This article originally appeared in In Business Magazine.
We are seeing an industrial technologies renaissance, led by semiconductor companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company building a massive campus in north Phoenix and Intel expanding with Fab 52 and Fab 62 in the southeast Valley that are driving a whole ecosystem of investment,” says Chris Camacho, president and CEO of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He notes we also have such stalwart industries as e-commerce and industrial manufacturing as well as distribution moving into the southwestern U.S., pointing out that Greater Phoenix is the number two growing market for industrial development, behind only Dallas-Fort Worth. “We’re a large-scale market where people want to be, from a lifestyle perspective to pro-business policies, the region is home to a collaborative and supportive ecosystem that has embraced growth and we’re seeing the results of that today in terms of industrial demand.”
Industrial manufacturing has, historically, been a huge contributor to Greater Phoenix jobs, and Camacho points to the 138,000 manufacturing jobs in the region now and continuing growth in advanced manufacturing. Employment in this sector is expected to increase faster in Greater Phoenix than in any other competitor markets, adding 5,400 jobs over the next five years. “Of the 250 companies from various sectors in GPEC’s business pipeline actively evaluating Greater Phoenix for expansion — representing a potential regional investment of $90 billion and 49,000 new jobs — 177 of those companies are industrial,” Camacho says, adding, “With 30,000 students enrolled in engineering programs across Arizona and investments in STEM education being made across Greater Phoenix, the pipeline of talent feeding into this ecosystem will fuel this growth for years to come.”