'Beehive of activity': In Taylor, Samsung's giant expansion is well underway

Construction at the site of Samsung's $17 billon manufacturing facility in Taylor is on track so far, and the small Central Texas city is already seeing early effects from the arrival of the tech giant.
Samsung

Kara Carlson
Austin American-Statesman
November 6, 2022

Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell, a lifelong resident of the Williamson County town, estimates there have been more construction cranes in Taylor in recent months than ever before — maybe, he says, even rivaling the numbers in Austin.

Taylor's boom of activity, as well as the hundreds of workers contributing to it, are all for the same project — construction of the $17 billion Samsung semiconductor plant that got going this year.

The manufacturing facility, announced by the South Korea-based tech giant in November 2021, constitutes what's considered the largest direct foreign investment in Texas history. It's expected to transform Taylor, a city of about 17,000 that had previously been known primarily for its barbecue and small-town feel.

“You could tell from the cranes that go to the horizon that there's a lot of activity going on,” Rydell said, estimating there might have been more than 70 on the site at one time in recent weeks. “Not a lot has gone vertical yet so it's not obvious to the layperson, but it is a beehive of activity.”

Samsung's plans call for a 6-million-square-foot advanced chip factory on a tract of more than 1,000 acres southwest of Taylor's downtown, near U.S. 79 and County Road 401. Taylor beat out other sites under consideration, including Austin, in part because of incentives from the Taylor school district, the city of Taylor, Williamson County and the state worth hundreds of millions of dollars combined. Plans call for the factory to be operational by 2024.

Samsung describes the Taylor project as "going as scheduled."

Jay Janner/American-Statesman

'A lot of things going on'

The ongoing work is in many ways the talk of Taylor, which is about 25 miles northeast of Austin and currently counts a local Walmart among its top private employers. Once complete, the Samsung plant is expected to employ 1,800 workers directly.

The number of construction jobs needed to build it has been estimated at 6,500 to 10,000. In addition, community leaders and tech industry analysts anticipate the massive facility will attract an ecosystem of Samsung suppliers and service businesses.

“We do see a lot of activity in town, and new faces and a lot of things going on,” Rydell said.

The factory also might be only the beginning of Samsung's plans for the area.

The technology giant, which already has a fabrication plant in Austin, has said it's considering building 11 additional chipmaking facilities in the region — nine in Taylor and two in Austin — over the next two decades. If the company follows through, it could lead to nearly $200 billion in new investment and create more than 10,000 jobs, according to documents filed with the state. In Taylor alone, nine more plants could bring as many as 8,200 new jobs and $167.6 billion in investment.

Samsung’s economic impact is already starting to be felt around Taylor. According to an October report from the Texas comptroller's office, Taylor's portion of sales taxes collected by businesses in the city have more than doubled year over year, climbing to about $1 million in the most recent month available from about $470,000 in the comparable period a year ago. By comparison, sales tax revenue in nearby Hutto climbed about 21% over the same period.

Rydell said "the lion's share" of the increase in Taylor's sales tax collections is probably attributable to activity triggered by Samsung.

“That's a very real, very dramatic illustration of the impact it's having on our local economy,” he said. “If you project that out and what that could mean in the months and years to come, it's a very exciting prospect for the city of Taylor.” 

City of Taylor
Jay Janner/American-Statesman

'They want to be part of the community'

Samsung has been active in the Taylor community, hosting job fairs and engaging with the local school district. Over the summer, it provided internships to local high school students, and it also donated a total of $1 million to Taylor charities and the school district.

The company's other activities have included sending some of its younger engineers to talk to Taylor elementary school students about science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education, Rydell said, and it has hosted community events — such as soccer matches between company employees and the Fire Department that featured a taco truck and beers from a local brewery for people who came to watch.

Rydell said Samsung’s community involvement is part of what he and Taylor’s City Council have been anticipating since the project was first discussed, and part of why the city was excited to land the tech giant.

“They want to be part of the community and want to add to the vibrancy of Taylor,” he said. "These are still early days with Samsung. (But) you are already seeing a very positive impact from Samsung's presence in our community, and it just excites me for what the future will hold."

Still, there have been growing pains, including increased traffic in areas around the future facility. 

“When a project like this comes up, you can't prepare for it,” Rydell said. “You can't have everything perfectly situated to accommodate a $17 billion semiconductor fabrication facility, particularly in relatively rural eastern Williamson County. We knew there were going to be some challenges and some growing pains, and we are working with our partners to address them.”

Some roads near the facility have closed in recent months, including parts of County Road 404, which would have cut through the middle of the Samsung site. Williamson County is working to relocate the road to help alleviate congestion, with plans calling for an interim four-lane road to connect it to FM 3349 and the future Southeast Loop. Eventually, a six-lane road will be built "as growth necessitates and as funding becomes available," according to the county's site.

In the meantime, Rydell said the city is working with the county, state and Samsung to relieve the traffic, because the number of construction vehicles is a concern.

“We're all working towards finding ways to ensure the greatest amount of safety we can because the area is experiencing a load and level of volume of traffic, mainly with the heavy truck traffic, that we haven't seen out in this area," he said. "Our infrastructure, and road infrastructure, is needing to catch up, and it's going to take us some time to accommodate it.”

Beyond Samsung, the city and areas surrounding it are continuing to evolve with other projects.

On one recent Wednesday, Rydell said he attended a ribbon-cutting for a new, small park in Taylor and a groundbreaking for construction on FM 3349 and U.S. 79, another county road project. The road construction is near a 755-acre logistics park that first opened in January 2021 and has been billed as the largest rail park in the Austin area, with service from Union Pacific and BNSF Railroads.

Not much opposition to project, growth

Overall, Rydell said he initially anticipated more backlash and opposition to the Samsung project than it has received.   

“I thought there'd be an appreciable portion of the citizenry that would be less than thrilled with the prospect of having this massive economic development project in their community, and with all the fears and concerns that come with how that might change things,” Rydell said.

“What I found is more often than not just a real excitement and enthusiasm for what Samsung's presence can mean for Taylor," he said.

Rydell said Taylor was bound to grow and change with or without Samsung. But accomplishing it with a “great corporate citizen” willing to be part of the community is better than just adding “a sea of rooftops” without any commercial or industrial base to complement it, he said.

“We're really excited to have Samsung here and what they're bringing to the community. We're excited about the ancillary business development that will come along with it," Rydell said. "Hopefully, other vendors and suppliers that service Samsung will look to locate in Taylor, and along with that we'll have residential development" that will complement the new industrial and commercial base.

He also said the company's presence should lead to additional connections through a future sister cities initiative with the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek, where Samsung's flagship manufacturing facility is located.

"We have an interest in not only that facility, but also the city and the community that supports it," Rydell said. "We want to learn from them about what it is to be a city that is the site of such a dramatic and important endeavor."