Orange County Goes Global: Attracting Advanced Tech Investment from Taiwan

Orange County delegation team with Taiwanese industry leaders

By: Conor Eckert, Incoming President & CEO of the Orange County Partnership

Last month, I joined County Executive Steve Neuhaus' Orange County delegation trip to Taiwan for a Smart Cities conference – and, to meet with key leaders in the semiconductor and industrial sector in Taiwan. Our mission was clear – build relationships with top leaders in the microelectronics, biotech, and advanced manufacturing sectors in an effort to position Orange County as a strategic decision for foreign direct investment (FDI) and expansion in the United States.

Taiwan is a world leader in the advanced technology industry with an emphasis on semiconductor and microelectronics development.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) is a long-time fixture in the country, as are other fab operations. Additionally, the country is home to a mature supply chain, housing front-end and back-end supply chain manufacturing and R&D. Integrated circuit design, chip fabrication, packaging and testing, and many other semiconductor suppliers are located in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan has a rich life sciences, aerospace, and defense tech ecosystem – all synergistic with our long-term economic development focus in Orange County.

We traveled across Taipei and beyond, meeting with manufacturing, real estate, and site selection leaders from across the country – strategically branding Orange County as “the bridge” between New York City and the Capitol Region – a strategic link connecting two major innovation and talent hubs. Armed with shovel-ready sites and shell buildings, infrastructure, and access to talent, combined with our proximity to major fabs across the Northeast, we doubled down on our positioning of Orange County and the Hudson Valley as an accessible supply chain location that can support advanced technology and production.

We built long-lasting and strategic relationships across Taiwan with leaders in the sectors we want to attract to Orange County. Geopolitical uncertainty, coupled with strong international and bilateral economic development relationships has quickly led to new opportunities. Today, we’re actively working on $3 billion worth of site selection requirements from Taiwan and Asia in the semiconductor, aerospace, and data center sectors. As we look toward the future, we firmly believe that Orange County will be a destination for FDI and re-shoring of critical sectors. Over the next few months, we expect to hold site tours and meetings with Taiwanese prospects interested in expanding to Orange County – we are on the cusp of a new frontier and our market has now arrived on the global stage.