Foxconn Chooses Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, As Location For First U.S. Plant

MOUNT PLEASANT, WI — Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn confirmed Wednesday that the location for its proposed $10 billion plant will be in Mount Pleasant, a suburb just west of Racine.

The announcement was made at Sturtevant's SC Johnson iMet Center before government and business officials, including Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn chief executive, Terry Gou.

The size and scope of the proposed project, as revealed Wednesday, is staggering: The roughly 20-million-square-foot plant will be located just north of County Line Road and just east of I-94 in Mount Pleasant in southern Racine County, according to local officials. That expanse is bordered by Braun Road to the north and Highway H to the east.

"This will be one of the largest manufacturing manufacturing campuses in the world," Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said. "This represents the return of electronics manufacturing to the U.S. from Asia and it establishes Wisconsin, and Racine County in particular as the electronics manufacturing capitol of North America."

Jenny Trick, executive director of the Racine County Economic Development Corporation, said that all of the land needed to build the plant has been acquired. Trick said Wednesday that an average of $50,000 per acre was paid out to local land owners for their properties.

According to the Racine County Eye, however, some landowners in the project area have expressed no interest in selling their land, some of which are century-old family farms. The report states that eminent domain is a tool that local governments have and is one Mount Pleasant will likely use.

An equally large area of land bordered by Highway 11 to the north, I-94 to the west, Braun Road to the south and Highway H to the east is slated for future Foxconn expansion.

A smaller parcel due east of the proposed Foxconn site is designated for construction staging and future development.

Trick said construction is expected to begin by spring 2018.

Next steps include the final contract between Foxconn and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

8K and 5G Technologies touted

Foxconn Technology Group is said to be the world's largest electronics manufacturing services provider, and officials say the company will invest an estimated $10 billion to build its Mount Pleasant campus. It will be the first in a series of world-class manufacturing facilities that Foxconn will be building in the U.S. to create new 8K +5G technology to meet the future needs of the latest visual display market.

"We are forming the 8K +5G ecosystem. We are inviting local partners to work with us to develop solutions in innovative learning, medical solutions and advance manufacturing solutions, in safety and security, in transportation, even including autonomous vehicles," Woo said Wednesday. "There are so many exciting devices, so many new vertical solutions, we are looking for partnerships. I think that's where the excitement is."

According to company officials, the new campus will consist of a multi-billion thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) plant, a facility to back-end package liquid crystal display modules, a skill-intensive facility focused on molding and tool-and-die processes and an end-set assembly operation to produce end-device units.

All images/video by Patch Editor Scott Anderson