GET ME REWRITE: Foxconn's groundbreaking four years later ranks as Wisconsin's #1 con job

Headline:  WTMJ, 6/28/2022

Were we duped? Or were expectations not met due to outside factors? 

“A little bit of both” according to Editor in Chief of the Milwaukee Business Journal Mark Kass. 

It was June 27th, 2022 when then President Donald Trump visited Wisconsin to speak on the potential on the facility that was to be built on land in Mount Pleasant. Land that was acquired with plenty of challenges before the groundbreaking ceremony. 

With grandiose promises of thousands of jobs and manufacturing of all sorts of tech, the Foxconn plan fell well short of expectations. However, that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t created any jobs. The facility in Mount Pleasant employs about 800-900 people according to Kass. 

6/11/2022 update starts here

 

Headline:  Latestly, 6/11/2022

6/9/2022 update, "Yeah, right!  And in Wisconsin, Foxconn planned to create Wisconn Valley, Trump's 8th wonder of the world", starts here.

And we all know how that went!

Headline:  Bloomberg, 6/8/2022

Most people think of Foxconn as the company that assembles iPhones. But it's a lot more than that. In fact the company really got started by manufacturing all of the tiny components and connectors for the PC industry around the world, long before the iPhone ever existed. Now it wants to go back to its roots, but instead of making parts for PCs, it wants to make all the key components for electric vehicles. The potential is massive, and if they get it right, it could be wildly profitable.

4/5/2022 update, " Leaving behind empty buildings throughout Wisconsin, Foxconn exec Alan Yeung looks to wing it at UW-Madison College of Engineering", starts here.

Wisconsin Public Radio, 4/4/2022

No transparency, in other words.

Alan brings invaluable experience in new business venture and technology commercialization," Ian Robertson, dean of the College of Engineering, said in the announcement. "Taking more of our world-class research to market more quickly is a top priority, and Alan’s leadership and expertise in addressing opportunities and achieving alignments make him the right person to begin this effort.” 

Citing the hiring as a personnel matter, a spokesperson for UW-Madison's College of Engineering wouldn't provide information regarding Yeung's salary, hiring date and other details

5/13/2019 update, "Another Foxconn exec wings it", starts here.  

tick...tick...tick...tick....

The Verge, 5/13/2019

Quoted in Foxconn says empty buildings in Wisconsin are not empty.  (The Verge, 4/12/2019)

At the event announcing the Madison project, Foxconn’s Alan Yeung said the innovation centers were “not empty,” which prompted laughter from the crowd. Yeung also said The Verge’s story contained “a lot of inaccuracies” and that the company would issue a correction soon. He did not say what those inaccuracies were, and Foxconn never issued a correction, nor has it responded to repeated requests to clarify Yeung’s statement.

Keeping tabs on Foxconn Place in

Eau Claire
Green Bay
Madison
Milwaukee
Racine

Original 2/23/2019 post, "Foxconn exec wings it", starts here.

'Photo' is YouTube Jing

Foxconn exec: 'We're building the airplane while we're flying'.  (Madison.com, 2/22/2019)

Yes, we know.   A disaster in the making.