Wisconsin governor heads to DC as Trump prepares for Foxconn plant announcement

MADISON, Wis. — Foxconn Technology Group will announce at the White House on Wednesday its plans to bring jobs to Wisconsin.

The deal will "bring jobs and billions of dollars in investments to our country," according to a White House spokesman.

Joining President Trump at the event will be Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, state Senate President Roger Roth, and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

Foxconn's plant is expected to be located in Racine County or Kenosha County, which are both in Ryan's district, south of Milwaukee.

Plans to bring the manufacturer of iPhones and flat-panel TV screens to Wisconsin will cost $1 billion to $3 billion in local, state, and federal incentives over coming years, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday.

Bloomberg Politics reported on Wednesday the Wisconsin facility would initially employ about 3,000 people.

The move comes as Trump has promised to bring manufacturing jobs that have been lost in recent decades back to the United States.

Trump is to make the announcement alongside Wisconsin officials Wednesday afternoon. Walker highlighted the plan on Twitter, calling it a "major jobs announcement."

A follow-up event will be held Thursday at the Milwaukee Art Museum, according to sources.

Foxconn chairman and CEO Terry Gou will be in Milwaukee Thursday for meetings related to the company's Wisconsin plans but may not appear at the event planned at the Milwaukee Art Museum, a source said.

Foxconn is huge. In China, its manufacturing base, the company employs some 700,000 people. The firm's revenue last year totaled about $135 billion. That's roughly equivalent to Amazon.com Inc., which ranked 12th on the Fortune 500 list.

An incentive package that reaches into the billions would be unlike anything Wisconsin has offered in the past and would require approval from state lawmakers. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican, has said he hoped to get bipartisan support for the package.

Fitzgerald did not provide details on the terms of the package, but sources said it would likely top $1 billion and could close in on $3 billion.

Company officials have talked about a massive investment in the United States that would create thousands of jobs. They have visited Wisconsin and other states in recent weeks as they consider their options.

Reeling in the company would take big bucks. One source said Wisconsin's offer would come in at $1 billion. Three others said it would be closer to $3 billion. A fifth source said the deal at one point was expected to be worth $3 billion but had come down since then.

Two of those citing the $3 billion price tag said the package would be paid over 15 years.

If the deal cost $1 billion and the company created 10,000 jobs, the government would spend $100,000 per job. And a $3 billion deal with that many jobs would cost $300,000 per job.

Steve Deller, a professor of agriculture and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said a $3 billion deal over 15 years is likely "too pricey in terms of potential economic benefit back to the state."

"Throwing money into incentive makes a slippery slope," he said. "(People) get so wrapped up in the winning game, in the headline of 'we got it' that they lose sight in a pretty steep price. Hard to say because we don't know what the package looks like."

Supporters say such an investment would be worthwhile because Foxconn would also draw numerous suppliers that would create their own jobs and energize Wisconsin's economy.

It was unclear how the funding for the deal would be spread among the state, federal and local governments. Incentives take many different forms and can include cash outlays, infrastructure investments, loans or tax breaks.

Also unknown is how many jobs Foxconn would deliver with its plant and how much workers would be paid. Those will be crucial issues as lawmakers consider whether to sign off on any incentive package.

Bringing the company to Wisconsin would be a win for Walker and Ryan. It would also be a victory for Trump, who was the first Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan to win Wisconsin.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff writer Lillian Price contributed to this article.