Saginaw, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder obliquely confirmed a reported trip he took last weekend to Asia seeking to lure Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group to build a multibillion-dollar plant in Michigan.
When asked by a reporter whether his trip was a success, the governor responded, "Yes. How much success? I'll have to wait and see" if the company chooses the state.
It was the first public comment by the governor about the reported trip to lure Foxconn, which is believed to be seeking to build a $4.2 billion plant that could employ 5,000 workers. Reports on June 2 indicated that state economic development officials were pursuing the plant, and that Snyder was to take a one-day trip to Asia.
The plant will focus on the assembly of liquid-crystal display screens for the automotive, aviation and defense industries.
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou had said in January that the company had a tentative plan to invest more $7 billion in the United States. Plastics News reported in January that the company was considering plans to build an injection molding plant in Pennsylvania, as part of the $7 billion display panel project.
Snyder made the comments after signing a five-bill package that creates a tax incentive for developers that build large projects on contaminated sites.
The incentive will capture some state sales and income taxes on large brownfield development projects. Developers would have to invest from $15 million in small communities to $500 million in Detroit to qualify. The incentive would include caps on the amount of captured tax revenue and limits to the number of projects — five — that could be approved in one year.
With the brownfield incentive completed, attention now turns to legislation dubbed the Good Jobs for Michigan package. The legislation would capture a portion of income taxes generated by newly created jobs for employers who hire at least 250 new workers or create at least 500 jobs in the state and meet specific wage requirements. A similar legislative package cleared the Senate late last year, but died in the House.
