At a town hall held by CNN in Racine, House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Foxconn will bring a “new sector” of high skilled workers and jobs to southeastern Wisconsin.
Foxconn announced their plan to open a plant in southeastern Wisconsin late July, a decision that will potentially bring in $10 billion in investment for Wisconsin.
Along with $10 billion investment, Ryan said the construction of Foxconn will bring in 10,000 jobs alone as well as 3,000 jobs for high skilled workers.
The deal is a “game changer” for the state of Wisconsin, Ryan said.
“[Foxconn] brings an entire sector to Wisconsin,” Ryan said. “It is really in [Wisconsin’s] interest to get ahead of the curve on tomorrow’s high skilled, high tech manufacturing jobs”
Ryan commended the decision because it will allow for Wisconsin to stay competitive with other states with cutting edge manufacturing, and will bring other like jobs to the state.
Wisconsin has also suffered from a “brain drain,” where young people have gotten their education in Wisconsin, but have moved elsewhere for employment, Ryan said. The Foxconn plant will allow those individuals to stay because of the opportunities for high-skilled employment.
“We want to keep our sons and our daughters, our kids and our grandkids in Wisconsin,” Ryan said. “Bringing a sector like this to Wisconsin is a long term solution to helping make sure people can stay and can have great jobs in Wisconsin.”
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While many have commended the decision to bring the plant to southeastern Wisconsin, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester and University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank, others have aired on the side of caution.
According to CNN, the Foxconn facility will break even in roughly 25 years, though the annual payout would be between $200 million and $250 million.
According to NPR, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said he’s concerned this will affect the Wisconsin tax payers because there’s uncertainty with state’s ability to “ensure a good return on investment for taxpayers.”
The package was approved by state Assembly last week and now heads to the Senate Joint Finance Committee Tuesday, according to CNN. State officials expect it to be approved and sent to Gov. Scott Walker in September.
