Wisconsin Economic Development CEO Won’t Share What She Wants in Revised Foxconn Deal

It’s premature for Wisconsin to discuss how it would renegotiate the 2017 contract for Foxconn to build an LCD fab, said Melissa Hughes, CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., Tuesday on the WisconsinEye public affairs network. The state agreed to pay Foxconn up to $2.86 billion in cash credits to build a Gen 10.5 fab on a 32 million-square-foot campus in Mount Pleasant if the company met specific construction and labor milestones, including hiring up to 13,000 workers at a $54,000 average wage (see 1708040056). The “deal that was struck” under former Gov. Scott Walker (R) “is no longer in play” after Foxconn significantly downsized the project, Gov. Tony Evers (D) told reporters in April (see 1904190038). Hughes hasn’t visited Mount Pleasant since taking the WEDC post two months ago but hopes to meet with Foxconn leaders at the site in the next few weeks, she said. “It would be disingenuous to express anything I think I know or might know until I have a chance to sit down with them and meet them face to face,” she said. She wants to ask Foxconn officials if “they’re satisfied with the state’s performance” under the contract, she said. “The state’s been doing a tremendous amount of work” on the project especially at the local level, she said. “Foxconn being successful is really important. The state being successful is really important. How do we make sure that we find that path toward success for both?”