Samsung plant in Taylor will provide opportunity
This week I attended a meeting in Taylor with some of the Samsung representatives to learn more about the schedule for the new Samsung facility in Taylor.
Some of the dirt work has already begun and by mid-2023 there could be as many as 10,000 individuals working to build the new facility. Clearly this will provide a tremendous amount of jobs and opportunity for everyone in Central Texas.
Starting in mid-2022 Samsung will begin job fairs as it plans to hire approximately 2,000 full time employees for the actual operation of the facility. Those with a GED to those with PhDs are needed to fill these positions. Anyone interested in a job should contact Texas Workforce Solutions in Rockdale (512) 446-6440 or go online to begin the process.
The Taylor facility is simply a massive undertaking. It will be located on 1,200 acres near the intersection of Williamson County Road 401 and Williamson County Road 404 just outside the city limits of Taylor. It will approximately double the size of the 600-acre facility that it currently operates in Austin.
The Austin facility began construction 26 years ago and over that period has evolved into an $18 billion investment, with 3,100 employees and a $4.5 billion economic benefit to the Austin area. The Taylor facility will begin with a $17 billion investment. Approximately $6 billion of the investment will be used for building construction and approximately $11 billion will be used for manufacturing machines. Samsung will power the facility with renewable energy.
The new facility will produce advanced semiconductors. These semiconductors chips are used in many facets of our lives. For example, the average car has approximately 10,000 chips and a luxury car has approximately 20,000 chips. Therefore, there is a huge need worldwide for the product. For example, our Annex renovation is bogged down because we cannot get a breaker panel with the necessary chip as there are not enough to go around.
No doubt this new semiconductor fab facility, as it is called, will have a huge positive impact on Milam County. It will provide badly needed good paying jobs with benefits. Combined with support companies and support jobber there will be a multibillion-dollar economic benefit to Central Texas.
Housing demands in Milam County will grow as will demands for other goods, such as food and incidental services. Needed sales tax revenue will increase. All of this is positive for Milam County and our surrounding counties. This is the Alcoa of the future and the job producer that has been sorely missed in this County since 2008.