WisGOP giveaways to Polaris didn't stop jobs from leaving in 2026

Here's a timeline of 16 years of Polaris threats, tax giveaways, and job losses.

Start with the original threat to leave Western Wisconsin, in May 2010.

One of Polk County’s largest employers, Polaris announced last Thursday that it would shutter its Osceola plant and shift the jobs to its Roseau, Minn., and Spirit Lake, Iowa, facilities. The company also plans to open another manufacturing facility in the Monterrey/Saltillo area of northern Mexico.

The company has operated in Osceola since 1991 and currently employs around 560 people, though at times it has employed as many as 800.

The combined value of the company’s land and infrastructure is just under $4 million, according to county tax records.

But then Scott Walker was elected, and made Wisconsin “Open For Business”. And Polaris and Walker’s newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corportation (WEDC) had this convenient announcement as Walker was facing recall in Spring 2012.

Polaris Industries Inc. plans to add 89 jobs in the western Wisconsin city of Osceola as it boosts production of Indian motorcycles.

Minnesota-based Polaris acquired Indian last year and produces the motorcycles in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Engines for both Indian and Victory motorcycles are made at the Osceola plant, which employs about 100.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation said Polaris is eligible for $595,000 in tax credits. Gov. Scott Walker called it “another great jobs victory for Wisconsin” given that Polaris could have chosen Iowa or Minnesota.

The Osceola plant once had a workforce of more than 500. Polaris had planned to close it in 2010 as part of a plan to move some ATV production to Mexico, but decided to keep some workers on in Osceola for motorcycle engines.

Remember this guy's BS?

In Spring 2014, Walker was running again, this time for a second four-year term. And lookie here! Polaris had another jobs announcement and another WEDC writeoff!

In a move that will increase capacity by 40 percent, retain the 200 current positions, and add 60 more, Polaris Industries in Osceola will expand engine assembly operations to the tune of $1.75 million. This expansion will enable the production of additional Polaris ProStar engine platforms.

“Today’s announcement that Polaris has made a commitment to expand its operations at their Osceola facility is great news for workers, Osceola, and the surrounding communities,” Senator Sheila Harsdorf said. “Polaris' decision reflects the quality workforce in our area and efforts to improve our state's business climate. I commend local and state economic development leaders for their continued efforts in encouraging job growth.”

Although the 60 additional jobs are, at this point, only “projected,” Polaris does have an extra incentive to follow through. Should the 60 be created within three years, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will provide up to $234,000 in tax credits to offset the expansion cost.

“Polaris is thrilled to be expanding our facilities in Osceola and bringing additional jobs to the community,” Bennett Morgan, company president and chief operating officer said. “We have a long history with the community, and are thankful to have the support and partnership of the state of Wisconsin as we continue to invest in our future here, and increase our ability to bring the latest innovations to our riders.”

In addition to the WEDC help, Polaris was able to take advantage of another WisGOP tax incentive, the Manufacturers and Agriculture Tax Credit (MAC), which was created in 2011, started phasing in for 2013, and lowered taxes for manufacturing businesses near zero by 2016.

The MAC offsets a significant share of Wisconsin income and franchise tax liability from manufacturing and agriculture activity. The credit is equal to 7.5% of a claimant's eligible qualified production activities income (QPAI). For 2023-24, the revenue reduction from the MAC is estimated at $495.6 million, which is 2.3% of overall general fund tax revenues collected in that year. …

The MAC is designed to provide tax relief in proportion to the amount of the claimant's manufacturing and agricultural property in its supply chain that is located in Wisconsin. For example, if half of the land and depreciable property a claimant owns or uses in manufacturing activities is located in Wisconsin, then the MAC would be equal to 7.5% of half of the claimant's eligible QPAI. The fact that the claimant owns other factories manufacturing different products in other states is not relevant to the computation of the credit. If 100% of the land and depreciable property in the supply chain is located in Wisconsin, the claimant would receive 100% of the credit (even if the manufacturer produces other products in Minnesota).

As discussed, the MAC is structured to reduce the rate of tax applied to QPAI. Assuming all of a corporation's income is derived from manufacturing and agriculture property located in Wisconsin, the MAC has the effect of reducing the statutory corporate tax rate of 7.9% to an effective rate of 0.4% on the corporation's taxable income (7.9% - 7.5% = 0.4%).

Here’s how the cost of the MAC has kept growing over the dozen years that has been measured so far, from just over $13 million in 2013 to more than $473 million by 2024.

Think we could have funded some schools, fixed some roads and facilities, and cut some property taxes with that money?

So in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars from WEDC to add a few jobs, Polaris got a huge reduction in their state taxes over the last 15 years. And it still wasn’t enough, as we found out in January.

Powersports company Polaris has announced it plans to wind down the operations at its facility in Osceola, which specializes in manufacturing parts for Indian Motorcycle and its snowmobiles.

The move impacts roughly 200 Wisconsin workers at the facility who were told about the company's decision last week.

In a statement, Polaris said:

"It was important for our employees to hear the news from us, as well as to have ample notice of the decision. We plan to wind down operations in phases and do not anticipate job impacts until this summer. We plan to shift the remaining powertrain and component production to other Polaris manufacturing plants. We recognize the difficulty this change will mean in the lives of employees, and we are committed to supporting them through this transition. We will offer separation benefits and outplacement assistance to impacted employees, as well as support relocation opportunities."

The company said it is shifting the production of powertrains to its facility in Spirit Lake, Iowa, later this year.

And the plant’s closure was confirmed by a notice received by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development last week.

Polaris Inc. (the “Company” or “Polaris”) will be permanently closing its entire Osceola facility located at 108 Industrial Drive, Osceola, WI 54020 (the “Facility”). The closure will occur in phases, beginning in July of 2026 and ending on or about January 31, 2027. The Company expects that the employment of 189 employees working at the Facility will end by the time the Facility completely closes, with the first wave of approximately 26 employment losses occurring on July 27, 2026 (or during the 14-day period beginning on that date). The Company expects additional employment losses will take place in multiple phases leading to the January 31, 2027, closure of the Facility.

None of the affected employees are represented by a collective bargaining representative.

So the righties can’t even blame unions for this one, since the Polaris workers weren’t in one.

Despite all the giveaways to companies and to manufacturers in general since the Republicans took over the Legislature in 2010, it’s never enough for these businesses. Sure, manufacturing jobs recovered in Wisconsin after the Great Recession, but they also recovered in the rest of America. And even with the MAC fully in place, it didn’t stop the state from losing manufacturing jobs in Trump Trade War 1 in 2019 and pre-COVID 2020.

Nor has that giveaway stemmed the tide of Wisconsin’s job losses in manufacturing since the Oct 2022 post-COVID peak – now nearing 33,000.

This tale about Polaris is all the more reason why you should never trust these companies to be in it for the long haul when it comes to these jobs or "expansion" announcements. It's just another way to squeeze a few more dollars out without having to take on risk themselves. And maybe we should use those hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits for actual investments that lead to real economic growth and an improved quality of life that encourages even more people to want to come to Wisconsin, make a good living, and start their own businesses.

After all, these corporations have had massive tax cuts at the Federal level for nearly a decade, and had their first round of tax cuts supercharged with the Big Bunch of Bollocks that got passed into law last year. How much more do we need to be giving these firms at the state and local level?