Chr. Hansen To Wisconsin

Just recently, Chr. Hansen, a global bio-science company that develops natural solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, just announced that they will be boosting their North American presence after acquiring a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. This decision to boost North American presence is a result of the increasing interest from US consumers pressuring food and drink companies to convert to natural colors in their products. This facility will house production, research, warehouse, quality assurance labs, and other business functions which will create more jobs for the state of Wisconsin. Jacob Vishof Paulsen, acting Executive Vice President of Natural Colors Division, said this about the investment, "This is the largest single investment for Natural Colors in recent years and demonstrates our commitment to the important North American market," he also stated, "Having the whole chain gathered in one place will allow for a fast and agile response to customer needs, supporting Chr. Hansen’s current and future business demands for the next decade – with room to grow.”

Reference: http://fdiforum.net/mag/chr-hansen-expands-natural-colours-production/

High foreign investments = Wisconsin’s economy goes up

                 

Irish Dairy Board acquired Thiel Cheese & Ingredients, many questioned that decision and wondered how it benefits Wisconsin. This means better access to markets and opened doors to market investments. This also created jobs and expanded supply chains. In 2010 Wisconsin foreign direct investments went from $16 billion to $19.8 billion in exports.

Build. Produce. Grow.

This is a big move for Wisconsin because this will show Wisconsin’s strength and hopefully attract other investments. Don’t assume foreign direct investments are only about money, mainly it is all about opportunities with getting Wisconsin’s name out there, improving supply chains and little things within the supply chain like distribution centers.  Funding must come from somewhere to improve those little things, so gaining investments from all over the world will not only help Wisconsin’s economy but help expand Wisconsin’s exports internationally.

http://www.businessnorth.com/businessnorth_columnists/foreign-investment-helped-wisconsin-s-economy/article_366aa130-9985-5890-a7f8-4626866195c5.html

Why Wisconsin? A look at foreign companies expanding and investing in Wisconsin

As a home-grown Wisconsinite, I have always been very proud of my home, which to me is Wisconsin itself. Up until this semester, I have never thought of the different global companies that call Wisconsin their home as well. Even though their headquarters may not be in Wisconsin, they saw the growth potential in Wisconsin and settled on bringing their company to the state. One company that recently decided this move was IKEA, who is building a store in Oak Creek near Milwaukee. They are the next to be added to the list of FDI companies in Wisconsin which totals 880 companies. These 880 companies employ almost 100,000 people throughout the state. A foreign company is almost in every county in the state.

But why do they invest here instead of a larger state and economy, like New York or California? The beauty of Wisconsin is in the littler and more special things. For example, an Italian shipyard company has invested $100 million in improving their shipyards in the cities of Green Bay, Marinette, and Sturgeon Bay. This company also brings technology to the shipyards and has grown employment in these areas. Shipping across the great lakes is still a big industry so it is nice to see a foreign company investing in us so they can gain profit from this also. 

Wisconsin has much to do to grow their FDI, but a way we can help is to reach out and network with foreign companies to help convince them to see the advantages of investing in the great state of Wisconsin. 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/crossroads/2016/08/13/bousquet-ward-foreign-direct-investment-helps-power-states-economy/88692074/

2017 Economic Development Deal of the Year Award!

(Picture above is Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou, seated to the left, and Gov. Scott Walker signing a contract in November for Foxconn to build a $10.7 billion LCD flat-panel production facility)

As mentioned previously in this blog, Foxconn, one of the largest electronics manufacturing company in the world, will be making a 20 million square foot factory here in Wisconsin. I bring this up because the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the people who conducted the deal, have received the Gold Award as Business Facilities’ 2017 Economic Development Deal of the Year for the 10 billion Foxconn LCD production facility project. BF Editor in Chief Jack Rogers said, “With an incredible bounty of 13,000 direct new jobs in the next five years and a world-class, 20-million-square-foot production facility, our judges unanimously agreed that the Foxconn project deserved our top honor as the 2017 Deal of the Year,”. It is quite impressive; This facility will be the first LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) manufacturing facility in North America and the only one in the world that isn’t located in Asia. It is projected that with this new facility and the jobs it supplies, Wisconsin will be getting its own version of “Silicon Valley”; jobs with base pay starting at 53,000 a year. This will boost the economy immensely and ultimately change the economic state of Wisconsin. The facility is projected to finish in the year of 2020, but until then, keep an eye out for news and new blogs about Foxconn!

Reference: https://businessfacilities.com/2018/02/2017-economic-development-deal-year-gold-award-wisconsin/

Wisconsin facts on the benefits of FDI

This post is all about how foreign investments have benefited Wisconsin in many ways.

Here are some quick facts:

·         ~Wisconsin’s top 5 export markets are Canada, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.

·         ~Wisconsin’s top 5 export categories are machinery, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, processed food and lastly chemicals.

In 2017, Wisconsin had $22.3 billion goods exported. These exports support jobs, specifically in 2016 111,075 jobs were supported in Wisconsin and 93% of these jobs were supported but manufactured goods exports. In 2015, foreign owned companies that reside in Wisconsin employed 93,000 Wisconsin workers. Canada and UK own the most companies in Wisconsin. Fifty-five percent of Wisconsin exports are apart of a free trade agreement and Wisconsin’s free trade partners bring in $12.2 billion in 2017.

Yes, I just gave you a ton of facts. Showing these facts are so important because you need to know how much foreign companies can bring into not only Wisconsin but anywhere. So let those facts soak in.

All facts and information from: https://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/statereports/states/wi.pdf

Berry bad Cranberry tariff

Cranberries have joined Harley Davidson on the list of items created by the European Union that may be given tariffs because of President Trump's tariffs on importing aluminum and steel. The EU is the largest importer of Cranberries and Wisconsin is the world's largest producer of Cranberries. President Trump pledged that imported steel would receive a 25% tariff and imported aluminum would receive a 10% tariff.  The U.S. exports more than 95 million pounds to the EU every year. The U.S. exports 40% of their domestic cranberry production and some years, Wisconsin produces over half of the total cranberry production in the U.S. If the tariff is implemented, Wisconsin cranberry growers say it will impact their prices greatly and cause the EU to buy more cranberries from Canada instead. Canada and the EU do not have a duty set up for Cranberry trading. The EU has not released what their cranberry import tariff would be but in some countries, the cranberry import tariffs are as high as 17%.  We will have to see what happens in the coming weeks on whether or not the EU will impose these tariffs.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/03/07/wisconsin-cranberries-european-union-target-list-retaliation-tariffs/403654002/

The Water Council

The Water Council (TWC) is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a non-profit organization that drives economic, technology and talent development to support the global water industry. TWC is known globally as it has already established relationships with companies from the Netherlands, France, and Germany helping them with their water needs. Today, March 1st, TWC hired an international trade and FDI consultant, Beverly Ferrara, to lead its European outreach. She is responsible for assisting the organization's efforts to provide, "consistent and responsive engagement with existing and potential partners, and will nurture a pipeline of water tech companies with the potential to establish U.S operations."

Read about it more here!

Reference: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/the-water-council-expands-global-reach/