NXP seeks tax breaks for chip expansion

NXP Semiconductors NV is considering Austin for a $2.6 billion expansion that would create hundreds of jobs.

Representatives for the Dutch chipmaker held a meeting with Austin Independent School District board members Tuesday about potential tax breaks in exchange for expanding two facilities in the metro and adding 800 high-paying jobs. The new employees would earn average salaries of more than $100,000, according to Jason Stanford, a district spokesman.

NXP is also looking at other cities as potential sites, according to company spokesperson Jacey Zuniga. The chipmaker expects to make a final decision in the fourth quarter of this year and begin construction in 2024.

The Texas capital, already home to Silicon Laboratories Inc. and Cirrus Logic Inc., has become a growing hub for the semiconductor industry. Last year, Samsung Electronics Co. announced plans for a $17 billion plant about 30 miles from Austin.

Micron Technology Inc. has been scouting the area for a new multibillion-dollar chip plant; Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has a significant presence in the metro and German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG has been studying a $700 million expansion of its facility in the region.

The school district will vote in two weeks on whether the chipmaker can move forward with an application for the tax breaks, known as a Chapter 313 agreement, according to Stanford.

NXP makes chips for cars, phones and industrial equipment. The company has four wafer fabrication facilities in the US, two of which are in Austin.