Samsung Puts $22.8 Million Into Central Texas Workers as TSMC Scouts the State
Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced $22.84 million for nonprofits, universities and a new skilled trades program in Taylor schools. The same day, chipmaker TSMC said it has sent teams to Texas to look at expanding here.
The race to build computer chips in Texas is turning into a race for the people who can build and run the plants.
Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced $22.84 million in community and workforce investments for 2026 on Thursday, Oct. 15, at an event at its Taylor plant called "Made in Texas: Boundless Opportunity," according to the company’s announcement. The same day, half a world away, the head of the world’s largest contract chipmaker said his company has sent teams to Texas.
Where Samsung’s money goes
The package breaks into two main pieces, the company said.
About $10.7 million is community money. That includes $10 million for 14 nonprofits through a new program called Spark!, aimed at Taylor and Manor, and $700,000 in yearly giving. The biggest Spark! grants go to Taylor ISD ($2.45 million), the Central Texas Food Bank ($1.6 million), Manor ISD ($1.35 million) and the city of Taylor ($1 million). The American Legion gets $600,000.
Another $10.64 million runs through 2029 for what Samsung calls its 5-Star Workforce Development partners. The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University each get $1 million a year for three more years. Austin Community College, Skillpoint Alliance and Texas State Technical College share $660,000 a year. The money supports scholarships, fellowships, curriculum and training.
A trades pipeline in Taylor
The piece that may matter most to families in Williamson County is the smallest. Samsung is putting $1.5 million into a new Skilled Trades Employment Pathway, or STEP, with Taylor ISD. It trains students to become electricians, welders, pipefitters and HVAC technicians, the Taylor Press reported.
Samsung is also growing its paid summer internship for Taylor ISD students from 24 to 30 spots starting in summer 2027. It has hosted 120 Taylor students over the past five summers.
"There is a high demand on electrical and HVAC employees to work on the fabs here at Samsung, and we want to make sure that our students are at the front of the line of opportunity." — Taylor ISD Superintendent Jennifer Garcia-Edwardsen, to KVUE
"Samsung Austin Semiconductor believes that investing in technology and investing in people go hand in hand," said Bonyoung Koo, the company’s president.
Samsung employs more than 4,500 people at its Austin and Taylor campuses. Samsung Electronics announced the Taylor plant in November 2021. KVUE reported the company is preparing to start work on a second factory there. The Korea Herald reported that Samsung says its two campuses put $10.9 billion into the Central Texas economy in 2025 and supported 28,746 jobs.
TSMC takes a look
On the same Thursday, TSMC chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that TSMC has sent teams to Texas. They are looking at expansion beyond its Arizona hub, the South China Morning Post reported.
Wei also said TSMC is talking with a potential customer about whether it would use manufacturing capacity at Elon Musk’s proposed Terafab project in Texas. He said any such plant "has got to be run by TSMC." The talks had reached no firm conclusion, Wei said. TSMC has not announced a Texas site, a dollar figure or a timeline.
Why it matters
Chip plants run on electricians and pipefitters as much as engineers. The Korea Herald cited an estimate from the industry group SEMI that the U.S. semiconductor industry could be short as many as 157,000 workers by 2030. If TSMC comes, Samsung’s new trades graduates will have more than one employer bidding for them. That is good news for a young person in Taylor willing to learn a trade.
Texas has a history of courting big employers with incentives. Our explainer on how the Texas Enterprise Fund works covers what the state puts in. It also helps that Central Texas companies keep raising money to build here, like Austin’s ICON.
Some honesty is in order. Corporate giving is also recruiting, and every dollar to a school district buys goodwill for a company that needs workers and local support. That is not a knock. It is how a healthy partnership works when both sides get something real. The test is whether Taylor students end up in good jobs that last. Until TSMC names a site, its Texas plans remain a scouting trip, not a factory.
