TAYLOR, Texas (Austin Business Journal) — After 10 busy months, South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. announced Tuesday it has picked the small city of Taylor for the massive project. It beat out other finalists, including Austin, Phoenix and upstate New York.

Construction is expected to begin next year, with the factory up and running in late 2024.

With the decision finalized, those who have worked quietly behind the scenes to win the project for Taylor offered Austin Business Journal an exclusive glimpse into how they landed one of the largest foreign investments in U.S. history.

Regional leaders said it was a challenging process with myriad complications, including pulling off secret in-person and overnight Zoom meetings with South Korea-based Samsung executives and creating competitive incentives packages.

“The last nine months has been the most mentally exercising event I’ve ever been a part of in my life because some of the problems were large,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell told Austin Business Journal about the process.

You can read more on this story at Austin Business Journal.