Gummy bear giant to build first North American plant

MILWAUKEE - The German giant that originated the gummy bear will open its first North American candy factory in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., bringing hundreds of jobs and nearly a quarter-billion dollar investment to the rapidly growing area near the Wisconsin-Illinois border, Gov. Scott Walker announced Thursday.

Haribo of Bonn, Germany, will invest $242 million in the plant and create 400 jobs there when the factory opens in 2020, Walker said.

'These are well-paying jobs above market (salary) and they tend to offer a full benefit package,” Walker said at a news conference.

Flanked by Republican lawmakers from the area, Walker said that the company has committed to build the plant but that the state still is finishing negotiations on an incentive package. Pleasant Prairie is also still negotiating the sale of the land, officials said.

Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Mark Hogan said that the state wouldn't be able to talk about the tax credits or other incentives being offered until the contract for them had been signed.

Haribo gets its name from the first letters of the names of its founder Hans Riegel Sr. and its birthplace, Bonn. There in the wake of World War I Riegel introduced the world to gummy bears, or as they say beside the Rhine River, 'Gummibarchen.”

The company is as iconic in Germany as some American candies are here, with a Depression-era German jingle that translates as 'Kids and grown-ups love it so - the happy world of Haribo.” The company, still led by Riegel family, has nearly 7,000 employees worldwide who produce 100 million gummy bears a day.