It’s no question that Austin is known for its live music and amazing tacos. But did you know that it is also the home to many companies?
Tesla recently announced that it will be opening a new factory in Austin, Texas. They are not the first major company in the past few years to open a location in the heart of Texas. Let’s take a look at 5 major technology companies that have also moved to Austin.
Tesla
To kick off this list, let’s start with Tesla. Elon Musk announced on Wednesday, July 23, 2020, that they will be building their $1.1 billion ‘gigafactory’ in Austin. This plans to bring in 5,000 jobs to the area. The Austin location will be Tesla’s fourth plant in the U.S. and the second U.S. assembly factory. It will be the first to produce the Tesla Cybertruck and the second one to manufacture the Model Y SUV. Construction plans include building on the undeveloped land east of the ATX airport. Though it was announced that they plan to break ground in the 3rd quarter of this year, it’s reported that construction has already begun.
Apple
Apple is no doubt a huge technological powerhouse. They have been in Austin since 1992, but are building a new state-of-the-art Apple Campus in Northwest Austin. In 2019, Apple broke ground on its new $1 billion facilities in Austin, with plans to open in 2022. Apple has seen a 50% increase in employees in the last 5 years, and this growth isn’t about to stop anytime soon. The 3 million square foot space has plans to be able to house 15,000 employees at full capacity. Apple’s commitment to the community and its education initiative is present in Austin. They have partnered with Austin Community College and one of the few community colleges to offer App Development using Swift.
Amazon
Amazon has been a fixture in Austin since 2015 and currently employs over 5600 people. In 2017, Amazon acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods Market to offer grocery delivery services through its platform. As Whole Foods’ world headquarters is located in Austin, this furthered Amazon’s presence and employment here. But with Amazon’s plans to expand to 145,000-square-foot space in North Austin, they will add 800 tech jobs to their company. Austin is one of less than 20 Amazon North America software development offices. They have plans to grow Austin as a Tech Hub, and this expansion will allow them to do so. While it was rumored that Austin may be the location for Amazon’s HQ2, this isn’t related to those plans.
Google first opened an office in Austin in 2007. Since then, they have grown to have a presence in the city with over 1,000 employees currently.
In 2019, Google announced its plans to lease out 2 new office buildings in Austin. One located in East Austin and another in the heart of Downtown. This expansion will allow them to add many more to the 1000 employees they have now. While the second building is still under construction, Google has already moved into the first building. The plan is to finish renovations by 2023 and be able to populate it then. This expansion not only offers full-time Google positions but also numerous construction contracts as well.
Samsung
Though not having relocated to Austin in recent years, Samsung has been a fixture here since 1996. Properly known as the Samsung Austin Semiconductor, this facility manufactures parts for their electronics. They produce memory chips and serve customers worldwide. Samsung Electronics built a facility in Austin in 1996, near the end of their push to establish Samsung in the global industry. With investments totaling over $13 billion to date, the Austin location is one of the largest single foreign investments in the United States.
These are just a handful of companies that call Austin home. Can’t get enough of how Tesla is making change? Read here about how Teslas is using AI and Machine Learning to change the auto industry. You can also see which are the top cities for entrepreneurs here (hint: Austin might be one of them).
