March 01, 2018 - 1:55 PM
MADISON, Wis. - The Latest on records released on Foxconn project (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
New records show the high stakes contest for Foxconn Technology Group's first North American manufacturing facility came down to a battle between Wisconsin and neighbouring Michigan.
Records released by Gov. Scott Walker's office shows the Taiwanese company also toured sites in Ohio before Wisconsin won out, thanks to a $3 billion state incentive package.
Jim Paetsch, vice-president of the Milwaukee 7 economic development group, says in a briefing for a May meeting with Foxconn that Wisconsin and Michigan were finalists for the project.
Other emails show Foxconn toured locations in Ohio and Michigan before choosing a site in southeast Wisconsin in between Milwaukee and Chicago. More than a dozen communities across the state initially expressed interest in the plant that could employ up to 13,000 people.
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2:30 p.m.
Newly released records from Gov. Scott Walker's administration show that Foxconn Technology Group considered sites across Ohio and Michigan for the massive display-screen complex coming to Wisconsin.
Walker on Thursday released more than 13,000 pages of emails and other documents to news outlets as requested under Wisconsin's open records law.
One email from Wisconsin's chief economic development officer sent in May is a briefing document for an upcoming meeting with leaders of the Taiwan-based company.
Mark Hogan says in the email that Foxconn toured locations in Ohio near Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. In Michigan, Hogan says they looked at Detroit, Flint and Battle Creek.
Wisconsin approved a $3 billion tax incentive package to land the Foxconn deal, which could result in a $10 billion investment and creation of 13,000 jobs.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018