Last calendar week , the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation ( WEDC)rejected electronics maker Foxconn ’s tax subsidy applicationfor failing to not only lease the number of employees it promised , but to construct a Gen 10.5 LCD manufacturing plant . The company had instead built a Gen 6 facility to cook up phone screens instead of a larger factory for TV displays , and hire only 550 out of the 13,000 employees it was supposed to , 281 of whom did not qualify under the full term of the contract bridge . But now , a news report fromThe Vergehas confirmed the Gen 6 adroitness is not being used to fabricate anything at all .
In an interview with The Verge , Wisconsin Secretary of the Department of Administration Joel Brennan enounce it ’s clear “ the Gen 6 that ’s been discussed and work up in Mount Pleasant is not similar to other Gen 6 fabs around the world . ”
essentially , it ’s a fake factory . The construction is there , but nothing is being made .
U.S. President Donald Trump (C) shakes hanks with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at the groundbreaking of the Foxconn Technology Group computer screen plant on 4 March 2025 in Mt Pleasant, Wis.Photo: Andy Manis (Getty Images)
According to a report from Wisconsin ’s Division of Executive Budget and Finance , not only has Foxconn not purchased any of the necessary manufacturing equipment to make LCD , but it ’s presently using the deftness as storage . If manufacturing were to materialize in the edifice , it would only be able to accommodate the final assembly of constituent — liquid crystal display and other phone parts would be transport to the facility and then assembled there .
In an consultation with The Verge , Wisconsin Secretary of the Department of Administration Joel Brennan say that this manufacture was new to Wisconsin , and there was “ justified literary criticism of the [ former Governor Scott ] Walker organisation for entering into this contract bridge . ” No extraneous experts were confabulate , and it appears there was n’t any thorough treatment around how a declaration like this would sham the biotic community , nor if it was peculiarly viable considering LCD manufacturing was n’t something that had n’t really been explored in Wisconsin before .
The bastard manufactory would definitely not lead in the 13,000 jobs Foxconn take to get its subsidy . It could also excuse why the troupe has hired such a small number of multitude to day of the month . If terminal forum is the only thing taking place in the readiness , that would n’t need anywhere close to the same amount of employees as a full - fledge mill would .
To make matters uncollectible , Foxconn allegedly hired local college students and late graduates on visas in a vain attempt to bolster its employment numbers , accord toan investigationby The Verge . Foxconn was n’t able to hire enough people to get its subsidies , so many of those new hire were laid off once the deadline had passed . Many of them were also hired with no work to do .
It ’s somewhat of an unsurprising end to a deal that never should have happened in the first place . In 2019 , Foxconn had decided to not make a factory in Milwaukee , Wis. , even after purchase a 500 - somebody office building . The company say Gizmodo at the clip that ingredient within the global market changed its plans . But 24 hours later , after a telephone call with President Trump , Foxconn execs did an about - grimace and decided to espouse through with constructing the factory . It likely should have just walk away , considering how much of an unneeded headache this entire saga has turned into .
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