While President Trump announced that the major $10-billion Foxconn factory headed to American soil is bound for Wisconsin, all hope is not lost for Michigan. In fact, Governor Rick Snyder — who just signed the Good Jobs for Michigan act into law yesterday — says he believes that there are still opportunities for Foxconn in the state of Michigan. Here in Michigan’s Great Southwest, where the Taiwanese corporation landed a corporate jet earlier this month, Cornerstone Alliance President Rob Cleveland says, “We will be ready to meet those opportunities.”
Cleveland, who was a solid backer of the Good Jobs for Michigan legislation, adds, “We have sites, infrastructure and workforce necessary for Foxconn to compete on a global scale from our great corner of the world.”
Asked if Berrien County and the region ever had a legitimate run at landed the 3,000 job package headed to southeast Wisconsin, Cornerstone’s Cleveland says, “We operate under the impression that every project is legitimate until proven otherwise. We dig into each and every opportunity we have to bring new jobs and investment to Berrien County; and the Foxconn project was no different.”
President Trump told the nation that the electronics giant will create the largest economic development project in Wisconsin state history. From the White House, the President said that Foxconn CEO Terry Gou’s financial commitment was a direct result of his win in the November election. He told reporters, “If I didn’t get elected, he (Gou) definitely would not be spending $10-billion,” adding, “We are going to have some very, very magnificent decades.”
As for Berrien County’s shot at that historic announcement, Cleveland says, “We had a site that met some of the requirements necessary for Foxconn, and we submitted that through the proper channels at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.”
The economic development leader for our region, Cleveland says, “This project was unique in that it was so ‘public-facing.’ My preference is to work on projects that don’t draw this much attention, as the public aspect always adds more risk, and our number one priority is to mitigate risk for the company.” He adds, “That being said, we adapt to each project and provide the resources necessary to meet the company needs.”
Among the clear needs of the electronics giant was public incentives, and Michigan might have been a little late to that game with Snyder just signing the measure into law yesterday. Nevertheless, Rob Cleveland says, “I’m grateful that the state legislature gave us a tool — the Good Jobs for Michigan bills — that allowed us to compete for such a large project.” He goes on to say, “Regardless of your feeling on incentives, the competition for big projects like this is real. States around the country, especially in the South, have tools to win deals that we didn’t have.”
Cleveland says passage of the Good Jobs legislation “will create jobs for Michiganders.”
So what’s next in the jobs sweepstakes across America? Cleveland tells me, “As far as what’s next, we aren’t finished. We’re never finished.” That’s the nature of economic development in these interesting times, so stay tuned. The man and his team have jobs to do, and they’re continuing to work the plan as Southwest Michigan’s lead economic development agency.
