AUSTIN, Texas, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Williamson County JudgeBill Gravell is the first to admit few people had heard of hissmall town of Taylor in Central Texas before South Koreanconglomerate Samsung announced it was building its new $17billion chip factory there. The Electronics Co Ltd plant, which is expectedto produce advanced high-performance chips, is hailed by local,state and U.S. officials https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-pick-taylor-texas-its-17-bln-chip-plant-wsj-2021-11-23as an important step in shoring up domestic chip supply andreducing dependence on Chinese production. “Today, Taylor, Texas might be better known around the worldthan any other city in central Texas,” Gravell, the county’s topelected official, said during a Wednesday interview. Gravell attributed the success of Tuesday’s announcement todirect collaboration with Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office,who he said got personally involved to secure the plant’selectricity supply with Sempra Energy’s Oncor ElectricDelivery Co. Gravell said Oncor’s Chief Executive Allen Nye met withSamsung President Jung-bae Lee in Austin earlier this year toassure the company that industrial users on Oncor’s network didnot suffer outages during last winter’s massive Texas snowstorm. Samsung has also struck an agreement with Canadian EPCORUtilities Inc to build a water pipeline to the plantfrom Alcoa, 25 miles (40 km) east of Taylor, Gravell said. “This plant will not affect any existing water sources, it’sa brand new water source brought in by Samsung,” he said. The county judge said state officials from the economicdevelopment department also helped him navigate internationalbusiness talks https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-decision-new-us-chip-plant-location-imminent-texas-county-judge-2021-09-10,recommending to him a book on Asian culture. “I wasn’t necessarily sure how to negotiate with Koreans,I’ve never had that experience before,” Gravell said. “I studiedup and learned the chapters by heart.” Samsung has not specified what the new plant will makebeyond advanced logic chips which can be used to power mobiledevices and autonomous vehicles. Gravell said company executives told him they did not knowthe technical specifics of the chips to be manufactured at thenew factory yet because today’s technology might be outdated ina few years. Samsung said the plant, which is projected to create 2,000high-tech jobs, would start production in the second half of2024. (Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas; Editing by KarishmaSingh) 2021-11-24T22:43:34.000Z
.