By Justin Sayers – Senior Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal
Jun 26, 2025
Listen to this article5 min
Killeen-based MGC Pure Chemicals America Inc. has received a $5.3 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to expand, making the company at least the fourth area supplier to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to receive grants from the fund.
Gov. Greg Abbott on June 25 announced the award to MPCA, which is expected to result in more than $150 million in capital investment. The company announced plans last year to move forward with a doubling of its operations in the Killeen Business Park thanks to $1.9 million in city incentives that would add at least 10 jobs.
Other companies to receive the grants include KoMiCo Technology Inc. in Round Rock, Austin-based Silicon Laboratories Inc. and Dongjin Semichem Texas Inc. in Killeen.
MPCA General Manager Lee Bauer said in a June 25 statement that the company will be able to advance its expansion with the help of the state grant. It's located on roughly 12 acres of an 18-acre site at 4500 Roy J. Smith Drive. The company has been in the U.S. since 1995 and in Killeen for about the last four years
"MPCA is committed to accelerating the growth of Central Texas as a semiconductor production cluster and strengthen the overall stability and continuity of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain," Bauer said. "MPCA will continue our endeavor to be a vital member of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem.”
MPCA, a subsidiary of Japanese-based chemical giant Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc., was established in the U.S. to provide ultra-clean chemicals like hydrogen peroxide and ammonium hydroxide that are used to clean micro-dust particles and organic matter from semiconductor chips. Its U.S. headquarters is in Phoenix, and it produces hydrogen peroxide and ammonium hydroxide for Samsung, Intel Corp. and others, primarily in the southwestern and central part of the country, officials have previously said.
Check out this list of top manufacturers in the metro
The expansion is expected to be complete soon and includes the addition of a rail spur, new manufacturing spce and a new maintenance building, along with driveway and parking areas and other infrastructure, officials previously said. In total, the cost of the improvements is estimated at $89.2 million for real property and $40.7 million for personal property. The project totals 130,000 square feet of production space.
The roughly $1.9 million in incentives previously approved by the Killeen City Council includes a maximum of $600,000 from a tax increment reinvestment zone to help build the rail spur. The remainder comes from a Chapter 380 incentives agreement that will provide a 50% reimbursement on personal property taxes over a 10-year period.
The company was required under a previous incentives agreement to employ 28 people at the facility at an average salary of $66,600. The new agreement would require it to add another 10 employees with an average salary of $44,000, officials said. They added, however, that the average is expected to end up at $50,000.
While the project is on a site already owned by the company, property records show MPCA also has bought about 10 adjacent acres for future buildout. Bauer, who is based in Phoenix, previously said MPCA currently pays about $1.2 million in local taxes and will pay an additional $900,000 as part of the planned expansion.
The expansion is more evidence of Samsung's wide-ranging impact on the region. Killeen, about 60 miles north of Austin, is the largest city between Dallas and Austin with a population of about 160,000. It's home to Fort Cavazos, one of the largest U.S. Army posts in the country.
Others that are expanding in the region include: Hanyang Eng USA Inc. in Cedar Park; Linde PLC and Soulbrain Holdings Co. Ltd. in Taylor; iMarket America Inc. in both Taylor and Round Rock; LS Electric Co. Ltd. in Bastrop; and Deposition Technology Inc. in Austin.