La Crosse area businesses learn how to be part of Foxconn construction

One of the many arguments against the state’s large investment in Foxconn was the rest of Wisconsin would pay for something that only benefits the area around the plant.

But, building that plant is precisely where the impact comes, says Allen Ware, vice president of M+W Gilbane and construction manager for the project.

“We can’t just rely on what’s local because there’s not enough people there to do it,” Ware said Tuesday in La Crosse while talking with local construction related businesses to see how they could get involved.

Ware is on a statewide information tour. The presentation given to interested construction firms in La Crosse on Tuesday stated there will be 10,000 jobs needed annually for the next three years.

“People are excited to find out that they don’t have to live right next to the site to get engaged,” Ware said of the plant being built in Mount Pleasant, Wis. “You can get engaged anywhere in the state. There’s lots of opportunities.”

Ware said they’re interested in all types of businesses.

“All the way from general labor to very skilled … it’s going to be every discipline you can think of,” he said.

He’s called the response, so far, extraordinary and added there is still time for construction-related businesses to get involved.

“Nobody’s has missed anything,” he said. “The work is coming. Stay informed and let the opportunities come your way.”

Ware says they’re hoping that at least 70 percent of those involved in building Foxconn are from Wisconsin.

The first bid for groundbreaking just came in Tuesday.