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In the past few days, Williamson County and the city of Taylor appeared to have emerged as front-runners in landing a $ 17 billion chip manufacturing facility planned by Samsung.
Now it appears that the tech giant has actually chosen the small town in central Texas as the location for its next major operation, according to media reports.
Citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the decision, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday evening that Samsung had selected Taylor over locations in Austin, Arizona and New York.
Samsung has not officially confirmed the decision, and a company spokesman did not immediately respond to messages the American statesman left on Monday night. However, the announcement is expected to be made in a press conference with Governor Greg Abbott at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.
More:Will Taylor site lead the way in landing a $ 17 billion Samsung facility?
More:Tax Break Talks Delayed Between Samsung And Travis County; Impact on the future of the $ 17 billion factory unclear
More:Williamson County OK’s incentives are aimed at bringing a $ 17 billion Samsung asset to Taylor
More:Williamson County officials swing for the fence to land the Samsung Taylor site
If Samsung actually builds the facility at the Taylor site, it will be the latest in a formidable series of economic development wins for the Austin area, and for its technology sector in particular.
Tesla announced on October 7th that the automaker will be relocating its headquarters from California to Austin. That news came 15 months after Tesla selected a location near Austin as the location for its $ 1.1 billion manufacturing facility. Software giant Oracle announced last December that it was moving its corporate headquarters from California to Austin, and a number of other tech giants – including Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon – have recently expanded their operations in central Texas.
Taylor had risen to the top spot in the past few months – in part due to the willingness of Williamson County government officials to offer significant tax breaks to the Williamson County authorities for Samsung.
Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies, said Samsung likely landed on Taylor because Williamson County was willing to make more concessions to land the facility.
“Samsung will likely have an easier time asserting itself in future negotiations with Taylor, which will be relatively more dependent on Samsung than Austin,” said Kay. “It’s a big deal for Taylor and a relatively small loss for Austin.”
Kay said the location’s proximity to Austin also means tapping into its existing talent pool.
“Taylor is only 30 miles from Austin. Samsung can move talent pretty easily. Some of the Austin employees could see life in a quieter corner for a while and all of Austin’s talent pool is just on the way, ”said Kay.
Last week the Taylor Independent School District approved an incentive deal that, if Samsung accepts, could offer the company about $ 300 million in tax savings to build its chip factory near Taylor. That comes after Williamson County and the City of Taylor approve agreements that could be worth more than $ 350 million in tax breaks over 10 years to Samsung.
While all three agreements were approved in Williamson County, Travis County failed to approve three potential incentive deals that Samsung was seeking in exchange for choosing a location for its new facility near its existing Austin operations.
The company currently has a fab factory in Austin with 10,000 employees, 3,000 Samsung employees and 7,000 contractors. The tech giant also has a research and development facility in Austin, where the largest operation is outside of its South Korean headquarters.
Samsung had bought land near its existing Austin facility for possible expansion last year, but talks in Travis County to approve incentives have stalled.
According to documents filed with the state earlier this year, Samsung requested tax breaks from the city of Austin for $ 872.5 million over 20 years and Travis County tax breaks for $ 610.5 million over 20 years and $ 285.5 million in tax relief from the Manor Independent School District over 10 years for a combined city, county and school district tax relief of approximately $ 1.77 billion.
None of these possible tax breaks have been approved.
For a small town like Taylor, the appointment of a high-tech global employer has the potential to be monumental.
Local executives and residents are excited about the facility’s potential. At a joint meeting in September between Williamson County Commissioners and Taylor City Council members, community members overwhelmingly voted in favor of the project, saying it would bring jobs and opportunities for residents and students. Ian Davis, owner of the Taylor-based brewery Texas Beer Company, even promised to name a beer for Samsung.
Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell also said at the time that he appreciated the opportunity to apply for the project.
“If Samsung selects Taylor as the location for this project, it will open a world of opportunity for this community, for our companies, for those who do business with this community, for our children,” said Rydell
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https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/11/22/report-samsung-picks-taylor-site-17-billion-chip-plant/8729604002/
