Wisconsin Contractor, Beneficiary of Taxpayer Help, Moving Jobs to Mexico

A Wisconsin company which has been the recipient of American taxpayer-funded grants and loans to help it survive defense department cutbacks has announced plans to build a new plant in Mexico.  Oshkosh Corp earlier this year announced nearly 800 layoffs in order to deal with cutbacks from record levels of defense spending.  Shortly after, the public-private Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation helped the company get a grant of over 800 thousand dollars to help it deal with the cutbacks and then low interest loans of up to a quarter million dollars apiece for the company’s suppliers.  Oshkosh plans to build a $100 million manufacturing plant in Leon, Mexico that will employ about 1,000 people.