And growing it is
By Justin Sayers – Senior Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal
Dec 22, 2025
Over the last few decades, Williamson County has transformed from a bedroom community to one that is on the radar of some of the most notable companies in the world.
That includes Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.‘s big factory in Taylor and Apple Inc.’s new campus on the north side of Austin, plus Tesla Inc. operations in Hutto and Taylor. They complement longtimers such as Dell Technologies Inc. and Emerson Automation Solutions that call Round Rock home, and Firefly Aerospace Inc., which is leading the local space race with a growing headquarters in Cedar Park.
That momentum has resulted in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of capital investment, but things slowed a bit in 2025 due to macroeconomic issues. Since October, things are starting to look back up.
In that span, there have been notable economic development wins like Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Pegatron Corp. acquiring a large building in Georgetown, Compal Electronics Inc. signing huge leases in Georgetown and Taylor, Texas Municipal League moving its HQ to Georgetown, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML Holding NV opening an office outpost in Hutto, Firefly expanding its HQ within Cedar Park, and Wright One Inc. picking Cedar Park for its HQ amid a nationwide search.
And more could soon be on the way.
Sources said several large economic development projects are imminent north of Austin in the areas of advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, rare earth minerals, and much, much more. Opportunity Austin, which recruits companies here, expects an announcement as soon as January.
All that’s to say that Williamson County continues to star on the global stage. More job growth is expected due to a reputation of being business-friendly, a talented workforce and having a good quality of life, stakeholders said.
But it also puts the onus on communities to plan better for that growth. The county’s population of roughly 728,000 is expected to double to 1.6 million people by 2050, larger than Travis County is today. The availability of water is at the forefront of the minds of community leaders. Electricity, too.
Williamson County on the minds of national site selection reps
Tracey Hyatt Bosman, managing director for New Jersey-based site selection firm Biggins Lacy Shapiro and Co., said their clients “continue to have a positive opinion” about Williamson County.
While it’s more common to discuss the area as the “greater Austin region” or the “northern suburbs of Austin,” she said companies are becoming more familiar with Williamson County as a defined geography, specifically those that are closely tracking the Samsung plant. They’re attracted to places with a “dynamic, growing workforce,” she said.
But that growth has led to other barriers.
It’s led to rising real estate prices and infrastructure constraints that are limitations to companies opting to locate here. Other considerations are the fact that the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport’s size lags compared to the region’s reputation, and that for some communities north of Austin, distance becomes a consideration because of Austin’s worsening traffic, Bosman said.
Still, the region continues to compete well for headquarters operations.
Take Wright One as an example. Founder Justin McAfee previously said he looked at 50 U.S. cities — everywhere from Bend, Oregon, to Longmont, Colorado, to Covington, Kentucky, to remaining in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he’d been for the last year — when evaluating a potential HQ location for the startup that makes cooling fans and perhaps drone parts soon.
McAfee said Cedar Park stood out almost immediately. There were practical reasons like proximity to a family ranch in Burleson, access to talent and cheaper costs. But he cited intangibles like “an energy” he felt from city staff who courted them.
The company received $1.2 million in incentives from the city to occupy an 18,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility at 1200 BMC Drive. It plans to employ up to 164 people by Dec. 31, 2028.
‘Incredible business corridor’
In his short time as Williamson County Judge, Steven Snell said he hasn’t been surprised by the recent wave of announcements. He doesn’t necessarily know about every project in advance, but he knows enough, like feedback he hears from around the world that “Williamson County is positioned to be an incredible business corridor.”
He said it’s on county leadership to be mindful of maintaining quality-of-life issues so that it continues to be attractive. That’s not only in the realm of transportation and public safety, but also in expanding higher education options.
But Snell’s primary focus is on water. Snell has been aiming to get the entire region at the table to develop a 50-year water solution. Williamson County commissioners have also set aside $500,000 to conduct a water study.
“As we grow, as Austin grows, as Hays County grows, water is going to continue to be a problem,” he said. “There’s plenty of water in the state, it’s just not here, right? So how do we get it here, how do we sustain it? And it’s not just bringing it here and using it, it’s how do we conserve it?”
Snell is optimistic if that can get figured out. “I just can’t wait to see how it develops and if we can be smart about development, it’s really going to be an incredible place to live and work,” he said.
Samsung is a good example of how water issues can play out. The new Taylor factory is fed by a water pipe that starts well outside Williamson County.
Full crest is coming
Interest in cities in Williamson County continues to be paramount. Take Cedar Park as one example, where officials are in contact with about 200 companies that would potentially expand or move there.
Arthur Jackson, chief economic development officer for Cedar Park, points out that Texas still is cheaper, in terms of taxes and overall costs, than much of the East and West coasts. The pool of high talent workers here is enviable, he added.
Cedar Park and Williamson County communities have done a lot to remove barriers to relocating here, like in permitting, planning, incentives, finding real estate and more, he said.
“I can’t tell you how many times (companies) have been in town for a site visit with Cedar Park, where they’ve mentioned other communities that were just not responsive, or when they were responsive, it was very late, and they weren’t as welcoming,” he said. “What I preach to my team is, I don’t care if it’s a billion dollar project or a startup that’s in the idea stage, hey, we’ll talk to you. We’re going to treat everybody with respect. It’s a business at the end of the day, and you don’t know who’s gonna be that next Firefly.”
Jackson said long decision timelines continue to be a barrier.
“I think with all the uncertainty around, whether it’s tariffs or the global economy overall, it’s causing people to take a step back and dissect their relocation or expansion strategy, and just take a little bit longer time to make a decision,” he said.
Georgetown Mayor Joshua Schroeder said a lot of their recent announcements are projects that have been in the works quite some time.
Georgetown continues to be attractive to high-tech manufacturers primarily because of power availability. Schroeder quipped that when his economic development department starts talking to a company, they usually discuss electricity first.
But while power is in good shape, Schroeder said water is the biggest barrier. The city has been fortunate that many of the companies that have announced Georgetown as a new locale are not heavy water users. It’s something they’re being mindful of as they aim to build out more industrial space.
“We’ve still got a lot of industrial, advanced manufacturing entitled and in the works. But we’ve got to have it because speed is such an issue. We’ve got to have it teed up, ready to go,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder said if the county can ensure all that, the sky is the limit. Every big deal leads to more fallout economic investment. Take Samsung as one example, as Central Texas hasn’t even seen the full swath of that wave yet.
“I tell people this all the time: It hasn’t even started. … That is the beginning of the wave, not the full crest,” he said.
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