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Foxconn to spend $10 billion on new factory in Wisconsin

Foxconn, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, announced it would invest $10 billion over the next four years to build a 20 million square foot LCD panel factory complex in southeastern Wisconsin.

Wisconsin beat out Illinois and five other states that were vying for the facility.

In a ceremony at the White House Wednesday attended by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said the Taiwanese company facility would initially create 3,000 jobs for the region, with the potential to grow to 13,000 jobs when it is completed.

The specific location was not announced, with President Trump saying the site was still under negotiation,

Foxconn's investment is expected to be the largest new greenfield investment made by a foreign-based company in U.S. history, and signifies the start of a series of investments by Foxconn in American manufacturing in the coming years, Gou said.

The new facility will manufacture LCD panels which will be used in a wide range of technologies, from televisions to self-driving cars and aircraft systems and in the fields of education, entertainment, health care, advanced manufacturing systems, office automation, interactive retail, and safety.

Walker, who dubbed the project "Wisconn Valley," said the new facility would change the face of southeastern Wisconsin and create up to 10,000 construction jobs for the region, with a another 13,000 ancillary jobs created once the facility is in operation.

"We believe this will have a transformational effect on Wisconsin just as Silicon Valley transformed the San Francisco Bay Area, Walker said. "Foxconn plans to bring the future of high-tech manufacturing to America, and Wisconsin is going to lead the way."

The new facility will come at a cost to Wisconsin taxpayers, as the state will offer an incentive package of up to $3 billion.

Wisconsin and Illinois were among seven states that the Taiwan-based company had been considering for the factory, according to news reports. Some experts believe that, even through Illinois lost out on the business, the northeastern region may still benefit from the additional jobs the facility would generate.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of electronics with more than 1 million workers in factories across Europe, Asia and South America. It contracts with virtually every large technology company including Apple, Amazon, Google, Intel, Microsoft and Nintendo and made nearly $140 billion in revenues in 2015. It is best known for being a manufacturer of Apple's iPhone.

Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn said it would invest $10 billion over the next four years to build a LCD panel factory complex in southeastern Wisconsin. Associated Press photo
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