Foxconn approved for $6.3 million in Wisconsin tax credits this year

From the Article:

Foxconn Technology Group is approved to collect $6.3 million in Wisconsin state tax credits for reaching 1,029 jobs and spending about $26.7 million on buildings and manufacturing equipment in 2022.

That tax credit award means Foxconn since 2019 has received a total of $43.7 million in tax credits from the state of Wisconsin, largely tied to the campus of manufacturing buildings it constructed near Interstate 94 in Mount Pleasant. The Taiwanese tech company has reported a combined $571.2 million in capital spending to date in Wisconsin, according to tax credit reports released this week by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Foxconn’s activity through 2022 is approaching the benchmarks set the prior year, when the state of Wisconsin and company struck a new incentive agreement to replace the original one from 2017. That 2017 deal included up to $2.85 billion in tax credits if Foxconn created 13,000 jobs with a $10 billion LCD screen production plant.

Foxconn canceled its plans for the LCD screen plant and is instead pursuing opportunities to manufacture data servers and other technology in Mount Pleasant under contracts with other companies. Enphase Energy Inc., for example, announced in July that it hired Foxconn to manufacture computer parts for solar power generators in Mount Pleasant.

Under its current deal with the state, Foxconn can collect up to $80 million in total tax credits if it completes $672 million in capital projects by 2026, and maintains 1,454 jobs.

Foxconn on Thursday issued a printed statement regarding its activity in Wisconsin.

"Foxconn is committed to Wisconsin and looks forward to growing with the state, county and village," the statement reads. "Today, in 2023, Foxconn has invested over $1 billion in Wisconsin and created approximately 1,000 jobs, a 42% increase over a three-year period and comprising a fifth of our workforce in the United States."

Foxconn has agreed to have Microsoft Corp. buy hundreds of acres that were prepared for development in Mount Pleasant under agreements with Foxconn. Proceeds of the public land sales to Microsoft will help cover Foxconn's obligations to the village of Mount Pleasant and Racine County.

Some highlights from Foxconn’s 2022 activities include about $53 million in wages paid, according to an analysis of the company’s records by accounting firm Deloitte LLP. Spending and job creation in 2022 were lower than Foxconn reported for the previous two years.

Much of the capital spending reported for 2022 was for manufacturing and IT equipment that would be installed in the buildings Foxconn completed in earlier years in Mount Pleasant.

The bulk of the company’s hiring and capital spending activity in 2022 was through Foxconn Industrial Internet, or Fii, a division that makes circuit boards, servers and other tech under contracts with other companies.

"Foxconn currently manufactures data servers and microinverters in Wisconsin, and the campus remains a strategic asset for the company to respond to market demand with speed and flexibility,” Foxconn said Thursday.