Austin, TX
Will Central Texas semiconductor scene be rewarded with CHIPS Act funding? Experts say yes
It still remains to be seen if Austin-area projects will benefit from legislation designed to boost the semiconductor industry, as the Commerce Department starts announcing as soon as this month which companies will be awarded funding.
Central Texas is among a handful of regions expected to see a boost from the Chips and Science Act, which was passed in 2022. The legislation made $52 billion available for companies that manufacture computer chips, billions more in tax credits to incentivize chip manufacturing, and tens of billions of dollars to fund scientific research and development of other U.S. technologies.
So far, no projects in Texas have been included in the first handful of announcements made by the Commerce Department, but local industry leaders remain optimistic in the Austin-area’s ability to compete with the hundreds of projects waiting to see if they will receive the remaining funding.
Ed Latson, CEO of Opportunity Austin, said he anticipates the funding to make a major impact in Central Texas, which is already home to facilities from companies including Samsung Semiconductor, NXP, Tokyo Electron and Infineon.
“I expect to see grants being issued to local companies soon,” Latson said. “We have one of the most dynamic semiconductor ecosystems in the United States and this will only make us more competitive as a region and as a country.”
Kevin Fincher, CEO of the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association, agreed that the region remains in a strong position.
“I believe that Central Texas will lead in the semi-industry going forward, and we’re well positioned for that,” Fincher said.
The Austin-area’s existing ecosystem of companies in the semiconductor industry includes fabrication facilities that make chips, toolmakers and a supply base that works with the toolmakers and fabrication facilities.
Fincher predicted that Central Texas projects could hear about funding awards as early as March.
“We expect in the in the coming month, March, that there is going to be a slew of announcements that will start to come out,” Fincher said. “I think Commerce is finalizing the applications and we are going to hear some pretty hopefully exciting announcements coming, which will impact some of the companies working here or that have operations here.”
Even before the passage of the CHIPS Act, the Central Texas region has been poised to see big expansions to its manufacturing capacity. Samsung, which already had two fabs in Austin, announced last year that it planned to build a $17 billion chip factory in Taylor. Filings also show the company could put as many as 11 additional fabrication facilities in Central Texas in the coming decades, though the company has said it does not have concrete plans.
Semiconductor giant NXP also has been considering an expansion in Austin. Last year, the Austin City Council approved an incentive deal worth just over a million dollars. Following Raimondo’s speech, the company said it continues to engage with the Commerce Department on its proposals.
“While we cannot indicate a timeline with certainty, we understand the process could take a number of months and we are optimistic that the proposed expansion would meet the program goals,” a company spokesperson said. “We are pleased there continues to be an ongoing dialogue and movement on the need to support the industry.”
Fincher predicted investment will continue, both in company growth and in the workforce needed to support these companies.
Samsung to partner with UT engineering school, donate $3.7M to aid semiconductor workforce
CHIPS Act funding is leading to ‘tough conversations’
During a February 4 event hosted by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said there are “tough conversations” as the department works on distributing the funding. During the event, Raimondo also said the department would now be prioritizing projects that will be operational by 2030.
The changes came as leading-edge companies requested about $70 billion in funding, or about double the amount in federal subsidies available. So far, Commerce has announced about $2.5 billion in funding to three companies BAE, Microchip, and Global Foundries
Raimondo said while there’s risk in picking winners and losers, there is “way more risk in doing nothing” and said there will likely need to be another CHIPS Act in the future to continue to boost the industry.
“We’re going to have to say no to excellent companies with excellent proposals,” Raimondo said.
Raimondo acknowledged during the CISA event that companies were also likely frustrated to receive less funding than they were hoping.
While acknowledging that there have been project delays nationally that may be related to the rollout of funding, Matt Bryson, an industry analyst with Wedbush Securities, has already been working as intended.
“We’ve seen arguably a historic amount of chip infrastructure investment planned for the U.S., including from a number of companies that either had never invested in the U.S. or who had chosen not to invest in U.S. fabs in recent years,” he said.
He added, the focus on projects that will be completed by 2030 makes sense.
“If the goal is to accelerate investment, I think it necessarily makes sense to prioritize the bird in hand so to speak, vs. investment plans that are further out and that might not come to fruition,” Bryson said.
Fincher, of ARMA, said Central Texas will likely benefit from the 2030 timeline.
“We are very much in the right spot,” he said. “Most of the companies that we’re looking at will be set up and operational and running by then. So, I think that’s an advantage right now to our manufacturing sector here in Central Texas.”
AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.
What we know:
Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.
The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel.
Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.
On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.
The Source: Information from the Austin Police Department
Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.
Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.
Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”
“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.
Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”
“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”
Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.
“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”
The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.
The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.
Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.
Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.
AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas agency is concerned that the flesh-eating New World screwworm could be getting closer to Texas without commercial livestock movement.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is sounding the alarm again for livestock owners to remain vigilant in watching for signs of the parasite in their animals.
Screwworm sighting near Texas
The latest:
Miller said in a Thursday release that a screwworm had been detected in a cow in González, Tamaulipas, a little more than 200 miles from the southern Texas border.
According to the commissioner, the cow had no reported history of movement outside Tamaulipas, and is the third active case reported there.
Officials in Mexico have not reported a known population of the worm in Tamaulipas. They’re working with U.S. authorities to investigate further into the new case.
What they’re saying:
“The screwworm now may be moving closer on its own, with no apparent link to commercial animal movement,” Commissioner Miller said. “Texas producers must act now—stay informed, stay vigilant, and prepare immediately. We cannot drop our guard for even a moment.”
Inspect livestock for screwworm
What you can do:
Miller urged immediate action from ranchers along the Texas border.
“Inspect your animals daily,” Miller said. “Check every open wound. If anything looks suspicious, report it right away. Better a false alarm than a delayed response—early detection and rapid reporting are our strongest defenses against this devastating pest.”
U.S. plan to fight screwworm in Texas
Big picture view:
The threat to cattle has been deemed so potentially devastating to the U.S. food supply that the federal government is committing $850 million to fight it.
Most of that money will be spent on building a sterile male fly production facility near the border.
The facility will produce 300 million sterile male flies a week to be dropped into target areas where the screwworm is now. Those male flies help to reduce the population size through mating without reproducing.
A much smaller portion of the funding will be used for screwworm detection technology.
In addition, the federal government has already spent $21 million on a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.
What are New World screwworms?
Dig deeper:
The insect gets its name because it’s only found in the Americas.
It lays its eggs in the open wounds of animals, and its larvae become parasites, threatening livestock, domestic animals, and even people.
The screwworm was mostly eradicated in Texas and the rest of the United States in the 60s. But now, it’s moving north up from Panama and has a known presence a little over 300 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Sid Miller.
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