Economic growth | Environmental stewardship | Arts and culture | Effective K-12 education | Higher education excellence
Texas Instruments has been a close partner with the Richardson community for many years.
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| TI's new facility in Richardson, Texas, the world's most advanced for analog chip manufacturing, is expected to add 250 new jobs by the end of 2010 and employ up to 1,000 when fully operational. |
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Although its headquarters is located in Dallas, TI has been adjacent to this northern suburb since the 1950s. As a result, many TI employees and retirees have resided in Richardson over the years, and the company has developed close ties to the City of Richardson, the Richardson Independent School District and the University of Texas at Dallas as well as many other businesses and community organizations.
"TI continues to have a major impact on the character and history of Richardson," said Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel, who moved to the city to join TI in a career that spanned 17 years.
"We cherish the good relationships we have built with the Richardson community and applaud the progressive efforts of the City as it continues to grow," said Trisha Cunningham, worldwide director of corporate citizenship.
Both TI and the City have benefited from recent activities:
Economic growth
RFAB Contributions to Local Economy
- Design & construction of facility $314 million
- Capital Investments total $850 million (includes land, bricks & mortar, equipment)
- Minority/women-owned business contracts $137 million
- Jobs to date – 200
- Total expected jobs by 2024 — 1,000
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As the "southern anchor" of the Telecom Corridor®, TI's presence helped spark growth in this area where many other high-tech companies now reside. Many of these businesses are TI customers or suppliers, and some spun out of collaborative ventures.
TI extended its impact on Richardson's economic development when the company announced it would build its next semiconductor fabrication plant in Richardson. Last fall TI announced the purchase of equipment to this factory which is the world's most advanced for analog chip manufacturing.
Located on the north end of the Corridor, this manufacturing facility, known as RFAB ("R" for Richardson, "FAB" for fabrication), already contributed to the city's tax base during building construction. By the end of this year, TI will add 250 jobs and ship the first round of RFAB analog chips to its customers.
When complete, RFAB will support growing customer demand for the company's analog chips used in electronics ranging from smart phones to netbooks to telecom and computing systems.
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| TI's RFAB manager Tom Weichel addressed the Richardson community gathering at the City's "Tree The Town" initiative kick-off event. TI is a sponsor of the project to plant 50,000 new trees across the city over the next decade. |
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Environmental stewardship
TI chips manufactured at RFAB will enable greater energy efficiency in all kinds of electronic devices.
RFAB is also among the semiconductor industry's most environmentally responsible production plants — the first such facility to earn Gold certification with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
Read more about RFAB's environmental design and features.
In keeping with TI's commitment to environmental responsibility, TI agreed to be a sponsor for the City of Richardson's "Tree the Town" initiative, an ambitious project to plant 50,000 new trees across the city over the next decade.
Besides TI's financial commitment to this program, employees will join the city's leaders and residents in volunteering to plant trees in the fall near the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) bike trail, an area that is close to RFAB.
"At TI, we know firsthand how investments like native landscaping, shady trees and water conservation can provide big benefits for the environment and our community," said Tom Weichel, RFAB manager. "We see this as an opportunity to build a better future for this great city where many of our employees work and live."
Arts and culture
Arts and culture are fundamental to the quality of life in a community, and the TI Foundation has helped to establish Richardson's Eisemann Center as one of the leading performing arts and corporate meeting facilities serving the North Texas area.
The TI Foundation donated $500,000 to the center last year to boost performance capabilities and enhance amenities. Consistent with TI's focus on technology, the TI Foundation's grant helped fund the Eisemann Center's future arts and technology needs, and the Texas Instruments Foundation Community Fountain delights visitors of all ages with a technologically advanced, dramatic show at the entrance to the center.
Effective K-12 education
TI has had a long-standing partnership with Richardson schools, and both TI and the TI Foundation took top honors recently as the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) Excellence in Education Foundation held an awards ceremony to recognize exceptional community leaders, teachers, administrators and RISD alumni.
TI and the TI Foundation each received the 2009-10 Excellence in Education Leadership Award and the Spirit of RISD Award.
"TI is more than just a good neighbor," said Elizabeth Hart, president and CEO of the RISD Excellence in Education Foundation. "The company has provided thousands of students and teachers in the district with the tools they need to be successful and fostered initiatives that encourage students to enroll in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and consider those areas as careers."
She also cited the TI Foundation as "a leader and a model of wise investment in education."
Higher education excellence
TI has been a long-time supporter of UT Dallas, a UT system campus located in Richardson. TI's founders helped establish UT Dallas as a research center in the 1960s.
Recent grants by TI and the TI Foundation will continue this legacy:
Research funding
Last fall, the company gave $1.145 million for research in semiconductor technology under the Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP) matching program. TI also recently announced it will fund two new endowed chairs for the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas, further expanding the university's position as a leading nanotechnology research center.
Allen Bowling, manager of research for TI's Analog Technology Development group, said, "Having strong research universities in close proximity to TI will bring economic advantages to our company as well as the region and state. For TI, this is an investment in growth."
University research leads to venture capital activity and the creation of new companies that hire university students and do business with established companies, he said.
UT Dallas President David E. Daniel said, "These investments provide a long term benefit, not only to the university but also to our community. They quicken the pace at which we can innovate."
STEM teacher development
The TI Foundation announced grants of $3 million to train existing middle and junior high school teachers in advanced math and science and to increase the number of such teachers who graduate from local universities, including $450,000 to UT Dallas.
This investment will help strengthen the number of high-school graduates who are capable of advanced math and science by focusing on teachers — the most critical link in the learning chain.
The funding for UTeach Dallas will help support three Master Teachers. Each Master Teacher will mentor about 50 undergraduate STEM students. Nationally, 15 universities are implementing UTeach programs. UTeach Dallas launched in the spring of 2008 with just a handful of students. By last fall, the number of students in the program had leapt to 135.
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