Foxconn announces Eau Claire expansion, but La Crosse Sen. Shilling still critical

It’s a simple lesson for those places in Wisconsin looking to get in on a possible Foxconn bonanza.

Just show some interest.

Apparently, that worked for Eau Claire, the soon to be home of a lab and innovation center as the giant, Taiwanese manufacturer is buying space downtown in a deal announced this week.

It’s not insignificant, says Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce president David Minor.

“When we look at economic development, we look at new infrastructure coming into the community,” Minor said. “To be able to be part of the Foxconn deal, to be able to be part of the expansion that they want to bring to the state is just exciting news that we haven’t seen in the last year.”

Minor added that the Eau Claire experience shows even small cities can get a piece of the Foxconn pie if they make the right pitch.

“I would be on the phone to my legislatures, to the governor’s office, to the Foxconn people, to simply ask, ‘What can we do? What can we do to bring in a similar situation to our community?'” Minor advised.

A Monday announcement said the company would buy a building and office space in another in downtown Eau Claire and create 150 jobs.

“It’s truly a momentous day for us,” Minor said. “It just adds to the excitement of what they’re going to bring to this state.”

The news wasn’t welcoming for everyone.

While Foxconn’s economic impact spreads around Wisconsin, one political foe continued to criticize the deal that brought the company to the state.

La Crosse state senator Jennifer Shilling, the senate’s minority leader, released a statement Monday, shortly after the news about Eau Claire.

Shilling characterizes the news as a mere diversion for Gov. Scott Walker

“Gov. Walker has increasingly highlighted his tax breaks for corporations in recent months to distract from his record of stagnant wages, an economy that ranks dead last for start-up companies and a trade war that is threatening thousands of Wisconsin jobs,” part of Schilling’s statement read.

The Foxconn expansion in Eau Claire follows the groundbreaking last month of a $10 billion plant for the company in Racine county.

Foxconn also has purchased a building in Milwaukee and has announced an expansion into Green Bay, as well.

Here is Shilling’s entire statement:

EAU CLAIRE, WI – While Gov. Walker continues to tout his multi-billion-dollar state tax giveaway for Foxconn, the foreign mega-corporation has quietly rolled back its plans for a high-tech manufacturing plant. Having originally promised a massive cutting-edge Gen 10.5 factory near Racine, Foxconn is now focusing on a much smaller Gen 6 facility and a handful of smaller satellite sites around the state. Despite the scaled-back plans, the public cost of this project has increased from an original estimate of $3 billion to over $4.5 billion.

“The cost to taxpayers has already increased 50 percent in the few short months since Foxconn was announced,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). “While Gov. Walker celebrates yet another taxpayer-funded subsidy for Foxconn, our local schools continue to struggle, our roads are falling apart and we’re seeing an unprecedented spike in farm bankruptcies.”

Foxconn has become the largest state taxpayer giveaway to a foreign corporation in U.S. history. Gov. Walker has increasingly highlighted his tax breaks for corporations in recent months to distract from his record of stagnant wages, an economy that ranks dead last for start-up companies and a trade war that is threatening thousands of Wisconsin jobs. Farmers and small businesses in western Wisconsin are being hit especially hard by the Foxconn tax giveaways as Republicans divert nearly $100 million in state funding away from local roads in order to accelerate Foxconn related projects in southeast Wisconsin.

Numerous media outlets have highlighted a pattern of Foxconn’s broken promises on economic development. The Washington Post detailed a series of “splashy jobs announcements” from Foxconn that promised thousands of jobs and billions in investments that never materialized in Pennsylvania, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Brazil.