Governor Greg Abbott announced on November 23 that Samsung will build a large semiconductor manufacturing plant in Taylor, Texas. Samsung selected Taylor over several other options that included New York, Arizona, and Austin, Texas. The facility is expected to cost $17 billion and will add many good-paying jobs for the Silicon Hills region.
Samsung chose the town of Taylor because of the proximity to the company’s manufacturing facility in Austin, friendly business climate, and wealth of talented people. Groundbreaking is anticipated in early 2022, with a goal of getting the Samsung facility operational by 2024.
“Companies like Samsung continue to invest in Texas because of our world-class business climate and exceptional workforce,” said Gov. Abbott. “Samsung’s new semiconductor manufacturing facility in Taylor will bring countless opportunities for hardworking Central Texans and their families and will play a major role in our state’s continued exceptionalism in the semiconductor industry. I look forward to expanding our partnership to keep the Lone Star State a leader in advanced technology and a dynamic economic powerhouse.”
Dr. Kinam Kim, Samsung’s Vice Chairman and head of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division, said the investment builds on Samsung’s 25-year history of manufacturing in Texas.
“This new site in Central Texas will be a bridge connecting the shining past and tradition of our current facility in Austin to the bright future full of possibilities,” Kim said. “We would like to share our sincere gratitude with everyone who has been part of this journey with us from the beginning, especially the representatives from the great state of Texas, Williamson County, and the city of Taylor.”
Sen. John Cornyn joined Abbott and Kim at the Governor’s Mansion to make the announcement. He said the new Samsung facility will help to reduce the U.S. reliance on processor chips built overseas and alleviate the global chip shortage.
“Every industry has been negatively affected by the chip shortage, but what keeps me up at night is a threat to our national security,” Cornyn said. “The world relies on the Indo-Pacific region for the lion’s share of our chips. In fact, just one country, Taiwan, makes 63 percent of the advanced semiconductors in the world. If China continues to saber-rattle and threaten its neighbors, the majority of the world could be at their mercy when it comes to our supply of these critical semiconductors.”
Abbott was asked about the power grid, which suffered a significant failure last year during a winter storm. Abbott said that numerous improvements have been made, starting with replacing the operators who bore the brunt of the blame for allowing the grid to fail.
“I’m extremely confident that the power grid is stable and resilient and reliable, and I’ve been working very closely with both the PUC Chairman and the head of ERCOT, as well as the team that we’ve assembled at ERCOT,” Abbott said. “And, if you know all the changes that they have already implemented, as well as additional changes they will continue to implement over the coming weeks, you will know that we will have a very robust, effective, and safe power grid.”
The new Samsung facility is expected to cover more than five million square meters and will directly employ about 2,000 people with many other jobs that will be created in related fields. The facility is the largest single investment Samsung has made in the U.S. since arriving in 1978.