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Samsung Electronics exec: the investments that endure construct greater than factories

In Taylor, Texas, Samsung is preparing to open a new advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility. It began as the largest investment we had ever made in the United States. But the most important thing about Taylor is not the size of the facility or the dollar figure attached to it. It is what is being built around it.

This approach reflects a lesson Samsung has learned over nearly five decades of investing, manufacturing and hiring in the United States: putting up capital is not the same as putting down roots. Samsung has invested more than $100 billion in the U.S. during that time and has been manufacturing semiconductors in Central Texas for more than 30 years, with the total investment in Texas expected to reach around $40 billion by the end of this year. 

Our U.S. operations, anchored by our semiconductor operations in Central Texas and Silicon Valley, generate more than $40 billion in economic impact to the local economies and support more than 175,000 jobs. In 2025 alone, our Austin and Taylor campuses contributed $10.9 billion to the Central Texas economy. Many of our supply chain partners are following suit by relocating or expanding their existing presence in the area. 

A semiconductor fab can be built in a few years, but becoming part of a local economy takes much longer. It requires skilled workers, suppliers equipped to grow alongside new investments, and educational institutions that prepare people for emerging opportunities.

That commitment is reflected in Samsung’s new $22.84 million investment in Central Texas this year that will help build a sustainable pipeline of semiconductor talent. The investment includes a new community engagement program, Samsung’s 5-Star Workforce Development partnership plan, a new industrial trades training program, and an expansion of our paid internship program with Taylor Independent School District (ISD).

Samsung is also deepening its partnerships with The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, local community colleges, and high schools across Central Texas. These partnerships support scholarships, fellowships, curriculum development, training programs, and educational resources. 

That commitment extends to Silicon Valley, where our semiconductor headquarters has been based since 1983. Fabs depend on skilled people, so we invest in the educators and mentors who shape young people’s paths, reaching more than 50,000 students and 800 educators locally each year. We equip teachers with real-world semiconductor skills, including a fellowship that embeds an educator with our R&D engineers to build classroom-ready STEM lessons. Whether in Texas or California, the goal is the same: a workforce ready for the opportunities this industry will create.

Our efforts to lift up the next generation of talent go beyond semiconductors. Our experience across the U.S. — from home appliance manufacturing in Newberry, South Carolina, to community STEM programs like Solve for Tomorrow — has shown that long-term value depends on equipping local talent to innovate. 

Companies cannot not wait until a position needs to be filled to invest in that capacity. As the skills required across manufacturing and technology change, workers will need more accessible pathways into new careers — and young people will need earlier opportunities to see themselves as innovators and problem-solvers.

Since 2010, more than 620,000 students have participated in Solve for Tomorrow, with Samsung providing technology and classroom resources to more than 4,300 schools nationwide.

paul
Paul Cho is President and Head of Device Solutions Americas, Samsung Electronics.

courtesy of Samsung

The projects vary widely, but they begin with the same question: What is a problem in my community, and how can I help solve it? Giving students the tools to answer that question is different from building a manufacturing facility, but both can leave a community better prepared for what comes next.

This is why global scale and deep local roots are not competing ideas. The strongest global companies measure success not only by what an investment produces today, but by what workers, institutions, and communities are equipped to do tomorrow.

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, much of the conversation about its economic future is focused on what the country must build next. Communities receiving new investments have every right to ask a related question: What will remain after the announcement is made and the ribbon is cut?

The answer should be more than a facility or a dollar figure. It should be people with new skills, stronger pathways into emerging industries, suppliers prepared to grow, and institutions equipped to support future opportunities.

Capital can build a factory. Durable investment builds the capabilities that allow companies and communities to keep moving forward together.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

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