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!