by Cameron Arcand
New data on the manufacturing sector in Arizona shows rapid growth in recent years for the industry.
A report from the Common Sense Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative think tank, determined that Arizona topped all other states in March for adding 2,000 manufacturing jobs and $77.6 billion in “direct sales and output” from the sector in 2022, which the group said in a roughly 40 percent uptick since 2017.
In addition, CSI said that manufacturing results in 16 percent of the state’s workforce, which is over 600 thousand people. On the tax revenue side, the report found that $5.8 billion came from the sector in 2022.
A notable finding from the research is that there’s been a 30 percent increase in employment for manufacturing in Arizona. There are still fewer employed in the sector than there were in 2000, but it is close to those numbers at the time. Manufacturing took major dips in 2001 and again during the Great Recession in 2008.
As think tank dubbed the increase a “renaissance” starting in 2017, and the growth in recent years comes amid significant investments by companies deciding to step up shop throughout the state due to low regulations. Taiwan Semiconductor and LG Energy Solutions are recent examples of multimillion investments from the private sector into establishing themselves on the outskirts of the Phoenix Metropolitan area.
The report suggests that incentives are the best way at the state and federal levels to continue development.
“To support continued growth in Arizona given this environment, state policymakers may be asked to consider policies that create new or expand existing manufacturing incentives,” the report states.
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Cameron Arcand is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Manufacturing” by ThisisEngineering RAEng.
