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Taiwan's No. 1 Billionaire, Wisconsin's Scott Walker Now Need To Deliver On $10B Project

This article is more than 6 years old.

Let me lay my biases on the table: I went to grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, met my wife there, love cheddar, and still have many warm memories of the Union terrace along Lake Mendota, my professors, and the “badger state” even though I now live in China and haven’t been back in a long while.

And so I, too, have been smiling this week at the images of political and business leaders in Washington and Wisconsin announcing news that Foxconn Technology Group,  led Taiwan’s Terry Gou, plans to invest $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs in the Midwestern state.  President Trump on Wednesday called Gou “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the world,” and in terms of wealth that is particularly true – he was worth $9.5 billion on the 2017 Forbes Taiwan Rich List published last month.

His rags-to-riches fortune comes from Hon Hai Precision – better known as by its trade name Foxconn -- one of the largest assemblers of iPhones and makers of electronics products; Hon Hai and its affiliates also control Japan-headquartered electronics maker Sharp. In a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding for the project in Wisconsin yesterday, Gou lauded the state’s people and leaders, noting how he was impressed that Governor Scott Walker traveled to Japan to pitch him on the LCD display project on a weekend when most politicians wouldn’t be working.   Gou, speaking English, also expressed his wife’s interest in Wisconsin ginseng and said he had two daughters coming with him to the state for the trip. Walker noted how backers of the investment were now part of a moment that would be remembered as a great success.

Lots of love all around, yet the hard work of making the $10 billion project work now begins.  Walker will have to win support for $3 billion in state incentives – which works out to $230,000 per job. State planners will also need to maximize the economic spillover effects and try to take advantage of other Wisconsin assets – such as top-notch researchers in Madison – to lure add-on investment projects.  And Foxconn, whose labor practices in mainland China have been criticized, will need to build on the goodwill it is starting out with in Wisconsin as it begins hiring.

Wisconsin boasts many successful manufacturers including Johnson Controls, GE Healthcare, Harley-Davidson and Rockwell Automation. The state has long enjoyed good ties with Asia, and Hon Hai has plenty of manufacturing and investment expertise and capital.  I’m rooting for both to succeed.

--Follow me @rflannerychina