The Mount Pleasant Village Board voted to approve a deal with Microsoft, allowing the company to buy more than 1,000 acres of village land to build data centers, according to The Journal Times. The deal was then approved by the Racine County Board, receiving unanimous approval Nov. 28.

The approval comes after an announcement from Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wis., that said Microsoft will invest billions of dollars in Racine County and Mount Pleasant to develop new data centers, according to a Nov. 10 press release.

Through collaboration with organizations like United Way of Racine County and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Microsoft officially announced the start of construction for their first data center in Mount Pleasant, according to Microsoft’s project overview.

There are multiple reasons why Wisconsin has recently become so attractive to big technology corporations such as Microsoft, one of which being the state’s recent designation by the Biden administration as a U.S. Regional Technology Hub. The designation was a major reason for Microsoft’s investment in the state, according to the Nov. 10 press release.

Another factor that has contributed to Microsoft’s decision to make such a large investment into Wisconsin stems from the passing of Evers’ 2023-25 biennial budget, which included new data center sales and use tax exemptions for attracting new large data centers, WEDC Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer Sam Rikkers said.

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In an email statement to The Badger Herald, UW professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Steven Deller said the aftermath of a botched 2017 investment by the big Taiwanese tech corporation Foxconn Technology Group in Wisconsin serves as a significant incentive for Microsoft to invest in the Mount Pleasant and Racine County area. 

In 2017, Foxconn announced an interest in Wisconsin to build an enormous factory that would employ over 13,000 people, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

In response to the announcement of Foxconn’s plans, government officials in Mount Pleasant, Racine County and the state of Wisconsin began preparing the area to sustain such a large investment, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Officials in Mount Pleasant and Racine County began purchasing land back from homeowners while the state legislature worked on a tax incentive contract. The contract would have given Foxconn tax credits if they succeeded in creating jobs and developing the area, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In 2018, Foxconn accepted the contract, prompting the development plan to begin. But in the following years, the capital investment dropped from $10 billion to $672.8 million. The statewide employment goal also decreased to 1,454 from the 13,000 job openings Foxconn originally claimed the factory would bring to the community, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Similar to the Foxconn project, Microsoft’s current investment to build data centers would need significant contiguous land and access to state of the art infrastructure, including access to high power lines and water cooling systems, Deller said. The original Foxconn site provides all of this.

Rikkers said Microsoft is better positioned to follow through with a development project in the area than Foxconn was. In addition to having investment commitments in the Mount Pleasant area, Microsoft has the potential to bring many benefits to Wisconsin with the data centers, Rikkers said.

“Microsoft is already committed to investing billions of dollars in the site,” Rikkers said. “With that will come really tremendous job creation. It will also draw other companies to Wisconsin when you have this type of investment from such a highly regarded tech company like Microsoft … it will be a really attractive point for our engineering and data and AI problems, data computing, educational programs in Wisconsin.”

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For one, Microsoft has committed $4.2 million to restore approximately 1.5 miles of Lamparek Creek through partnership with Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network, according to Microsoft’s project overview.

President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Racine County Alexa Haigh said that so far, United Way’s relationship with Microsoft has been positive.

“It’s not often that we have a company that is transitioning into our community that says, ‘Hey, we want to come to your organization, sit down with your staff, learn more about what you all are doing, what the needs are and how we can support you,’” Haigh said. “They’ve come to our office, they’ve toured our community schools and I know for a fact that they are doing external discussions with community at large to learn about what’s going on.” 

United Way of Racine County and Microsoft are also working together to roll out a fund that is open to non-profit organizations looking to provide access to technology to historically marginalized communities within the Racine County area, Haigh said.

The technology will be used to address a wide range of service gaps, including access to mental health services, career development resources and higher paying jobs, Haigh said.