Foxconn and M+W | Gilbane Announce Start of Site Preparation Work for Advanced Display Manufacturing

First Contracts Awarded; 90 Percent of Initial Site Work Done by Wisconsin Firms, Including 10 Percent by Racine-Based Firms

Foxconn Technology Group (Foxconn) and its general contractor, M+W | Gilbane, today announced the start of site preparation work for its state-of-the-art, advanced display manufacturing and research and development campus in Racine, Wisconsin. They also announced that 90 percent of the contractors for the initial site work are from Wisconsin, including 10 percent by Racine-based firms. Site work will commence before the weekend, with a formal groundbreaking celebration to be scheduled in the coming months.

“This is a significant milestone, and we are excited to have our project move forward,” said Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou. “We are delivering on our ‘Wisconsin First’ commitment. As we actively move forward with the development of this project, we will begin to create 13,000 jobs and build the foundation for the robust AI 8K+5G ecosystem that Foxconn is building in Wisconsin to eventually reach all parts of the United States.”

Foxconn awarded initial subcontracts for work related to site preparation to Hoffman Construction Company of Black River Falls and to Milwaukee based and minority-owned Gestra Engineering. Hoffman Construction Company will work on site excavation, storm water management and erosion control, and Gestra Engineering will conduct soils testing work.

“The support of state and federal government officials and agencies and our partners in Racine County and the Village of Mount Pleasant have been critical to all stages of this important initiative, and we thank them for their roles in making this project possible,” said Louis Woo.

Working with Foxconn, Gilbane Building Company, M+W Group, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. held 14 information sessions across the state with approximately 2,000 attendees, including construction contractors, professional service providers and suppliers over the past four weeks.

Adam Jelen, senior vice president at Gilbane, said the first phase of bidding totals about $100 million in contracts to Wisconsin businesses spread across 25–30 Wisconsin companies for site development work on phase one on the Foxconn Science and Technology Park. “The scope of the excavation is massive — moving about 4 million cubic yards of soil. The early development work will have about 500,000 work hours on site with a peak of 400 workers and create 800 direct and indirect jobs,” Jelen said. “Foxconn is demonstrating a commitment to delivering on its Wisconsin First commitment.”