Illustration by Scott Gordon and Kristian Knutsen

Series: Foxconn In Wisconsin

Wisconsin's deal with electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn has stirred up a mix of excitement and doubt. The state offered the Taiwan-based company about $3 billion in economic incentives and a waiver on a variety of environmental and other regulations to build a large LCD fabrication complex. In return, Foxconn touted the possibility of creating thousands of jobs and invigorating Wisconsin as a Midwestern tech hub. This type of manufacturing would place considerable demands on the state's natural resources, especially water, and can create significant pollution. The net effect of this deal will take years to emerge, but boosters and skeptics alike agree that a Foxconn footprint would have profound and complex implications for Wisconsin's future.
 
When it comes to the environmental impact of manufacturing electronics, there is an essential distinction between fabrication and assembly.
An incentives bill currently working its way through the Wisconsin legislature would streamline how the state applies the Great Lakes Compact if the Foxconn decides to use water from Lake Michigan.
The state's scientific research community is already looking for opportunities to collaborate with Foxconn.
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Governor Scott Walker and UW-Madison officials are touting the potential the Foxconn deal offers Wisconsin's biotech industry. BioForward CEO Lisa Johnson and UW Medical School radiologist Scott Reeder discuss what innovations Foxconn could bring to the medical technology industry.
Fresh water is an increasingly precious necessity around the planet, and Wisconsin has better access to it than most places.
Projections about the Foxconn deal all hinge on what assumptions one makes.
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Although the state estimates the Foxconn deal will not break even until 2043, there remains concerns that Wisconsin may never get the chance to recoup its major investment into the company. Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Budget Project breaks down its analysis of the deal.
The devices that populate connected life, including flat-screen TVs and computer monitors, require dozens of materials and sophisticated chemical processes to make.
Operating an LCD screen manufacturing plant in Wisconsin would raise a number of environmental question marks.
Local governments surrounding the proposed Foxconn factory will have plenty of complex processes of their own to deal with if the company moves ahead with its plans for southeastern Wisconsin.