Ohio vying for giant project
Central Ohio could be in line for a significant investment from a giant Taiwanese electronics company that plans to create thousands of jobs in the U.S.
Foxconn said Thursday that it could spend $10 billion or more to set up manufacturing in the U.S., and that Ohio is one of the states being
considered for at least some of the investment.
An official familiar with the talks said Foxconn is looking at possible locations near Rickenbacker Airport. The official spoke with The Dispatch on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
A second official also said Rickenbacker is being considered, but that official cautioned that Ohio faces formidable competition from other states and regions that want to attract the company.
Foxconn is the biggest contract manufacturer of smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, BlackBerry and other brands.
The company’s chairman, Terry Gou, told shareholders Thursday in Taiwan that the company wants to develop operations in the
U.S. that combine hardware manufacturing and software development in technologies that include artificial intelligence and automation.
The company said it probably will announce investment plans by early August that might include more than one state. The project could generate as many as 50,000 jobs.
Columbus 2020, the region’s economic-development arm, declined to comment.
Such an investment in central Ohio could be the most significant foreign investment in the region since Honda began operations here in the 1980s.
“It would raise the profile of the area, especially that big of a foreign investment,” said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide who does not have direct knowledge of Foxconn’s plans. “Something like that coming to Ohio would be a game-changer.”
The project would bring elements of both a manufacturing and a technology company,
Ayers said.
“It certainly means more jobs and more technical jobs,” he said. “Central Ohio has proven that we have great talent in central Ohio, and bringing in a company like this would bring even more people to the area.”
In January, Gou announced a plan to develop operations in the U.S. Since then, leaders from various states have been lobbying for the investment. A delegation of state and federal leaders from Ohio traveled to Japan recently, but it’s uncertain whether they met with Foxconn officials.
Although Foxconn has made no commitments publicly, one Ohio group is ready to roll out the welcome mat. “We greet any manufacturer investment in Ohio with open arms,” said Ryan Augsburger of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association.
Besides Ohio, Gou mentioned Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Texas as other
manufacturing states that Foxconn might be considering.
“We will provide at least tens of thousands of job opportunities,” he said at a news conference.
Expansion into the United States would reduce Foxconn’s reliance on China, where it has the bulk of its operations and employs about 1 million people.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industries, is a giant in electronics manufacturing, ranking 25th on Fortune’s Global 500 list. The company was founded in 1974 by Gou, who remains chairman and CEO. It has more than 1 million employees and a market capitalization of $126 billion.