Why Apple Bet on Austin’s Suburbs for Its Next Big Expansion

This week, tech giant Apple revealed a plan for nationwide job expansion, and announced that Austin, Texas will host its new, 133-acre campus. "Everything is bigger in Texas,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott at a press conference reveal. “Today we can say Apple is bigger in Texas.”

Abbott says “bigger,” because in Austin, Apple was already big: The company employs 7,000 workers there—the most of any location besides Cupertino, where its first headquarters is based. The new campus would add 5,000 new employees, with the potential to accommodate 15,000 eventually, and construction is expected to take until 2021. “Apple is truly a part of our Texas family,” said Rebecca Clemons, the director of administration for Williamson County, where Apple’s new campus will be built—less than a mile from its existing facilities.