President Joe Biden has just announced that Microsoft is planning to build a $3.3 billion data center in southeastern Wisconsin, right on the site where Foxconn, an electronics manufacturer company backed by Trump that was supposed to make a $10 billion investment in 2017 but was scaled back by several fold, is located.
"I'm here to talk about a great comeback story in America," said Biden as he talked about the planned investment of Microsoft to about 200 persons at the Gateway Technical College's Sturtevant campus, CNBC reported. The region has been badly hit by declines in manufacturing, and the announcement of Microsoft will be a welcoming development.
Biden also noted that the investment would render to be transformative, not only in Wisconsin, but even worldwide. As he went on his speech, he also took the opportunity to underscore the importance of keeping promises, saying that his predecessor made promises that he broke, while on his watch, they make promises and such promises will be kept.
One can recall that the Taiwan-based company said in 2021 that it would be investing $672 million, a far cry from the $10 billion that it initially promised. So instead of the forecasted 13,000 new jobs, it was staved off to only account for about 1,454.
The project that Microsoft plans on the same site, was described by the company's President, Brad Smith, as one that it will be investing on by the end of 2026. He stated that it would also help in strengthening workers and manufacturers in the area.
According to a press release of the White House, the new Microsoft AI datacenter would be able to provide thousands of new jobs. There would be 2,300 union construction jobs and overtime, it is expected to establish 2,000 permanent jobs. It also mentioned that from the time Biden took office, about 4,000 jobs were added in nearby Racine, as compared to about 1,000 manufacturing jobs lost during Trump's administration.
"We will train over 100,000 people in Wisconsin by the end of the decade so they have the AI skills to fill the jobs of tomorrow," Smith said.
The IT company will be partnering with Gateway Technical College to train about 1,000 people for the data center, the White House noted.
Biden will be having his fourth trip to Wisconsin this year, and will be using the said trip to meet with volunteers in Racine's Black community, the camp of Biden declared in a separate statement. Wisconsin is considered as one of the seven swing states that will be critical to the reelection bid of the President.
