(The Center Square) \u2013\u00a0Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s goal for Texas to dominate the domestic semiconductor and chip manufacturing industry continues to be realized as more companies are expanding operations in Texas. Texas is also beating out other states with the most Fortune 500 companies’ headquarters located there and it also keeps raking in top business ranking every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2023, as the supply chain crisis worsened and a chip shortage was feared during the Biden administration, Abbott and the Texas legislature advanced the Texas\u2019 CHIPS Act. The new law established a new Texas CHIPS Office, allocated $700 million for a TISF fund and established grants and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium. Nearly every month, new TISF awards are being announced, with the latest in Taylor, in central Texas, The Center Square reported.<\/a><\/p>\n But before that, Texas courted the South Korean tech giant Samsung, which in 2021 announced it was investing $17 billion in a new facility in Taylor. It was the largest foreign direct investment in Texas on record, bringing the company\u2019s total Texas investment to more than $47 billion since it began operations in the U.S. in 1978, The Center Square reported.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n By 2023, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, LLC, was awarded<\/a> a $250 million TSIF grant for its semiconductor fabrication facility in Taylor. Samsung Electronics has three semiconductor fab facilities in Texas, with the first built in 1997. Two are in Austin; one is in Taylor. It\u2019s also expanded operations in Plano over the last nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n In 2024, Abbott traveled to South Korea to secure investment in Texas manufacturing, including meeting with Samsung officials. He also met with South Korean SeAH Group executives who announced their plan to invest more than $110 million in a new steel manufacturing plant in Temple.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Abbott and the legislature established a new business court and Texas\u2019 first stock exchange was launched. Next came redomiciling announcements, all citing Texas\u2019 new business court, stock exchange, fewer regulations and pro-business policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Dell Technologies announced it was dedomiciling from<\/a> Delaware to Texas and Exxon Mobile announced<\/a> it was redomiciling in Texas, leaving New Jersey after more than 140 years, Samsung announced it was moving its headquarters to Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSamsung’s US headquarters have been based in the state of New Jersey for many years now, but that’s about to change,\u201d the tech giant announced<\/a>. Samsung Electronics America is relocating its headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to Plano, Texas, adding that Texas is \u201cwhere Samsung has poured billions into setting up chipmaking plants. Samsung’s most advanced US chipmaking plants are based in Taylor, Texas, where the company will make 2nm chips.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The full transition is expected by end of the year, \u201cintended to strengthen alignment across teams and offices, and sharpen our focus on the areas that will drive the greatest impact for our customers, partners and business,\u201d\u00a0Samsung said in a statement.<\/a> The move will impact roughly 1,000 New Jersey employees \u2013 one year after Samsung\u2019s New Jersey headquarters opened.<\/p>\n That headquarters will be closing, a move that was \u201cnot surprising, but it is no less sad,\u201d New Jersey Business & Industry Association president and CEO Michele Siekerka said<\/a>. “These are the results of decades of anti-business policies in the state. With New Jersey maintaining the highest corporate tax rate in the nation, by far, and its national reputation for business unfriendliness through regulation and other costs and burdens, we have seen our Fortune 500 companies go from 22 in 2018 to 15 in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n Texans see the move as a reflection of successful pro-business policies.<\/p>\n \u201cLast month, the Governor declared Texas the Financial Capital of America. That\u2019s a clear sign that the Lone Star State is planting its flag as the new center of the American economy. This week, Texas regained its position as the top state<\/a> for Fortune 500 companies, beating out California. From DEXIT to the HQ relocations, companies across the nation are recognizing that Texas means business,\u201d Texans for Lawsuit Reform CEO Ryan Patrick told The Center Square. Boom Belt states like Texas are seeing new business<\/a> due to tort reform championed by TLR.<\/p>\n Republican New Jersey Assemblyman John Azzariti agreed, saying Samsung\u2019s move \u201cis the latest warning sign that New Jersey’s business climate is becoming increasingly hostile to employers and investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTexas didn’t win Samsung by accident,\u201d he said<\/a>. Texas won because its leaders \u201chave spent years creating an environment where businesses want to invest, grow and create jobs. Meanwhile, New Jersey continues to raise costs, add regulations and send the message that employers are little more than a revenue source for government.”<\/p>\n