Software may still be the king of Austin's tech and startup ecosystem. But robotics and advanced manufacturing is quickly catching up as the city's economy diversifies with the likes of Tesla Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and more than a dozen startups developing AI-powered robots, submarines and drones.
As the sector grows, a new collaboration is emerging this year that seeks to provide easier and cheaper access to high-tech manufacturing machines, coworking space for robotics startups and accelerator programs and educational certificate programs to help people launch new careers.
The new initiative will be located in East Austin, just off of the State Highway 130 corridor and a few miles north of Tesla's electric vehicle factory. It's called the Hayes Innovation Center for Advanced Manufacturing, or HICAM.
The 50,000-square-foot space, which formerly housed the Clean Energy Tech Center, sits on a roughly 8-acre tract at 6201 Quinn Luke Trail. The $20 million project, which will operate as a nonprofit, is being backed by the SH130 Municipal Management District that was created by the Texas Legislature in 2015. It's named after the district's founder and modular building developer, Warren Hayes, who died last year.
HICAM's board is led by serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Spier, and the organization will be overseen by executive director Marcus Metzger, an artist and manufacturing leader who previously led a coworking and technology center called Future Space NYC in New York.
The project is currently in its first phase, which includes renovations and designs of common areas in one half of the building. HICAM is working with Danze & Blood Architects on the design. And Metzger, who has had work featured at several New York galleries and in corporate settings, is designing a large spiral sculpture that incorporates the manufacturing and technology featured at HICAM.
The center, which will include space for classrooms, events and coworking, is slated for an initial reveal in late March. It will likely open to tenants in the fall, though an exact date hasn't been set. Initially, the center aims to drum up applications from manufacturing and robotics startups that want to be located in the space or participate in its accelerator programs. HICAM has partnered with Capital Factory to help source startups.
“After launching the first coworking space for small software startups in downtown Austin, I saw them grow into big companies taking over the downtown high-rises,” Joshua Baer, Capital Factory founder and CEO, stated. “After Covid, the growth in commercial-space demand is for biotech and industrial jobs that can’t work from home. This is the next wave.”
HICAM also plans to team with several other local organizations to help develop an advanced manufacturing ecosystem, attract new companies to Austin and produce events and podcasts.
"One of the primary ways that we can help de-risk these companies is by providing them with access to sub-market rates in a tiered step down fashion as they meet their revenue goals," Metzger said. "Eventually, we want to see them leave the nest and make room for the next cohort."
One of the center's top goals is workforce development, particularly for people living in East Austin. Metzger said HICAM has an initial goal of creating 150 jobs within the center's first three years. HICAM is also currently looking for educational partners to develop certificate programs.
Advanced manufacturing jobs in Texas have an average salary of $82,192 a year, according to ZipRecruiter, with salaries ranging from $39,129 to $138,817.
"Part of our workforce development is aimed at helping kids from economically diverse backgrounds gain access to the idea that they can work in advanced manufacturing, the idea that they can make things with their hands and develop a trade," Metzger said.
Meanwhile, there's a million square feet of light industrial development currently being built on neighboring properties, which could provide opportunities for some startups to move on from HICAM to their own offices nearby.
"I think the next 10 years is going to be just a huge boom in the American manufacturing and industrial space," he said. "So we wanted to do an initiative to be a part of that."
