Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub Receives $23.996 Million EDA Grant

By Sophie Lindqvist

The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub (TSTH) $23,996,830 through the agency’s 2025 Disaster Supplemental Grant Program’s Industry Transformation Path.

The award was announced Oct. 23, 2026, by Paul M. Dabbar, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, at Southern Methodist University.

The confirmed figure belongs to TSTH, not Austin College alone, and the announcement does not disclose how the $23,996,830 will be divided among consortium activities or administrative costs.

The release also provides no new fab capacity, process node, wafer diameter, shipment target, revenue forecast or product roadmap. It therefore does not establish how much semiconductor output the award will create.

What does the grant cover?

Austin College, a founding member of TSTH, identified three uses for the consortium award:

• Industry boot camps for people changing careers.
• Further growth of the college’s engineering program.
• Local support for semiconductor technology commercialization.

Dr. David Griffith, Professor of Business Administration and Economics at Austin College, said:

“This grant will enhance Austin College’s ongoing engagement with Sherman semiconductor companies like TI, Global Wafers, and Coherent. The grant will help fund Austin College activities such as industry boot camps for job changers, further growth of the engineering program, and the local support of semiconductor technology commercialization efforts.”

Griffith also called Texoma the rapidly emerging geographic center of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. That claim remains unquantified: the source provides no capacity or investment data against which a regional lead can be tested.

How will students and employers benefit?

Dr. Rahul Renu, Founding Director of the Engineering Program and Associate Professor of Engineering, said the program attracts students seeking careers in the semiconductor industry.

“With the TSTH receiving a $24 million grant from the EDA, Austin College Engineering students stand to benefit from more semiconductor industry connections and hands-on learning opportunities.”

Renu said the funding could strengthen those industry connections and learning opportunities for Austin College students. He also expressed support for Texoma’s ambition to become a global leader in semiconductor design and manufacturing.

Rebecca Cantor, Austin College president, called the investment an important opportunity for the college and the region. She said the award can connect education, industry and regional partners.

Cantor said that connection can create pathways for students to develop in-demand skills and strengthen the talent and partnerships businesses need to grow. She described the consortium as a way to expand opportunity and build a more resilient, innovative future for Texoma communities.

The commercial mechanism is labor supply: more technically trained graduates and closer institutional links could make local expansion easier for the named employers in Texoma.

The announcement names no enrollment target, boot-camp cohort, employer commitment or commercialization deadline. For now, the promised connection between classroom learning and semiconductor hiring remains a plan without scale or schedule.

What role does Austin College play?

The source presents Austin College as a regional education partner rather than a chip manufacturer. It is a private national liberal arts college in Sherman, north of Dallas, with approximately 1,300 residential students, more than 100 faculty members and an 11:1 student-faculty ratio.

The announcement says more than 50 percent of students identify as persons of color and describes a community that embraces diversity and individuality. It also cites academic preparation, pre-professional foundations, committed faculty and hands-on learning as institutional strengths.

Austin College appears among the 45 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s book Colleges That Change Lives. The college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA), and its inclusive atmosphere supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition.

Austin College says it was founded in 1849 and is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas still operating under its original name and charter. Its scale gives the training effort a base, but the source does not connect the 1,300-student college directly to any named fab expansion or hiring plan.

What remains undisclosed?

The announcement identifies the program year, exact award and broad purposes. It does not publish an implementation schedule, budget categories, matching funds, trainee targets, commercialization milestones or company-specific commitments.

That makes it impossible to calculate the award’s effect on Texoma’s semiconductor capacity, pricing or competitive position from the announcement alone, without implementation data or milestones. The absence of technical detail also limits any comparison with other U.S. manufacturing regions.

If training and company partnerships scale as proposed, Texoma could gain needed skilled labor; measured gains in output and commercial activity, rather than the $24 million headline, will determine whether the award strengthens regional competitiveness.