Foxconn’s ‘Innovation Centers’ in Wisconsin Are Just Empty Buildings

Would it surprise you to know the company isn’t following through on its previous commitments?

Last summer, Foxconn announced it was purchasing buildings across Wisconsin to turn them into “innovation centers.” In March, The Verge visited each of these buildings and found them essentially empty. The company hasn’t acquired all of the buildings it set out to purchase. Pieces of the buildings it has purchased are being rented to other, unrelated companies. After this unflattering coverage, Foxconn’s Alan Yeung promised the company would purchase and transform another building, this time in Madison. As The Verge writes:

One month after Yeung’s comments and promise of a correction, every innovation center in Wisconsin is still empty, according to public documents and sources involved with the innovation center process. Foxconn has yet to purchase the Madison building Yeung announced, according to Madison property records. No renovation or occupancy permits have been taken out for Foxconn’s Racine innovation center, though a permit has been taken out for work on the roof of another property Foxconn bought for “smart city” initiatives. There has been no activity in Foxconn’s Green Bay building, either....