GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Hundreds of jobs could be coming to downtown Green Bay as Foxconn is moving forward with plans for an innovation center after purchasing the Watermark building.
The company bought the building, which is located on the Downtown City Deck, last year.
An update on development was provided Thursday as the companies project manager was in Green Bay.
As Christopher Murdoch spoke at UW-Green Bay to a room of local tech leaders, he described the type of individuals they hope to attract.
“We’re looking for even current students,” he explains. “Young folks in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, mathematics) program.”
And he admitted that it might be difficult to find those individuals given the current landscape.
“With the current very low unemployment rate here in Wisconsin, and across the region, hiring is going to be difficult,” says Murdoch.
At this time, the company is still remaining quiet on when they could potentially move-in.
“Since we only completed [the] acquisition in November, of the outstanding location of the watermark, the plans for the build-out of the innovation center are not yet finalized,” he says.
Foxconn promised 13,000 jobs statewide, with 200 of those included in the Green Bay innovation center, as part of a multi-billion dollar tax incentive deal the state passed in 2017.
“I have no idea how many jobs they’ll eventually wind up with but I do know they’re in enough technology areas and they’re big enough that they’re going to be here to stay,” says Tom Still, the president of Wisconsin’s Technology Council. “To what degree and what area I couldn’t tell you, but they’re not going anywhere.”
He points out that previous tech developments in Green Bay most likely stood out to the company.
“Titletown tech, the Packers, Microsoft– all of that adds us to a bit of critical mass that can be very attractive to a company like Foxconn,” says Still.
If Foxconn doesn’t meet its jobs benchmark, it won’t be able to claim all of its tax incentives, according to state lawmakers.
Next month, Foxconn’s founder and chairman will be in Wisconsin.
