected cost, on Thursday and also provided reporters with a spreadsheet detailing the top 50 deals. Not surprisingly, Foxconn’s plan to invest $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs topped the list. The state’s incentive package also includes a $150 million sales tax exemption on the construction of Foxconn’s campus, bringing the total to $3 billion.
The remaining 49 projects in the top 50 are eligible for roughly $114.2 million in incentives, primarily through tax credits, although three projects are receiving loans. Those remaining projects have a combined projected cost of $1.7 billion, would create 4,502 jobs and support the retention of 10,737 additional jobs.
“Each of these companies plays a significant role in continuing to grow the state’s economy by creating family-supporting jobs and investing in Wisconsin,” said Mark R. Hogan, WEDC secretary and chief executive officer. “2017 was a successful year for WEDC as we assisted more than 300 businesses and communities as part of our mission to advance and maximize opportunities to help them thrive in a globally competitive environment.”
The state is offering those 49 projects $25,371 for each new job and $7,495 for each new or retained job while leveraging almost $15 in investment for each incentive dollar. The Foxconn project, meanwhile, receives $219,231 per job and a leverage of $3.52 per dollar of incentive without including the sales tax holiday.
Beyond Foxconn, the largest projects supported by WEDC included Kwik Trip’s $309 million expansion plan in La Crosse and Haribo’s $220 million production facility in Pleasant Prairie.
Twenty of the 50 largest projects were in southeastern Wisconsin. Milwaukee County had five of the projects (Baptista’s Bakery, Steele Solutions, Grover Corp., Krones Inc., and U-Line), followed by Racine (Foxconn, Grand Appliance, LDV, and Fischer USA) with four. Kenosha (Haribo, Gold Standard Baking, and Prestige Metal Products), Sheboygan (MilliporeSigma, Masters Gallery Foods and Johnsonville Sausage) and Waukesha (Metal-Era, Sussex Tool & Supply and First Choice Ingredients) each had three projects while there was one in Walworth (Wisconsin Oven Corp.) and none in Ozaukee.
