Dive Brief:
- Gilbane | Exyte, general contractor for the $10 billion Foxconn LCD manufacturing complex in Racine County, Wisconsin, has issued the first invitation to bid for the plant portion of the project.
- Proposals for the first three bid packages — materials testing for foundations and related construction, excavation and concrete foundation work, and elevator work — are due by May 3. A pre-bid conference on April 24 will include a matchmaking session, which typically provides an opportunity for smaller subcontractors to meet, pair up and bid on work together.
- Any contractor that wants to submit a bid must sign and return a nondisclosure agreement before accessing the project's plans and specifications, which will be available April 19. All bidders must also go through a prequalification process and submit a 10% bid bond with their proposals.
Dive Insight:
Last month, Foxconn said it would start plant construction in the summer amid rumors that the company was either scaling back the project or changing its nature from a manufacturing to a technology hub. Foxconn has consistently denied these rumors as well as speculation that it was going to hire workers from China to staff its operations.
The reality is that Foxconn is making progress on its plans for a manufacturing and R&D facility in Wisconsin, even if the pace is not as aggressive as some might have anticipated. So far, the company has built a 120,000-square-foot multipurpose building that will serve as an administrative headquarters for the contractors on site and Foxconn staff.
A tremendous amount of excavation and other site work has either been completed or is ongoing. Last month, Gilbane | Exyte awarded $34 million worth of contractors for site, road and drainage work.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is tracking the work completed so far, as well as the subcontractors and other local companies that participated. So far, there are about 75 Wisconsin-based companies that have performed work, providing everything from fencing to architecture services.
However, this isn’t the type of employment that counts toward the hiring goals Foxconn agreed to. In return for $3 billion in tax incentives, the company pledged to create a certain number of full-time positions. In 2018, Foxconn created 1,032 direct jobs, but only 178 of those positions qualified under the deal with the state because 854 were temporary construction jobs. This resulted in Foxconn missing its 260-job goal for 2018 by 82 positions and losing out on $9.5 million in tax credits.
