The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) revealed Monday that efforts to work with companies and bring jobs to Arizona have paid off, resulting in the most jobs seen by the organization in a single year.
“For the second year in a row, Arizona economic development efforts broke records. During the 12-month fiscal period that ended June 30, 2022, the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and local economic development agencies successfully worked with companies that committed to creating a projected 24,186 new Arizona jobs – a single-year record. Those companies also committed to investing $10.75 billion in local communities,” according to the ACA.
Since 2011, the ACA shared that Arizona has won over 1,067 competitive projects, equivalent to roughly 237,000 potential jobs and over $69 billion in capital investments. In 2022, the ACA achieved 151 percent of its projected job goal. Furthermore, the 10.75 billion in investments is 768 percent of its original goal, and the ACA also overachieved its projected wages goal by 110 percent.
One company that significantly contributed to the success seen in 2022 was KORE Power, Inc., which chose to build a 1-million-square-foot battery manufacturing facility in Buckeye, bringing upwards of 3,400 new jobs to the area. KORE Power is a leading U.S.-based battery cell technology developer for energy storage and electric transportation. In April, the company officially finalized its purchase of the Buckeye land. Construction on the facility should take 18 months to complete.
“Arizona checked all the boxes,” said KORE Power CEO Lindsay Gorrill. “We needed a location for our factory that had a track record of supporting energy storage, a growing clean transportation sector, and a workforce that could deliver American-made battery technology. Arizona hit a home run.”
Another big win for Arizona was Intel’s $20 billion investment to build two new semiconductor fabrication facilities in Chandler. This investment was named one of 10 “Manufacturing Projects of the Year” by Area Development magazine and is expected to create another 3,000 new jobs when the factories become operational in 2024.
Several other companies, including Sunlit Chemical, Gulfstream Aerospace, XNRGY, Funko, Nestlé, and Viasat, among many others, have contributed to the flow of money and new jobs coming into the state.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) celebrated the news from ACA, thanking economic developers in the state for making it all happen.
“Once again, Arizona’s robust economic development is setting records and gaining national recognition. With our state’s strong fiscal position, rising revenues and population growth, Arizona remains unstoppable,” Ducey said in an ACA statement. “I commend Arizona’s entrepreneurs, innovators and employees for continuing to set the national standard for economic excellence. I also want to recognize Sandra Watson and her outstanding team at the Arizona Commerce Authority as well as the economic development leaders across the state for their critical work to grow, strengthen and diversify our economy.”
With our state’s strong fiscal position, rising revenues and population growth, Arizona remains unstoppable. @azcommerce https://t.co/h9HtLGyg9G
— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) September 13, 2022
According to workforce development network Arizona at Work, the state’s most in-demand industries include construction, health care, technical services, financing, manufacturing, and transportation. Motion picture and sound recording jobs are projected to grow at a fast rate moving forward.
Arizona’s labor force size was 3,584,973 as of July, and the average weekly wage is $1,188.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
