A key figure involved in bringing Samsung Austin Semiconductor to Taylor is retiring this fall.
At the regular meeting of the Taylor City Council, Mark Thomas, the CEO of Taylor’s Economic Development Corporation, announced his plans to step down from his position in the next two months as he highlighted his department’s budget for next year.
“This is probably my last budget presentation,” said Thomas, who has served in his role since 2016. “I will be retiring Oct. 31. I know it’s incredible. It has been a fantastic run. I just want to thank everybody, and the council, for this opportunity for being here in Taylor ... We have achieved a lot of things together, and it just seemed like it was the right time to pull the trigger and move on to other things.”
At the meeting, Thomas underscored the indicators of economic activity in play since the Korean multinational corporation set up shop in Taylor.
“If you haven’t been out at RCR Rail Park on (Farm to Market) 2243, they have erected very quickly the walls of a 390,000 square foot spec building,” Thomas said. “It’s already getting a huge amount of interest.”
Members of council praised Thomas for his role in bringing Samsung to Taylor and for his economic development stewardship of the city overall.
“Thank you for everything you have done for the City of Taylor,” said At-large Councilman Dwayne Ariola. “Your budgets are very conservative. While other EDCs are wining and dining, you really penny pinched. You will go down in history. Samsung is not here but for you and your relationships with landowners.”
Mayor Brandt Rydell also offered his appreciation for Thomas and recalled with irony an early conversation the two of them shared right after his arrival to town.
“You and I had an early discussion about your economic development strategy. You said, ‘Get the single. Get the doubles. While everyone else is chasing the big projects, let’s focus and be disciplined.’” Rydell recalls. “And that was our approach, and it was wildly successful. But despite our best efforts to avoid the big projects.”
“We failed miserably,” Thomas said with a laugh, referring to the initial $17 billion investment that Samsung promised in November of 2021.
“But you did phenomenal work, even with that big whale,” Rydell added.
