MOUNT PLEASANT -- President Donald Trump and his dignitaries traveled to Mount Pleasant Thursday morning to be part of the ceremonious Foxconn groundbreaking. Spirits were high for the 50 invite-only guests on hand.
The small group was comprised of the major players in getting Foxconn to this day.
As crowds waited patiently in front of a giant American flag, President Trump suddenly appeared among Foxconn executives and Wisconsin’s top lawmakers. They grabbed gold-plated shovels and tossed the first ‘official’ dirt on the site.
“We’ve got the president in town, it doesn’t get any bigger than this,” said Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot.
“It’s the biggest opportunity in my lifetime to talk about rebuilding the middle class in this area,“ said Racine Mayor Cory Mason.
Mason was initially skeptical of Foxconn for the state and local investment of up to $4.5 billion. He’s now showing optimism and support moving forward.
“Will there be challenges? Sure, absolutely. Are there things we’re going to have to overcome together as a community? Absolutely, but I would take those challenges any day as opposed to not having this huge opportunity to bring thousands and thousands of workers here,” Mason said.
Speaker of the Assembly Robin Vos said this project is a pivotal step to the state’s return as a manufacturing industry leader.
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“The fact that billions of dollars are coming from overseas to a place like southeastern Wisconsin kind of makes me burst with pride because they know we have a quality workforce, an attractive tax climate and a wonderful place to locate a brand new business,” he said.
Foxconn told TODAY’S TMJ4 on Thursday it still intends to invest $10 billion and hire 13,000.
