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Austin may soon be home to a tech plant that would dwarf the Tesla Gigafactory in both investment and job creation.
Samsung Electronics Co. is considering starting construction on a $10 billion memory chip plant in Austin as soon as this year, Bloomberg reported Friday.
<p>The Samsung plant would compete with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which is scheduled to begin construction on a $12 billion semiconductor factory in Phoenix <a href="https://azbigmedia.com/real-estate/taiwan-semiconductor-launches-38b-phoenix-presence-by-signing-major-lease/#:~:text=Taiwan%20Semiconductor%20Manufacturing%20Company%20is,to%20begin%20production%20by%202024." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">later this year</a>. </p>
<p>Samsung is capitalizing on a federal effort to draw advanced manufacturing plants away from Asia, Bloomberg reported. </p>
<p>Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC purchased roughly 258 acres of land in Northeast Austin in late October, near its existing chip manufacturing plant. Last month, Austin City Council approved a rezoning request from the company to allow for industrial use. </p>
<p>"The proposed (zoning) agreement will reflect almost the same conditions approved on the current Samsung Austin Semiconductor site," Case Manager Sherri Sirwaitis wrote in <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=351517" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a staff report</a> submitted to the council. </p>
<p>Samsung opened its first Austin plant in 1997 and has since expanded its campus, which now spans roughly 300 acres and employs around 3,000 people, <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2021/01/22/austin-could-be-home-to-10b-samsung-plant.amp.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to the Austin Business Journal</a>. </p>
<p>The company also has a long history of working with state and local governments on tax incentive deals. Between 2009 and 2019, Travis County rebated Samsung $65 million as part of an ongoing incentives agreement. </p>
<p>One of the people close to the matter told Bloomberg that the company may go ahead without such an incentives agreement. But the Travis County Commissioners Court is scheduled to consider whether to accept an application for an economic incentive agreement on Tuesday. A spokesperson would not say which company has filed the application—nicknamed "Project Silicon Silver." </p>
<p>Travis County commissioners last considered an unnamed economic incentives agreement application in May 2020, which was later revealed to have been filed by Tesla. They later approved a multimillion dollar incentives agreement for the electric automaker, which is currently building a $1.1 billion Gigafactory in Southeast Travis County. </p>
<p>In response to criticism regarding the agreement, Travis County commissioners voted unanimously <a href="https://austonia.com/travis-county-incentives" target="_self">last month</a> to amend its economic incentives policy to include community input requirements. As a result, if commissioners vote to accept the Project Silicon Silver application, the court will be required to post draft agreements publicly and host public hearings before taking action on any incentive agreement. </p>
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Tesla has filed plans to build a 30,000-square-foot showroom and vehicle service center at The Yard, a creative business center in south Austin.
<p>The space, located at 500 E. St. Elmo Road, is currently home to Music Lab, one of Austin's most beloved recording studios which had already downsized once by closing its popular West Oltorf location in 2019. It is unclear if the recording studio is relocating or shutting down completely.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" aria-hidden="false" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3447.76096245339!2d-97.76380758489368!3d30.21536918182052!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x8644b49844a28147%3A0x16c545a37d3361e2!2s500%20E%20St%20Elmo%20Rd%2C%20Austin%2C%20TX%2078745!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1610725077106!5m2!1sen!2sus" style="border:0;" tabindex="0" width="600"></iframe></div><p>Tesla's filings project construction to begin by this June, and will take an estimated three months and $2.5 million to complete. This will be the third showroom in Austin. The existing locations are located off of Research Boulevard in northwest Austin and in the Domain—this will be the first showroom in South Austin.<br/></p><p>The new location will be closer to the newest Tesla gigafactory in Southeast Travis County. It was less than a year ago that Elon Musk announced the automotive company would be building its next gigafactory in the Austin area. The factory will facilitate building the new Cyber Truck, Model Y and batteries for the cars. It is projected to begin operations this year.</p>
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(Christa McWhirter)
Trump supporters gather in front of the Texas Capitol while the U.S. Capitol building was breached.
While 2020 gave us at least two weeks of relative sanity before COVID-19 struck, 2021 started out in utter chaos.
Despite New Year's Day being relatively quiet for the American people, a break from the madness would turn out to be short lived. Here's a look at what the new year has brought so far:
<p><strong>Day 2</strong></p><p>On day two of the new year, University of Texas fans got news that <a href="https://austonia.com/tom-herman-fired" target="_self">Head Football Coach Tom Herman</a> had been fired. And only moments later, it was announced that Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian would replace Herman as head coach.<em><strong> </strong></em></p><p>The announcement came as a shock to many after they just watched the Texas Longhorns beat the Colorado Buffalos in a 55-23 bowl victory and finished the season with a 7-3 record. In December, Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte had also <a href="https://twitter.com/Jake_M_Garcia/status/1337847769185333249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1337847769185333249%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kvue.com%2Farticle%2Fsports%2Fncaa%2Flonghorns%2Ftexas-longhorns-tom-herman-keeps-coach-job%2F269-e544d73c-e0fe-4e98-912e-ded5127b05e5" target="_blank">confirmed Herman would keep his job.</a></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7d71f6c086215d17a928b45b06fc819" id="77490"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1345410804011708417"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/w0BcDoAJXM https://t.co/fqLa3dr1E0</div> — Chris Del Conte (@Chris Del Conte)<a href="https://twitter.com/_delconte/statuses/1345410804011708417">1609605906.0</a></blockquote></div><p><strong>Day 4</strong><br/></p><p>On Jan. 4, the city experienced the <a href="https://austonia.com/cedar-fever-reaches-high" target="_blank">second-highest levels</a> of cedar pollen in the past 25 years. This can be stressful because, while there are some key differences—primarily the lack of fever in the so-called "cedar fever"—pollen allergies and COVID-19 have similar symptoms such as congestion, runny nose, headache, fatigue and change in smell or taste.</p><p><strong>Day 5</strong></p><p>In week one of the new year, the U.S. has experienced massive spikes in positive covid cases. Hospitals are maxing out their ICU beds, <a href="https://communityimpact.com/austin/central-austin/coronavirus/2021/01/05/top-local-health-authority-says-austin-area-icus-are-on-track-to-exceed-capacity-in-the-coming-weeks/" target="_blank">a joint statement</a> from Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's HealthCare revealed on Tuesday said that 2,473 staffed beds within all three healthcare systems are 79% occupied, and the 483 ICU beds are 88% occupied.</p><p><strong><span></span>Day 6</strong><br/></p><p>Congress' met to certify the election results with some senators prepared to claim voter fraud, including Texas Senator <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/02/cruz-johnson-9-other-gop-senators-say-they-will-not-vote-certify-electors-unless-audit-is-conducted/" target="_blank">Ted Cruz</a>.<span></span></p><p>Trump supporters descended upon Washington D.C. in the thousands for the "Save America" <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/02/cruz-johnson-9-other-gop-senators-say-they-will-not-vote-certify-electors-unless-audit-is-conducted/" target="_blank">rally at The Ellipse</a> where President Donald Trump told the crowd to march down the road to the nation's Capitol building.</p><p>Protesters across the country gathered in front of their own state Capitol buildings, including hundreds of people who congregated in front of the <a href="https://austonia.com/trump-austin-rally-2021" target="_blank">Texas Capitol chanting, "Stop the steal!"</a><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="3840" data-rm-shortcode-id="e2221e9b6c75025880e8eef05800f302" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2OTAwMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzM0Njk0MH0.RKYCHc1xTQW3x98dEe4rFOLal0l1h6LB9h_bmvO7HvU/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="5760" id="2f657" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Signs from the Trump rally at the Texas Capitol on Jan 6.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Christa McWhirter</small></p><p>By mid-afternoon, the U.S. Capitol building was breached for the first time since 1812 by protesters in D.C. in what is being labeled by lawmakers across the country as an insurrection. Four people were killed in the riot—including <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/08/954842931/what-we-know-about-the-capitol-police-officer-who-died" target="_blank">one Capitol building police officer</a>.</p><p><strong>Day 7</strong></p><p>Austin's Ending Community Homelessness Coalition announced they would <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homelessness-count-2021" target="_blank">not move forward with the homeless count</a> for this year, following many other cities that have cited COVID-19 concerns.</p><p>Also on Jan. 7, the U.S. recorded for the first time a one-day death count of <a href="https://www.kut.org/covid-19/2021-01-08/u-s-records-more-than-4-000-dead-in-1-day-from-covid-19-a-grim-new-record" target="_blank">4,000 due to COVID-19</a>. In Texas, the first case of the more contagious COVID-19 strain was identified in a <a href="https://austonia.com/harris-county-new-coronavirus-strain" target="_blank">Harris County resident</a>. </p><p><strong></strong>Despite so much chaos at the beginning of 2021, one new Austinite seems to be doing well for himself. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was officially named the <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-elon-musk-richest-person" target="_self">richest man in the world</a>. The South African entrepreneur recently surpassed Jeff Bezos' worth of $187 billion when his worth rose to $188.5 billion.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a82a3a075a3afeb5c95b9745eb140613" id="319ad"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1347204459147902978"><div style="margin:1em 0">@teslaownersSV How strange</div> — Elon Musk (@Elon Musk)<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/statuses/1347204459147902978">1610033547.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Some say it feels like 2020 never ended with all that's happened in just one full week of the new year.<br/></p>
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(Mike Mareen/Adobe)
The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce has been awarded the Business Facilities 2020 Deal of the Year Gold Award for bringing the Tesla Gigafactory plant to the Travis County area.
<p>According to the chamber's website, Business Facilities is a national publication that has been the leading location source for corporate site selectors and economic development professionals for more than 50 years. It awards a gold, silver and bronze place every year, judging deals made across the country. It also lists honorable mentions. </p><p>While there were other major deals announced in 2020, such as the <a href="https://austonia.com/tech-companies-in-austin" target="_blank">Oracle headquarters also moving to Austin</a>, it was ultimately the Tesla deal that won the Chamber of Commerce the award.</p><p>In July 2020, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk announced Giga Texas would build a <a href="https://austonia.com/technology/tesla-coming-to-austin" target="_blank">$1.1 billion assembly plant</a> in Southeast Travis County after working through an incentive deal and deciding between Tulsa, Oklahoma. The electric automotive company will produce its Model Y, Cybertruck and semi tractor-trailer at the factory. </p><p>The move is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the Austin area, with many already listed on its website.</p><p>"The plant that will build Tesla's first entry into the truck market was one of the most coveted projects of the year," wrote Business Facilities Editor in Chief Jack Rogers in the award's announcement. "The Cybertruck assembly plant vaults Austin into the top tier of automotive manufacturing hubs."</p><p>Honorable mentions by Business Facilities also went to two other Texas deals: Pflugerville for its Amazon distribution center and Irving-Las Colinas for Microsoft. </p>
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