Wisconsin receives Business Facilities Deal of the Year Impact Award

WEDC’s work with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. and several regional economic development groups and governments to land a $3 billion development in Kenosha County was recognized with a 2025 Impact Award from the publication Business Facilities .

The Impact Awards showcase a particular focus of a corporate relocation or expansion investment project, in this case Lilly’s major expansion of existing manufacturing facilities at its Kenosha County campus.

The project, propelled by $100 million in Wisconsin Enterprise Zone Tax Credits, is expected to add about 700 new highly skilled jobs to Lilly’s existing workforce and support more than 8,000 construction jobs.

Those incentives, announced in August 2025, will help strengthen Wisconsin’s already strong position in the biohealth sector, demonstrated by the state’s federal designation as a Regional Technology Hub with an emphasis on biohealth.

At the announcement, Edgardo Hernandez, Lilly’s executive vice president and president of manufacturing operations, recognized Wisconsin’s importance.

“We look forward to bringing high-wage advanced manufacturing, engineering, and science jobs to people in Wisconsin, a state that is becoming a critical geography in in our global manufacturing operations,” Hernandez said.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, speaking at the expansion announcement, added that Wisconsin’s leadership in personalized medicine and biohealth provide a key source of growth and investment.

“We’re going to keep advancing research and innovation and bolstering Wisconsin’s manufacturing industry, all while supporting workers, families and patient across the state and the world,” Evers said.

The expansion adds medical device assembly and packaging capabilities for pre-filled syringes, autoinjectors, and vials. Company executives have emphasized that scaling capacity for injectable medicines is key to meeting patient demand, reducing supply chain risk, and grounding operations in U.S. manufacturing.

Wisconsin tax credits contributing to the development will be structured so that the incentives are tied to capital investment and job creation.

The involvement and partnership of the Milwaukee 7 economic development agency, the Kenosha County Business Alliance , Kenosha County , and the Village of Pleasant Prairie were crucial to attracting the project and ensuring its success.

The efforts of other economic development and government officials in support of Lilly’s ambitious U.S. expansion plans were also recognized in the pharmaceutical category of the Business Facilities’ 2025 Impact Awards.

Lilly’s multibillion-dollar projects in the greater Houston area and in Goochland County, Virginia, also earned awards for economic development efforts by state and local officials in those areas.

Business Facilities is a national publication and a leading source for corporate site selectors and economic development professionals.