A series of November meetings involving U.S. Department of Commerce officials, local businesses and elected community leaders could result in assistance to Taylor and the region from multiple federal agencies.
Much of the discussions are powered by the Biden Administration’s support of a strong domestic semiconductor industry and preserving national defense, which includes the operations of microchip plants such as Taylor’s Samsung Austin Semiconductor.
The meetings in Taylor, Georgetown and Austin on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 were a part of 26-state, 40-city tour by representatives of the CHIPS for America program of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. The office manages the $52 billion in funding created by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, including $39 billion in manufacturing incentives.
While the meetings could lead to some federal assistance in Taylor, the funding won’t be coming from the pool of money tied to the CHIPS program, which provides grants to leverage private investment in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, the supply chain, workforce development and technology research and development.
CHIPS officials are working to connect communities like Taylor, home to the $18 billion Samsung chip foundry, to other federal agencies to help meet needs such as small-business development, affordable housing, transportation, education and security, according to a CHIPS representative.
“We talked a lot about housing,” said Tia Rae Stone, president and CEO of the Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce, about the meeting between leaders of small businesses and federal government officials.
The loss of an apartment complex in a flood eight years ago is still felt in the community, Stone said.
“We lost 35 homes for the poorest people in our community and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hasn’t taken steps to replace them,” she said. “Some attention from HUD right now would be helpful.”
More housing for Samsung workers and employees of related industries are needed in east Williamson County, officials have said.
Stone also said the business owners talked about the need for more access to services from the Small Business Development Center, a program of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The closest SBDC services are run by the Texas State University System in north Austin and Round Rock.
A CHIPS for America director who attended the meetings in Taylor and Austin said the Biden Administration called for an interagency task force that would help facilitate connections that can aid communities important to the semiconductor supply chain.
The official is responsible for coordination between government agencies and spoke to the Taylor Press on condition of not publishing his name in order to speak freely.
Key stakeholders including the Taylor Chamber, economic development initiative Opportunity Austin, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell and the office of Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell have been part of the conversation in implementing the programs in Central Texas, he said.
“These are all folks who have played a real leadership role as far as facilitating semiconductor- ecosystem development, and we’ve really valued their partnership and collaboration as we continue to iterate program design,” the Commerce official said. “It was a really good opportunity to do that on the ground. They obviously have a fairly robust semiconductor ecosystem.”
The federal team also met with Austin Community College about the role it played in workforce development.
The multiagency effort goes beyond the act’s manufacturing incentives program.
“If we identify an opportunity or a gap or a need for support in a vertical that is not directly tied to the Department of Commerce, we want to ensure that we are working within that executive council that the president convened to identify ways to help outside those manufacturing incentives,” he said.
“This is a really historic moment as far as resources available to communities,” the Commerce representative said. “So there’s a lot of things we can connect folks to as far as resources to assist in that ecosystem development that is not necessarily tied to the manufacturing of chips, but is essential to building out that ecosystem such as housing, infrastructure development, labor and workforce challenges, and the list goes on.”
For local government officials, the biggest issue addressed in the meetings was that of the growing need for emergency response that comes with the economic development spurred by the semiconductor industry.
“Judge Gravell doesn’t forget to remind us about his need to scale emergency management and add to response capacity,” the CHIPS for America official said.
That includes law enforcement and disaster response. Those resources, he said, can come from a combination of local, state and federal sources. These are similar concerns from other semiconductor- affected communities across the country, he said. The ultimate goal of the CHIPS program and the underpinnings of the CHIPS and Science Act is national security. More advanced semiconductors than those made in the U.S. were in short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic and gummed up the supply chain for everything from pickups to advanced weapons systems. Companies such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Intel and Global Foundries are investing with U.S. government aid in making the advanced semiconductors stateside.
A spokeswoman for CHIPS for America called it “a lynchpin of (President Joe Biden’s) national security agenda.” The act calls for regular interactions between the Commerce Department, the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.
The bill passed July with 24 Republicans voting with all U.S. House Democrats. Two of those Republicans giving a nod to the legislation belonged to the Texas congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, whose district includes a part of Round Rock.
“We are interested in developing a resilient industry” that doesn’t rely as heavily on manufacturing outside of the borders of the U.S., the spokeswoman said in an interview given on background. Part of that involves engaging the communities where chip manufacturing is happening.
Once again, thanks to the importance of microchips to the world economy and national defense, Taylor remains a key player, officials said.
“This is the security of my country,” Stone said. “Taylor playing an important role in that is an honor.”
