Sep 10
2021
Another competitor for Samsung plant
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A small city in central Texas is making big moves in the race to secure a $17 billion Samsung microchip plant that Western New York officials are hoping to lure to an industrial park in rural Genesee County.
Multiple news outlets in Texas have reported that officials in Taylor – a city of 18,000 in central Texas – have approved a development agreement for the Samsung project and taken steps to clear the way for the company to buy land for a 6-million-square-foot chip fabrication facility there.
The Austin American-Statesman reported last Thursday that the Taylor City Council approved tax rebates totaling about $240 million for Samsung, with the Board of Commissioners authorizing a separate tax rebate package that could be worth roughly $114 million. In exchange, Taylor would require Samsung to complete construction of the plant by Jan. 1, 2026, and to create 1,800 full-time jobs.
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A pair of South Korean news outlets offered conflicting reports on whether approval of the incentive deal meant Taylor would be chosen for the project.
The Korea Joongang Daily reported last week that Samsung has already selected Taylor as its preferred location.
The Korean Herald, the nation’s largest English-language daily newspaper, reported that Taylor is “still not a finalist” and that Samsung “appears to have one or two final candidates in mind.” The newspaper reported that Samsung is expected to make a final decision “soon.”
The Korean Herald also reported that New York has “jumped into the competition,” specifically referencing Genesee County’s Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, commonly known as STAMP, as a site that would be “supportive of semiconductor investments and businesses.”
The Genesee County Economic Development Center has spent more than $27 million in mostly state funds from the Buffalo Billion program to develop the 1,250-acre industrial park in the Town of Alabama. While the hydrogen fuel company Plug Power has agreed to build a new facility there, the site remains largely undeveloped and does not have a single commercial tenant.
In addition to the Taylor and Genesee County locations, Samsung has also reportedly expressed interest in sites in Austin and suburban Phoenix, Arizona.
Austin was viewed as an early frontrunner for the project, in part because Samsung already purchased land next to an existing facility there. Documents filed in Austin earlier this year showed the company seeking city, county and school district tax breaks totaling $1.77 billion.
Samsung continues to deny that Taylor or any other location has been chosen for the project, issuing a statement earlier this week that said “all sites” remain under consideration.
