Gov. Jim Doyle announced the Department of Commerce will be giving Harley-Davidson Motor Company $4.5 million dollars in tax credit to keep the company thriving in Wisconsin Friday.
The $4.5 million will not be given to Harley as a sum of money, but rather in the form of tax credit. This means that over a number of years the company will be relieved from paying a certain amount of owed taxes.
Doyle said in a statement he wanted to keep the jobs founded by Harley Davidson from leaving the state. Through his administration's work with Harley, the company will continue to ""expand right here in Wisconsin and retain its operations in the state.""
UW-Madison professor of business history Colleen Dunlavy said it is important for Wisconsin to keep businesses like Harley Davidson in the state, but it becomes harder for them to stay when companies are pressured to cut costs.
She explained that moving a company to a low wage area in a different state is a common way of cutting costs.
""The basic dynamic of states competing against each other to retain and attract jobs and business has been going on since the founding of the nation,"" she said. ""This competition is known as competitive federalism.""
The tax credit will keep 4100 current jobs in the state, and help to create 200 new jobs with Harley Davidson.
A large portion of the tax credits will be going to the Menomonee Falls facility to help with expansion of the facility and with workforce training and development.
Retired UW-Madison professor of economics and public affairs, Donald Nichols, said Harley Davidson is important to Wisconsin economics because the state is a ""big manufacturer of everything related to small engines, so [Harley Davidson] is part of a big complex in the state.""
The president of Harley Davidson, Jim McCaslin said, ""Gov. Doyle and the Department of Commerce were extremely supportive and engaged throughout our decision-making process on the expansion.""
