TAYLOR, Texas — After Samsung announced its new facility will be built in Taylor, the town's school district superintendent expressed his excitement for the impact the investment will have on his students.
"There's a kid sitting in an elementary classroom who is growing up in Taylor, Texas, whose life just changed and they don't even know it," Superintendent Devin Padavil said.
Padavil joined the school district in January and has been on-board with this project since the initial pitch to the tech company.
"We just climbed one mountain and we've got many more mountains to climb because now we need to seize that opportunity that we've been given through having a partnership with a company like Samsung and really make the most of it by giving our kids an outstanding experience where they can go into career fields that they may not have previously imagined," Padavil said.
With wide support from the community, students within Taylor ISD stepped up voicing their support for Samsung as well.
"Networking is a big thing that adults tell us, especially my teachers tell me, network as much as possible," Samantha McIntire, the student body president, said. "That really helps you in every path that you take. And, I feel, especially in a time where they're exploring their interests, taking as many internships in many fields as they can is a great opportunity to really find what they want to do with the rest of their life."
McIntire has been an avid supporter of the project for months, making her voice heard during a joint Taylor-Williamson County meeting in September announcing the development plan to Samsung. Almost equally as outwardly supportive, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell worked with Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell and Padavil to ensure internship opportunities were available to students as a result of this partnership.
"When Samsung's asking, 'OK, Judge, we need our first 24 interns and when can we get them?' I was excited because some of those kids that we met at that meeting in September are going to be some of those same kids that get to be interns at Samsung during the construction phase of the project," Gravell said.
Samsung said in an email on Wednesday that plans for when interns would start or what the internships would entail had not yet been finalized.
"I grew up in Round Rock, off East Main Street, and I remember when Round Rock was Round Rock before Dell and, you know, I didn't need a handout as a kid, I just needed a hand up. And so I worked hard to make sure these internships were in place," Gravell said.
"There are so many kids growing up in Taylor and the opportunities for them past high school, they're limited to a certain number of choices, they can maybe count on one or two hands," Padavil said. "Now, when they have a global opportunity like this, they see potential and opportunities to not just go into the career field, but to change their life for generations."
Samsung is set to break ground for the new facility next year, with plans to start producing semiconductor chips by the end of 2024.
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