(The Center Square) – More semiconductor manufacturing is expanding in central Texas.
Tekscend Photomask Round Rock Inc. is expanding its production capacity at its manufacturing facility in Round Rock. It received a $15.2 million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant as an incentive. The company claims it’s making a $223 million capital investment in the expansion, which is expected to create an additionall 50 jobs.
“Since 1987, Tekscend Photomask has been proud to call Round Rock home, supporting the Texas and U.S. semiconductor industry with world-class photomask manufacturing,” Tekscend Photomask Round Rock President John Nykaza said in a statement. “The support from TSIF enables us to accelerate our expansion – boosting both our technical capabilities and our production capacity. This investment not only strengthens the regional supply chain but also creates additional high-skilled jobs here in Texas, ensuring we can meet the growing research and development and commercial photomask needs of our customers for years to come.”
“Texas is where the integrated circuit began and where the future of the semiconductor industry is being built,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. Tekscend Photomask’s $223 million investment and manufacturing expansion “will further strengthen a critical supply chain for semiconductor manufacturing in Texas,” he said. “By partnering with innovative industry leaders, Texas will lead the American resurgence in semiconductor manufacturing and the technologies of tomorrow.”
Tekscend Photomask is a leading manufacturer of photomasks, which are essential components in semiconductor chip production. The multi-phase expansion includes increasing the facility’s capacity by more than 40% and modernizing equipment to improve efficiency. The company also plans to extend “technology capability down to the 12nm technology node,” which is used in chip manufacturing for artificial intelligence, and a range of industries, including automotive, as well as for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and a range of devices.
A $3.5 million TSIF grant was also awarded to the Texas State Technical College for its Accelerated Semiconductor Technician Training Program at its Williamson County Campus in Hutto.
The grant “will transform existing instructional and lab space into a training facility focused on semiconductor and electromechanical workforce development,” Abbott said in a statement. Continuing to invest in high-demand skills training “will open the door for Texans to have better jobs and bigger paycheck opportunities,” he said.
The ASTTP program offers a 10-week modular, accelerated curriculum to prepare technicians for semiconductor fabrication jobs as equipment technicians, process technicians, and gas control system specialists. Students will learn inside a wafer processing facility that has a mock cleanroom that replicates industry workflows.
“Texas is the epicenter of business prosperity in the U.S.,” TSTC Chancellor and CEO Mike Reeser said. “That is why we will surely lead the way as our country re-shores and builds up our manufacturing and semiconductor infrastructure again.”
The grant comes after the Texas legislature passed House Bill 2132, which Abbott signed into law, establishing the TSTC’s location in eastern Williamson County as a permanent, independent campus.
The TSTC is the fifth college to receive the TSIF grant to advance semiconductor manufacturing skills training. The first was the Austin Community College District (ACC), followed by Temple College in partnership with Texas A&M University – Central Texas, the Texas Quantum Institute at The University of Texas-Austin and the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M University, The Center Square reported.
The grants are an outworking of the governor and legislature prioritizing Texas leading the U.S. in chip manufacturing. In 2023, the state legislature passed Texas’ CHIPS Act, which created a new Texas CHIPS Office, the TISF fund and grant, and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium, The Center Square reported. Nearly $700 million is being awarded through the TSIF. Prior to the Texas CHIPS Act, Texas already ranked first in the country for semiconductor manufacturing.
