Summary of FDI in Wisconsin

The Organization for International Investment website provides great information regarding FDI in the United States as a whole. A few statistics that can be found on the site include the following: Insourcing Facts, FDI Trends, Jobs by State, and various publications about FDI. The facts about Wisconsin can be found here and here (PDF). Due to foreign investment, about 90,000 people have jobs in Wisconsin, and nearly half of the jobs from FDI are in the manufacturing sector. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada are countries that support many jobs. Although the percentage of jobs (3.7%) from FDI in Wisconsin is lower than the national average, government officials in Wisconsin are working hard to attract more foreign investment and get on track with the national average (5.2%).

PTF Incorporated, SE Wisconsin

Growing economic opportunities with FDI doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it can take years of courting and negotiation to attract industry to the region. The courting of Precision Technology Inc. by the RacineCounty Economic Development Corporation began in 2011, two years before PT Inc. set up a U.S. division in Sturtevant, WI.

Sturtevant is a small but rapidly growing village in southeastern Wisconsin’s Racine County. The company produces precision parts and assemblies for industry, and employs about 50 people. Oliver Zintl, CEO and General Manager of PT Inc., decided that southeastern Wisconsin was the best location to invest in because of its central location, existing customers in the region, and because Gateway Technical College is a great source for highly trained talent to bring into the company.

The decision to open up shop in SE Wisconsin is also expected to provide a jobs multiplier effect by generating interest in the area from other foreign companies looking to invest and expand into the region.

Sketches for New Oak Creek IKEA Revealed

In Sweden, in 1943, a home furnishings company named IKEA was born. Now, 74 years later, IKEA has over 315 stores; 50+ stores are located in North America, and another one is on the way! At the end of February 2017, sketches of a new IKEA store in Oak Creek were released; the sketches included the layout of the store and parking lot. Since IKEA is planning to open the store during the summer of 2018, construction will begin quite soon. Once the store is completed, Wisconsinites can expect 250 new, full-time jobs to be created! In addition to the new IKEA jobs, Steve Scaffidi, former Oak Creek Mayor, mentions how the new store will bring over a million people each year to support local restaurants, hotels, and other brick-and-mortar retail stores. It is excellent to hear how government officials are working hard to bring new business to Wisconsin!

Film, Images, and Cellular Biology

When people think about Fujifilm, they probably aren’t thinking about the manufacturing of fully developed human cells. Instead, the name brings back memories of old cameras that used chemical film to take photographs. For the 150 employees of Cellular Dynamics International, located in Madison, WI, that changed in march of 2015 when Fujifilm of Japan bought the company for $307 million dollars. Along with the acquisition of CDI, Fujifilm also has a distribution deal with the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin medical imaging firm TeraMedica Inc. The purchase of CDI makes the distribution deal permanent, ensuring employment opportunities and further investment potential for years to come. Fujifilm’s strong investments are putting the companies—and Wisconsin—in position to become world leaders in the development of new drugs and regenerative therapy.

Click here to visit CDI’s website and here to find out more about Fujifilm/TeraMedica.

Gummi Candy, Anyone?

Who likes Gummi Candy!? Haribo, a German-based confectionery company, has finally selected a location for a new manufacturing facility. After several years of examining many different sites, Rick LaBerge, chief operating officer of Haribo, announced that Kenosha County (specifically Pleasant Prairie) will be the destination for a massive, new confectionery facility. Haribo is excited to grow their successful business in the USA, but how does Wisconsin benefit? The project for the new facility, which should be completed in 2020, is one of the largest investments in Wisconsin history by an overseas company for a new operation. It is estimated that 400 jobs will be created and the project will be $242 million. We are excited to see some Haribo candy with "Made in the USA" on the packaging!

Original Source: inWisconsin.com
Article 1: walker.wi.gov
Article 2: cbsnews.com

Living the High LIfe

When you think of Wisconsin, what are some of the products that immediately come to mind? Cheese is undoubtedly at the top of the list, as is Green Bay Packer Football - and to complete the trifecta, beer. Brewing beer in Wisconsin has roots that go back to when the state was still a territory, and is a heady part of the Wisconsin culture. Generations worked in the breweries in Milwaukee, dominating the industry with Miller, Pabst, Schlitz, and Blatz. Times have changed, however, and the majority of the macro-brews have shut their doors. One exception to the changing times, however, is Miller Brewing Company.

Frederick Miller originally founded Miller Brewing in 1855. The Miller family owned the brewery until 1966. Over the next few decades, the brewery changed ownership a few times, but always stayed in the hands of American investors. That was soon to change, however. ABInBev, whose global headquarters is located in Leuven, Belgium, ABInBev, acquired the company from SABMiller, a company headquartered in South Africa, in 2016. Now, through a merger with MolsonCoors and being purchased by ABInBev, the company is larger than ever, and is expanding its market share worldwide while retaining production of the famous beer in Milwaukee. That certainly is a mouthful to swallow…if you will excuse me I think I am a little thirsty. Thanks for reading!

More information on Miller Brewing can be found here.

Kikkoman Foods

Believe it or not, Kikkoman Foods, a Japan-based company, loves Walworth, Wisconsin for soy sauce production. Can you guess the main reason why? It is because of geography! After exporting soy sauce to the United States from Japan for over 100 years, Kikkoman decided to begin production in North America, specifically in Wisconsin in 1972, which is when the plant opened up in Walworth. Wisconsin is centrally located for Kikkoman to efficiently distribute products, which can help give them a competitive advantage when selling to nearby stores. In addition, production has increased twenty-fold since opening the Wisconsin-based plant over 40 years ago. Here is a key line from the success story on the invest.inwisconsin.com website: "Considering the suppliers, service providers and contractors that support the company's operations, Kikkoman's economic impact on the state's economy is significant." It is also worth noting that over 175 people work for Kikkoman Foods in Wisconsin, and more soy sauce is produced at the Wisconsin plant than any other facility worldwide!

More information about Kikkoman Foods can be found here.
The original success story can be found here (scroll to Kikkoman Foods).

Attracting FDI

Enticing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to come to Wisconsin is no small task. Competition from the other states that make up the lower 48 is fierce, and convincing foreign companies to expand into or relocate to Wisconsin takes a lot of planning and effort. To help meet the challenges the state is faced with, the Wisconsin Economic Develpment Corporation (WEDC) has modified its focus from exporting to promoting FDI. Trade missions to the UK, China, Japan, and more have been launched to promote Wisconsin’s benefits — benefits like Foreign Trade Zones (FDZ) , locations where there are significant reductions, deferrals, or even the outright elimination of taxes on imported goods; commercial ports on the Mississippi River, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan, where over 40 million tons of freight is shipped annually; and airports and railroad lines that link Wisconsin to markets nation-wide.

To help get the word out about the resources Wisconsin offers, the WEDC has also recently unveiled a new website to inform prospective investors about Wisconsin's business climate and infrastructure. The site is a robust tool that provides in-depth information about key assets for investors looking to set up shop in the dairy state and is available in 5 languages. Along with the website, the WEDC is also publishing a new bi-monthly e-newsletter, dubbed "INbound" to showcase the strengths and benefits of investing in Wisconsin. Check out the latest updates and success stories in the e-newsletter here.  

On Wisconsin!!

German Company "Luxx Light Technology" Opens Office in Milwaukee

Late in December, Luxx Light Technology, a custom-lighting company based in Germany, opened a new location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The new location, which opened as Luxx Light Technology (USA) Inc., serves as a customer service hub for now. A majority of manufacturing for Luxx takes place in China and Germany; the plant in China takes care of large orders and has around 60 employees. Andreas Weyer, the managing director at Luxx, hopes to expand the Milwaukee facility in order to match the production capabilities of the plant in China. Luxx benefits from this investment because they are close to an airport and customers, which will make deliveries and communication easier. It is exciting to learn that Luxx hopes to expand the Milwaukee location; there will hopefully be many job opportunities available at Luxx to people in Wisconsin. In addition, Luxx will most likely spend money on various goods and services in Wisconsin and neighboring states, which is great for the economy as a whole.

More information about Luxx Light Technology (USA) Inc. can be found here.
The original article can be found here.

Hello World!

Hello International Business-SP17-931C-1052 Classmates, and welcome to the FDI Wisconsin Blog.
Our intention for this blog is to write about and discuss the ways Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) affects and shapes the way our state and local economies work, and the impact that it has on business, commerce and individuals in the state of Wisconsin.


FDI is an incredibly important part of Wisconsin's economic outlook. According to the Organiztion for International Investment, investments by foreign companies have insourced approximately 88,000 jobs for Wisconsin. The top foreign countries investing in Wisconsin are Canada, the U.K., and Germany. The investments cover a wide range of business, from wholesale trade to finance and insurance, but the number one investment is in manufacturing, with almost half of all FDI.


We'd like to encourage people to respond to our posts with questions and observations so we can make this an interesting and engaging learning environment. Thanks for reading!