Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known widely as Foxconn, is building its first factory in the United States in Racine, Wisconsin, a city between Chicago and Milwaukee.

There’s been some worry about how many of the 13,000 estimated jobs will go to applicants from either side of the state border or even beyond, but one thing is for sure: after years of having heavy industry leave town, southeast Wisconsin wants to grab and keep hold of any new jobs it can get.

That could be why Foxconn is setting up headquarters in Milwaukee. It has announced that 500 jobs will be headed to a seven-story downtown building which the company has purchased. In addition to what will presumably be administrative jobs, the facilities will also be an incubator for the Racine plant’s LCD assembly to improve on production techniques and quality of screens.

Even as it is the world’s largest contract maker of consumer electronics, hundreds of people to set roots may seem like overkill, but it does telegraph Foxconn’s willingness to play ball with state governments that are friendly to it — perhaps more plants will be on the way.