The New Industrial Revolution

by Dave Porter

For decades, U.S. manufacturers left this country in search of lower cost labor. Between 2000 and 2010 alone the United States lost more than 5 million manufacturing jobs. As the job market experienced a significant downturn, there was a parallel decline in vocational training programs due to the plummeting demand for skilled labor. Demand also shrank for industrial parks and sites, so many communities converted them into housing or retail developments.

In the short time I have been back in Central Texas, it is safe to say there is a new industrial revolution not just in Williamson County but throughout Central Texas.

So, what changed in Central Texas?

This revolution began three years ago, and three things come to mind:

Tesla and the entire automotive manufacturing market are shifting to electric vehicles. In the summer of 2020 Tesla selected Austin for a massive 10-million-square foot manufacturing facility and announced thousands of new manufacturing jobs.

COVID exposed major flaws in our global supply chain and caused major backlogs in factory orders and shipping.

The world became a dangerous place again and caused a major shift in U.S. foreign policy. The federal government invested in the resurgence of semiconductor manufacturing through the CHIPS Act, providing more than $50 billion to support new facilities in the United States.

The convergence and impact of these three 'events' have led to Williamson County being highly regarded as a potential location for a remarkable array of large-scale industrial initiatives.

In Hot Demand

In late 2021, Samsung announced Taylor would be the site of a new $17 billion semiconductor facility and more than 2,000 new jobs. Samsung has also secured financial incentives to build up to seven more fabs in Taylor.

CelLink will soon open a new electric vehicle parts manufacturing plant in Georgetown, creating 2,000 new jobs. As well, suppliers to Tesla and Samsung have created demand in Williamson County for new, large-scale industrial sites and vocational skills.

When I left the Austin region at the end of 2014 approximately 80 percent of the development projects were office related. In 2023, that has flipped to 80 percent being in manufacturing sectors. The winners of this industrial revolution will be those states, counties, and cities able to develop large tracts of land with good infrastructure and reliable utilities, including high-speed Internet.

Key Takeaway

Thanks to our pro-business environment, plenty of land, and great vocational training partners like Texas State Technical College in Hutto, Rural Capital Area Workforce Solutions, and Austin Community College, Williamson County is already a winner in this global race.

Dave is the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership Director. From 2004 to 2014, he served as senior vice president of economic development for the Austin Chamber of Commerce and developed Opportunity Austin, a regional effort to grow and diversify the Central Texas economy. He also served as the senior vice president for business development for the Orlando Economic Partnership, and most recently, Porter formed his own economic development consulting business. As a consultant, he worked with the WilCo EDP to create a strategic plan for the organization.