Wisconsin’s Record-Breaking Year Underscores Business Climate Strength

Economic development awards reflect $11 billion in business investment and 30,000 jobs in 2017.

Wisconsin has always been a great place to start, grow and expand a business. In 2017, dozens of companies took note, adding to the state’s diverse economy and creating high quality jobs for years to come.

A total of 59 companies from Wisconsin and around the world agreed to locate to or expand in Wisconsin in 2017. This record number of projects is expected to create or retain nearly 30,000 jobs and result in more than $11.6 billion in capital investment across the state.

“When it comes to economic development, 2017 has been a historic year for Wisconsin as global companies such as Foxconn, Haribo and Nestle decided to establish operations in our great state after looking at many other options around the country,” Governor Scott Walker said. “At the same time, many of Wisconsin’s major employers, including Kwik Trip, Generac, Mills Fleet Farm and Johnsonville, announced major expansion plans this year because of our dedicated workforce and the strong pro-business climate we’ve created.”

Topping the list of projects is Foxconn Technology Group’s historic investment in Racine County, a project expected to create up to 13,000 jobs and generate up to $10 billion in capital investment. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has agreed to provide Foxconn with up to $2.85 billion in tax credits for what is the largest economic development project in Wisconsin history and one of the largest ever in the United States.

The second-largest project of 2017 is Kwik Trip Inc.’s $309 million expansion project in La Crosse that will enable the growing company to meet its current and future capacity needs. That project is expected to create more than 300 new jobs.

Rounding out the top three projects of the year is Haribo’s planned $220 million manufacturing facility in Kenosha County, a project expected to create 385 jobs. WEDC has awarded Haribo up to $21 million in tax credits for the project, which will be the German candy-maker’s first manufacturing facility in North America.

Even as these relocations, expansions and new projects are being announced, work is also moving forward for additional companies interested in investing in Wisconsin. This ensures a robust pipeline of even more opportunities going forward, said Mark R. Hogan, secretary and CEO of WEDC. 

“Each of these companies plays a significant role in continuing to grow the state’s economy by creating family-supporting jobs and investing in Wisconsin,” Hogan said. “Last year, we assisted more than 300 businesses and communities as part of our mission to advance and maximize opportunities to help them thrive in a globally competitive environment.”

Wisconsin’s Major Economic Development Projects of 2017

This list is based on all corporate expansion and attraction projects in which contracts between WEDC and the company were executed in 2017. The job projections, estimated project costs and the award amounts from WEDC are based on the requirements set forth in each contract. All WEDC tax credits are performance-based, and the amount of credits a company receives is contingent upon the actual number of jobs created.

Foxconn Technology Group
New advanced manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant
Estimated total project cost: $10.02 billion
Estimated job impact: 13,000 new jobs created
WEDC investment: $2.85 billion in tax credits

Kwik Trip Inc.
Expansion in La Crosse 
Estimated total project cost: $309 million
Estimated job impact: 329 new jobs created
WEDC investment: $21 million in tax credits

Haribo of America
New manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie
Estimated total project cost: $220 million
Estimated job impact: 385 new jobs created
WEDC investment: $21 million in tax credits

Epicentre Technologies Corp.
Expansion in Madison 
Estimated total project cost: $148.4 million
Estimated job impact: 20 new jobs created, 114 jobs retained
WEDC investment: $750,000 in tax credits

Generac Power Systems Inc.
Location expansions across the state 
Estimated total project cost: $86.8 million
Estimated job impact: 400 new jobs created, 1,999 jobs retained
WEDC investment: $10 million in tax credits

Brakebush Brothers Inc.
Expansion in Westfield
Estimated total project cost: $86 million
Estimated job impact: 219 new jobs created, 885 jobs retained
WEDC investment: $6.5 million in tax credits

Great Lakes Cheese Co.
Expansion in Wausau 
Estimated total project cost: $84.8 million
Estimated job impact: 125 new jobs created
WEDC investment: $2 million in tax credits

Mills Fleet Farm Group
Expansion in Chippewa Falls 
Estimated total project cost: $71.7 million
Estimated job impact: 284 new jobs created
WEDC investment: $1.5 million loan

MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA)
Expansion in Sheboygan Falls 
Estimated total project cost: $64.1 million
Estimated job impact: 175 new jobs created, 1,177 jobs retained
WEDC investment: $1.25 million in tax credits

U.S. Venture Inc.
Expansion in Appleton 
Estimated job impact: 214 new jobs created, 489 jobs retained 
Estimated total project cost: $58.5 million
WEDC investment: $20 million in tax credits

Iowa Uses New Prototyping Lab to Lure Startups

The new MERGE coworking space in the university town of Iowa City, Iowa is also home to a prototyping lab that local leaders hope will bolster a nascent medical device industry.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) and University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, are pillars of a medical economy that far surpasses what one may expect from Iowa City, a metro area of slightly more than 160,000 people, or even Iowa, a state of just over 3.1 million. Researchers in the medical school receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding annually, and nearly 1,000 doctors practice medicine at UIHC. Over the last three decades, state and local leaders have sought ways to transfer research from these state-owned entities into private, locally-based enterprises. Incubators in the university’s off-campus research park have been home to nearly 100 companies spun out of university research. However, economic development officials worried they were still missing opportunities, specifically in the medical device field. With a new prototyping laboratory, they believe they may have found the missing piece.

Prototyping is a strategic economic development investment.

Matt Howard, MD, a neurosurgeon, professor and Department of Neurosurgery Chair at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, has started four medical device companies. Like many people who work with their hands, he’s continually thinking of ways he can improve upon the tools he uses.

“You see a clinical problem that needs to be solved and figure out a solution,” Howard said. “It goes from a rough concept to one that you refine and refine until you’ve got something that works.”

Dr. Howard is the type of person state and local officials had in mind when they decided to try to take a larger share of the $140 billion U.S. medical device industry and invest in building a medical device prototyping lab.

These days, when Dr. Howard thinks of a new idea for a surgical instrument, he meets with Chuck Romans, 3D design prototyping director at the new lab, called Protostudios. Romans is a product designer with a master’s of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa. He’s an expert in creating products that are functional for users and aesthetically pleasing. Howard and Romans discuss the idea and Romans heads back to the prototyping lab, located in the back of a coworking space in downtown Iowa City.

In Protostudios, Romans has a single computer with computer-aided design software (CAD). A few feet away are three 3D printers, a Stratasys J750, a Stratasys F370, and a Markforged Mark Two. Using these tools, Romans can design and manufacture a fully-functional prototype for Howard, sometimes in less than 24 hours. 

“With Protostudios, we have created a service that help entrepreneurs create their products conveniently, economically and, most importantly for us, in Iowa,” Debi Durham, the IEDA director said. “The value proposition for entrepreneurs is clear: Come to Iowa and we can help you make a prototype affordably and conveniently in an absolutely wonderful place to live.”

A way for Iowa to compete with the Twin Cities

This new, fast, affordable prototyping capability is what leaders in Iowa City, and economic development research firms with which they contracted, saw was previously missing in Iowa. Previously, when someone in Iowa City came up with an idea, they moved themselves, their idea, and their potential future company, to the Twin Cities (often at the suggestion of early-stage investors). 

There, private companies will build medical device prototypes — for a considerable price, or potentially some of the intellectual property (IP) rights. Other than its Iowa location, that’s what makes Protostudios different from the private prototyping labs. It retains none of the IP for prototypes it creates, and as a not-for-profit, offers its services at a rate that is generally several times less expensive than private companies in the Twin Cities. 

“It’s less expensive and radically easier working with Protostudios than working with a company in Minneapolis,” Howard said. “They not only build it out but they make it better.”

For more information on doing business with Protostudios, visit mergeic.com. To learn about the low business costs and innovation economy in Iowa, visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com.

To learn more about Iowa’s Certified Sites, visitiowaeconomicdevelopment.com to jumpstart your next project … the state will provide the shovels.

Danville, Va. and Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill

Perfect for large-scale manufacturing /distribution on the Mid-Atlantic

The concerns that accompany site selection include low costs of doing business, a healthy talent pipeline, a good quality of life — all within close proximity to customers and suppliers, with good transportation infrastructure. Sometimes it can seem difficult to check every box without making significant trade-offs.

On top of that, it’s not enough to just check the boxes today. You have to ensure they’ll still be checked years and decades down the road. It’s an immense, future shaping decision.

For all these reasons, the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County in Southern Virginia have worked hard for years to lay the right foundation for prosperity and growth. Civic leaders have invested more than $30 million to build an extraordinary and specialized advanced-manufacturing workforce training solution, now studied and benchmarked worldwide, with more than 300 students currently in the pipeline.

Manufacturing Flow Cell at The Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining Technology in Danville/Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Simultaneously, the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill, a 3,500-acre Tier 5 Certified Mega Site*, is now available for development with a broad array of shovel-ready sites and utility infrastructure ready for hookup. All this is taking place in a region with an 18 percent lower cost of doing business than the U.S. national average, in a right-to-work state, and one with a strong manufacturing heritage — validated by recent corporate newcomers such as Kyocera SGS Tech Hub LLC, Unison Tube, and Amthor International Gretna Corporate Headquarters. 

“The support and investment elected officials have put into developing a highly skilled workforce and engineering technology hotspot truly differentiates Danville — Pittsylvania County,” said Jason Wells, Kyocera SGS President, “and makes it a great place to plant roots and drive innovation.”

The right foundation for large-scale manufacturing

The Berry Hill has been designed with the heavy utility user in mind. Infrastructure serving the site is capable of providing up to 5.5 million gallons per day (MGD) of potable water. The park will be fed with a 20” water line from Eden N.C. and a 16” water line extended from the Pittsylvania County Service Authority. Berry Hill will also have large-scale sewer capacity, totaling three MGD.

The Williams Transco Pipeline that traverses the Mega Site is another of the site’s unique attributes. An existing gate within the park will easily accommodate large natural-gas users.

American Electric Power will serve Berry Hill Mega Site with a new 138 KV radial feed transmission line providing redundant power capabilities.

Finally, a 160-acre site is pre-graded and pre-cleared, allowing a new tenant to get up to speed quickly and avoid lengthy delays associated with permitting and land clearance.

The right workforce: today and tomorrow

Situated on the Virginia/North Carolina state line midway between Greensboro N.C. and Lynchburg, Va., Danville draws workers from a six-county area. Southern Virginia is an area with a 2.75 M population base within a 75-mile drive — all served by four-lane, divided, high-capacity highways with better than one mile-per-minute drive times.

Next, in an era of aging manufacturing talent, Southern Virginia is doing everything it can to spur an infusion of youth.

The Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research is the first program of its kind in advanced manufacturing. Now in its third year, it combines leading-edge CNC machining and metrology technology with lean principles, process optimization, and manufacturing economics. The program, a partnership between the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research and Danville Community College, is pioneering a new way to prepare students for the demands of advanced manufacturing companies.

Right place, right lifestyle. Right for you?

Southern Virginia is within a day’s drive to over 60 percent of the U.S. population and over two-thirds of the U.S. industrial base. 

The mid-Atlantic location provides smooth access to markets and suppliers. Major highways, access to interstates, rail access, proximity to the Port of Virginia, and access to multiple commercial and international airports provide reliable connections for your goods and services.

Moderate temperatures make the area a pleasant environment with temperatures that reduce heating and cooling costs. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the climate in the Commonwealth of Virginia has shifted in terms of incentives, which now include the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, Virginia Enterprise Zone, and Virginia Economic Development Partnership Business Ready Sites Program. In additional, robust local incentives from the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County now include low-interest loan financing for new facilities, machinery and equipment, and customized grants and incentives. 

You can rest assured that the right proposal will meet the right deal.

Interested? Give us a call at 434-766-6707 or www.gosouthernvirginia.com to get more information, or to schedule a meeting or visit.

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