What you need to know
In an Oct. 22 meeting of Opportunity Austin's Economic Development Council, panelists representing a variety of arms of the local technology industry shared insights regarding technology industry expansion in the area.
The panelists were:
- Emily Foulkes, leader of North America People team for finance technology company Wise
- David Shingledecker, senior director of facility and safety operations for semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier Tokyo Electron
- Eric Van Hensbergen, a fellow and member of the leadership team of the architecture and technology group at semiconductor and software design company Arm
The technology sector in Austin has experienced rapid growth, panelists said, and one of the first questions being asked by companies seeking to locate here are about power supply.
"So much of our current project was defined by how much power we could bring into the building," Van Hensbergen said. "In speaking with a lot of our partners, that's the No. 1 thing that they're looking for in regions that they're expanding into."
These considerations are especially relevant for data centers, he said.
Ed Latson, CEO of Opportunity Austin and moderator of the panel discussion, said power delivery is now "up there" with workforce in terms of priorities for even international businesses exploring potential projects in the area.
"They want to know if they're going to be able to get it now, and also what their plans are for the future," Latson said.
Van Hensbergen highlighted that a current expansion from Arm relies on how much power they are able to effectively bring into a building to power lab space and provide cooling, especially for technology powering artificial intelligence.
How we got here
At least five data centers have opened or announced intention to open in the Austin metro area in the last few years, according to previous Community Impact reporting, tapping into land availability and a deregulated energy market outside of Austin's city limits.
Did you know?
Susan Davenport, chief economic development officer for Opportunity Austin, said the regional economic partnership has 283 active projects under its management, with most businesses seeking to locate in the Austin area with domestic origins coming from California.
However, since the start of the year, most have come from an international source, led by Taiwan, Korea, India, Australia and the United Kingdom, she said.
A majority of projects underway are for general manufacturing operations, followed by clean technology and biotech or life sciences.
