Technology company Applied Materials is considering a site in Hutto for a new $2.4 billion research and development facility that could employ hundreds of people and mark another big addition to the booming Central Texas high-tech sector.
Representatives of Applied Materials, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and has a manufacturing center in Northeast Austin, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday.
During a meeting Thursday night, board members of the Hutto Independent School District voted to formally consider an application from the company for tax breaks for the project.
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Speculation has circulated for months that Applied Materials was considering Hutto for a significant project, but the school board meeting was the first official confirmation of it.
Hutto city officials have been using the code name “Project Acropolis” in confidential deliberations over possible city tax breaks for a company that’s widely believed to be Applied Materials.
During a meeting of the city’s economic development agency in January, officials said the company behind “Project Acropolis” — which they described as a high-tech manufacturer involved in “the design and fabrication of components for electronic devices” — could employ 800 people and result in about $2 billion in investment in Hutto.
They also said at the time that total city tax incentives for the project are estimated at $80 million over 10 years.
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The Hutto school board’s decision to consider Applied Materials’ application through the state’s Chapter 313 incentive program sets in motion a process in which the deal will be analyzed by the state comptroller’s office and further negotiated by the school board before coming back for a final vote.
“It will be several months before you have the opportunity to make a final decision,” Sara Leon, an attorney for the Hutto school district, said during Thursday’s school board meeting.
The amount of tax breaks that the company is seeking from the Hutto school district is unclear, because a copy of its application had not yet been posted to the comptroller’s website Friday.
Under the state’s Chapter 313 program, school districts are reimbursed by the state for the corporate tax breaks they agree to provide, an attribute that has made the program controversial among critics who say districts have no reason not to grant them.
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‘A huge opportunity’
Some members of Hutto’s school board described the Applied Materials project as a potential boon to Hutto, a Williamson County city about 25 miles northeast of central Austin with about 28,000 residents.
“A big company likes this represents a huge opportunity for a town like Hutto,” school board member Felix Chavez said.
According to documents presented to the school board Thursday, Applied Materials would start building the facility next year if the project goes forward and finish in 2026, creating 7,190 construction jobs.
Founded in 1967, Applied Materials is one of the world’s largest suppliers for the semiconductor industry, providing manufacturing equipment, software and other services. It has about 27,000 employees, according to its website, and had $23 billion in revenue in its fiscal year 2021.
The manufacturing center it operates in Northeast Austin off U.S. 290 employs about 2,500 workers.
If Applied Materials chooses Hutto for its new facility, it would add to the Austin metro area’s recent string of major economic development wins.
In November, Samsung announced it would build a $17 billion chipmaking facility near Taylor, which is also in Williamson County. The next-generation chip fabrication plant is expected to employ 1,800 people. Electric automaker Tesla late last year announced that it had moved its corporate headquarters to Austin, and in December started production at its new $1.1 billion Travis County manufacturing facility.