The Williamson County Economic Development Partnership has announced the opening of a new office in Seoul, South Korea. The office, opened July 1, is co-located with KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, est. 1962) and will share staffing, according to a press release from the county.
This comes just two months after Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell signed an international economic mutual cooperation agreement with KOTRA at the Korean agency’s new Global Partnering Center in downtown Austin. The judge signed the agreement one week after a Williamson County delegation visited South Korea and met with KOTRA representatives. He said details of the agreement were hashed out during the trip.
“We have placed a sign in the sky that says Williamson County is open for business,” Gravell said in the press release. “This office gives us boots on the ground locally so that when companies come to KOTRA wanting to do business in the U.S., they can walk them down the hall to our offices.”
The agreement with KOTRA is already paying dividends, as Wilco EDP reported two new business leads were formed in just the first two weeks of the Seoul office being opened.
“Korea has become a premier location for generating technology, so this is a great place to invest in an office that not only helps companies in South Korea locate in Williamson County, but is a launching pad for all of Asia,” said Dave Porter, executive director of the development partnership.
Wilco EDP is a collaborative venture between Williamson County and its encompassing communities. It was founded in 2014 with the goal of communities working together to attract new business to the county.
The organization was originally run by volunteers, but in August 2022, Commissioners’ Court approved funding of $500,000 for the agency in its 2022-23 budget. Wilco EDP then hired Porter to spearhead the operation.
In addition to receiving funding from the county, each city in the venture pays around $20,000 in funding, with larger cities paying more than smaller ones.
Its board of directors are made up of representatives from each of the contributing governmental entities including Williamson County, Taylor, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Hutto, Jarrell, Leander, Liberty Hill and Round Rock.
Mark Thomas and Regina Jo Carlson of the Taylor Economic Development Corp. represent Taylor, while Bob Farley and Cheney Gamboa, with the Hutto Economic Development Corp. represent Hutto.
As one of its first projects, the WilCo EDP Seoul office is hosting a half-day seminar Sept. 12 regarding how to do business in Williamson County. The agency says a delegation of economic development leaders, city managers and others from Williamson County will be attending to meet with an anticipated 100 to 150 companies.
Porter said that while Samsung Austin Semiconductor facility in Taylor has created the need for a large number of suppliers to locate in central Texas, the Seoul development office will also target other industry
