Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced Tuesday that their South Korea-based parent company will invest $1 billion in its Austin chip manufacturing campus, adding around 500 engineering and manufacturing jobs.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that Samsung will use the funds to increase capacity at its Northeast Austin facility, which has manufactured chips for various companies since 1997. The upgrades are expected to be complete by mid-2017, after which Samsung will hire hundreds of manufacturing technicians and engineers.

According to the Statesman, the city's semiconductor industry accounts for between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs in Central Texas, with Samsung being one of only a few chip manufacturing companies in the area that has not moved production overseas.

According to an economic impact study conducted by Samsung and the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Samsung added $3.6 billion to the Central Texas economy in 2015.

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