Two Wisconsin projects win awards from Trade & Industry Development magazine

MADISON, WI. May 14, 2018 – Foxconn’s historic investment in Racine County and Kwik Trip’s major expansion in La Crosse have received national recognition for economic development success in Trade & Industry Development magazine’s 13th annual CiCi Awards.

The magazine editors at the national trade publication evaluated several hundred announcements from across the U.S. before selecting the 30 winners of its 2017 Corporate Investment & Community Impact Awards.

These awards recognize corporate locations and investments, with a focus on both the company investing in the community and the economic developers responsible for securing that investment. Recognition is given to companies and communities in two categories: Corporate Investment and Community Impact.

The Foxconn Technology Group’s $10 billion advanced manufacturing campus in Racine County was the largest project receiving an award. The 32-million-square-foot Foxconn campus will employ as many as 13,000 people and is by far the largest economic development project in Wisconsin history. Once the facility is up and running, it will produce nearly 7 million high-definition LCD panels a year.

Along with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Milwaukee 7 and Racine County Economic Development Corporation also received this award for their work with Foxconn.

Kwik Trip was also recognized for its plans to undertake a $300 million capital investment project in La Crosse that will enable the growing company to meet its capacity needs for the foreseeable future. Kwik Trip currently owns and operates 600 retail convenience stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.

Kwik Trip is going to invest $113 million in a new 200,000-square-foot bread-and-bun production facility, and make multimillion-dollar expansions and improvements in its dairy manufacturing facility, kitchen operations and transportation fleet.

Along with WEDC, the La Crosse Area Development Corporation also received this award on behalf of its work with Kwik Trip.

The CiCi Awards honor projects around the country that make a significant difference in terms of the infusion of capital investment and have the potential to impact and transform the communities in which they’re located.

The 30 total 2018 CiCi Awards projects planned by 28 companies represent nearly $24 billion in capital investment and more than 34,000 direct jobs – plus countless more indirect employment positions associated with the projects.

The national honors come as Wisconsin had a record year for economic development in 2017, with WEDC supporting 59 companies that agreed to locate or expand in Wisconsin last year. Those projects are expected to create or retain nearly 30,000 jobs and result in more than $11.6 billion in capital investment.