Republic of Korea, U.S. and Texas flags attached to a trio of looming backhoes flapped in a stiff breeze as iMarket America broke ground Monday on a new technology park that will draw companies to Taylor promising thousands of jobs.
“This is a new growth engine for Taylor,” iMarket America CEO Incheol Kim told a group of about 100 dignitaries from Korea, Samsung Austin Semiconductor and Williamson County.
The Gradiant Technology Park will have nearly 2.3 million square feet of industrial and office space on 212 acres at 112 FM 427.
Gradiant, the parent company of iMarketKorea, is a mashup of the words “great” and “radiant,” will build out the park in three phases over the next few years.
The buildings in the first phase of the South Korean-based iMarket will establish its U.S. headquarters. The business park is a new concept for the company, which is a long-time procurement enterprise for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
The latter will open its $17 billion advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility in Taylor sometime next year. Samsung established an earlier plant in Austin in 1996.
Gradiant’s first phase will include 783,000 square feet in seven buildings and be ready for tenants in fall 2026. The largest structure will be built in phase 2 with 600,000 square feet.
The company has started marketing the park to semiconductor related manufacturers and suppliers, as well as to other technology companies that do business with data centers and other aspects of the industry.
The relationship between the city and iMarket began in 2023 with a memorandum of understanding.
In his address at the groundbreaking, Mayor Dwayne Ariola said for decades Taylor “exported its people” to jobs in Austin, but Samsung and companies like those that will occupy the Gradiant Technology Park will reverse that flow.
The jobs will bring an influx of other businesses including hotels, restaurants and services for the rapid growth expected in and around Taylor, Ariola said.
Thanks to projects like Gradiant and other economic drivers, more state money is coming into Williamson County to support road construction projects, Texas state Rep. Caroline Harris Davila, R-Round Rock, told the Taylor Press after the event.
“We don’t want to be like Austin where we pretend it’s not going to happen,” the District 52 representative said of the growth coming to East Williamson County.
With thousands of new jobs predicted for the area, she said the small but growing cities are focused on maintaining a sense of community for existing residents and for those newcomers who will work for the numerous companies moving in.
“We want to keep that community feel wherever we go,” Davila said. “We want to let the community know what’s going on” and have the infrastructure to keep up. “We don’t want people to turn on their faucet, and the water doesn’t come out.”
Davila said that along with the technology and support jobs, a big boost is expected in trades such as welding and construction for large and small businesses, giving even more local people a chance to live and work in their own backyards.
Kihyung Lee, chairman of Korea’s Gradiant Group, said he instructed the company to acquire as much land as they could in Taylor for the site.
“I think the future is very bright,” Lee said. “Success lies in building a collaborative ecosystem. Today’s groundbreaking is the start of that innovation.”
South Korean investment in Texas annually tripled from 2022 to 2024 when it hit $780 million, said Intaek Choi, deputy consul general for the Republic of Korea in the consulate of Houston.
Williamson County Judge Steven Snell presented a street sign for a new access road called Gradiant Street.
Snell said there are 300 Korean companies coming to Texas and Gradiant will help bring more of those to Williamson County.
Economic development officials estimate about 145 Korean firms with ties to Samsung's semiconductor foundry are looking at Central Texas locations.
