A Ripon College economics professor is skeptical that Foxconn will deliver on its initial promise to create 13,000 manufacturing jobs at its Wisconsin plant. Foxconn announced last week it was changing the focus of its plant from manufacturing to research and development, and then on Friday after conversations with president Trump said it planned to build a smaller manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. Ripon College economics professor Paul Schoofs says he doubts Foxconn would change its mind in a couple of days based on any political pressure. “The Foxconn executives are pretty well versed on dealing with big-name politicians including in their own country,” Schoofs told WFDL news. “They may be just trying to avoid alot of heat and can still later on say there’s new developments, we have to change our plans.” But Schoofs says even if the project ends up producing half the number of jobs promised, that’s still an economic boost for that part of the state.
