< Previous160 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Intel’s and TSMC’s expansions,” he relates. “We worked really hard on that project with our state partners. The good news is we analyzed a lot of new dirt now in play for other projects. Soil analysis, seismic activity, distribution of the power grid — it got us ready for the next couple.” Continuing an Incredible Run The activity is so fast and furious it’s no wonder that the prestigious W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is expanding its real estate programs, boosted by a commitment of $25 million from the W. P. Carey Foundation that brings its overall commitment to more than $100 million. “For decades, the real estate industry has been a central component to the economic development engine that drives Arizona,” said ASU President Michael Crow, a leader more than a few point to as a visionary for the region, “and that will continue to be central to our progress as the state and its economy mature in the years ahead.” It’s also no wonder Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation were selected in July as one of 11 community and technical colleges nationwide to receive a $1 million Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grant to support construction trades programs. According to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, the construction industry is expected to see the highest rate of job growth between 2023 and 2025 at 3.3%. By 2031, the state is projected to add 37,000 new construction jobs. MCCCD in May also reached a milestone, becoming the state’s first-ever community college to award four-year baccalaureate degrees during commencement ceremonies for over 10,000 graduates. MCCCD encompasses 10 colleges and 31 satellite locations. MCCCD alumni currently employed in Maricopa County’s workforce amounted to $6.4 billion in added income according to an economic impact study conducted by Lightcast for the fiscal year 2021-22. The wave of industry investment has been so strong that SEMICON West, the seminal North American microelectronics exhibition and conference, has announced it will relocate to Phoenix on a rotating basis in 2025, 2027 and 2029 after 50 consecutive years in San Francisco. The show will have to get in line in a city that’s also seen a boom in events: In the past 18 months Phoenix has hosted Super Bowl LVII, the 2023 World Series, the 2024 NCAA Final Four and the 2024 WNBA All Star Game. Camacho says not to forget the PGA Tour’s annual Waste Management Open that always attracts massive (and wild) crowds during Super Bowl week, and the NCAA Women’s Final Four and NBA All-Star Game coming soon. “We’ve had an incredible run,” he says of those sports events alone. Sometimes those events feed into the parallel incredible run of corporate projects via red-carpet tours, but usually the effects are indirect he says, noting how often his team encounters company executives who say they attended a sporting event and recall from the experience “how easy it was to get around and the positive community response.” Mobility and public sentiment about it are hot topics in the region as Maricopa County voters will head to the polls in November to vote on Proposition 479, which would extend the existing half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation for an additional 20 years. The original measure passed in 1985, followed by a renewal in 2004. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without those initiatives being successful,” says Sharon Harper, chair, president and CEO of commercial real estate company The Plaza Companies and co-chair of GPEC’s International Leadership Council. Informed that the Phoenix region shot up to No. 2 in Site Selection’s 2024 Global Groundwork Index rankings based on blended corporate facility and public infrastructure investment data, she says Proposition 479 is an extension doing nothing less than “laying the groundwork to ensure the future competitive advantage of this region. Infrastructure is the basis for that.” Proposition 479, she says, “could not be more important for us to stay tied for number two or maybe number one in 10 years. Camacho couldn’t agree more. In addition to responding to the steep demand curve for electrical power from the region’s growing manufacturing and data center activity, he says the transportation improvements backed by the sales tax are “probably the most critical investment our market makes. You can see it in real time — the 101, the 202, the 303, a lot of arterials in the Valley were funded by this source. Over 92% of GPEC deals are located within a mile of these transportation corridors. We have a 26-minute average commute time,” among the best Chris Camacho, President and CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council 162 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N among large cities in the country. “I live 18 miles from downtown, and it takes me 25 minutes to get to work,” he reports. Roads function as economic corridors, but also offer a lifestyle and resident advantage, he says as “ease of living is becoming a more relevant part of the dialogue” for companies and their people alike. A New American City Camacho considers infrastructure of all types — roads, power grid, transit, talent — and feels the need to stay one step ahead of trends, much as the GPEC team is doing with 10 industry sectors that include aerospace. “What is their future R&D in deep space, in satcom, in air mobility?” he asks, repeating questions posed at a recent roundtable with aerospace leaders. “That’s the new definition of economic development: Making sure we’re getting ahead.” Those out in front, after all, are the first to see opportunity. That concept applies to Biscuit Flats, a proposed $7 billion, 28-million-sq.-ft. mixed-use development from Mack Real Estate Group (MREG) and investment partner McCourt Partners that will be positioned immediately adjacent to TSMC’s fabrication campus in North Phoenix. In May, a Mack affiliate, Biscuit Flats Dev LLC, prevailed at an auction for development rights to more than 2,300 acres of fully entitled land awarded by the Arizona State Land Department. “Together with ASLD and McCourt Partners, we are privileged to help in the building of a new type of city that both supports and leverages the domestic and international digital transformation enabled by TSMC’s new semiconductor manufacturing campus,” said Richard Mack, CEO of MREG. “We hope that this new silicon city will serve as a model for public-private cooperation, to not only bring back high-tech manufacturing jobs to the U.S., but also to create the live/work environments of the future.” MREG is currently building over 4 million sq. ft. of industrial space across Mack Innovation Park Deer Valley (located within 10 minutes of TSMC) and another large industrial site in Scottsdale. Camacho calls the Biscuit Flats site “one of the most impressive megasites in the country” for what he sees as “a new American city north of Phoenix.” But why stop there? “One thing about Phoenix,” he says, “is we can keep scaling. We have a lot of land still, either privately deeded or under state land control, that will be provided to developers in the future.” Innovation cultivation takes place at locations such as ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus; Media and Immersive Experience Center at the Mesa City Center; and The Polytechnic School, also in Mesa. Photos by Samantha Chow and Deanna Dent courtesy of ASU164 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Is there a Moore’s Law for good news? e measuring stick for the semiconductor industry posited by Intel’s Gordon Moore projected that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) would double around every two years. In the context of good news for the industry in Arizona, the pace of new investment and expansions seems more like every two months … if not two weeks or even two days. “As the home of America’s semiconductor resurgence, Arizona continues to attract global companies in advanced industries,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, in announcing record fi scal year results. at means more than merely TSMC’s $ billion toward three semiconductor fabs that will employ , people; Amkor’s $ billion, ,- job semiconductor packaging and test services facility in Peoria; the $ million, -job expansion of Dutch semiconductor company ASM’s North American HQ in Scottsdale; or Pentagon Technologies’ -job, $ million semiconductor equipment cleaning facility in Mesa. It means scores of new projects, startups and partnerships across such sectors as automotive, logistics and goods movement, biosciences, climate tech, data centers, aerospace and other sectors, all against a backdrop of major infrastructure investment and an increasingly international fl avor to the proceedings. Sharon Harper, co-chair, president and CEO of e Plaza Companies and chair of GPEC’s International Leadership Counci, says the percentage of companies locating in the region that were international was % in . Last year that percentage was %. “It’s amazing,” she says. “We made it happen. Leadership got out there around the world telling the story of the region’s lifestyle, opportunities and ease of doing business.” at includes assets such as SkySong, ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, where newly arrived fi rms can fi nd the soft landing they need with, among other amenities, complimentary access for three months to premier offi ce space and assistance from one of the largest universities in the country. SkySong is where education technology fi rm GREATER PHOENIX INTELLIGENCE REPORT: PROJECTS & PROGRESS BREAKING NEW GROUND by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com Projects and progress stretch across multiple industries and an entire region. Developed by Mayo Clinic, Discovery Oasis is a 120-acre medical and research campus announced in 2023 in Scottsdale. Rendering courtesy of Mayo Clinic166 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N OneOrigin moved its HQ in 2022 and where it now employs 150 with more to come. In June, ASU and GPEC announced a new program title, brand and benefit package for the joint program helping international companies accelerate United States growth plans, now known as the Arizona International Soft Landing Experience (AISLE). “AISLE participants are primed for success, thanks to the strategic location at Skysong, abundant GPEC resources and a thriving innovation ecosystem,” said Sally Morton, executive vice president at ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. In 2023, aided in part by organizations such as GPEC and StartUp AZ, startups in the region raised $1.9 billion in funding, an increase of 6% from the previous year — making Greater Phoenix one of the only large regions in the country to experience increased VC funding year-over-year. The national average was a decrease of 36% over that time frame. Moving People, Moving Goods Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, located seven minutes from downtown Phoenix, has grown its take-offs and landings too, entering the top 10 in deplanements in the nation and adding both concourses and international flights to such destinations as Paris and Tijuana. A new terminal is on the way after the airport welcomed more than 48 million passengers in 2023. Rail and truck infrastructure is seeing its share of improvements too, as light rail expansion continues to connect assets such as the Phoenix Bioscience Core to ASU and Grand Canyon University. Meanwhile, Union Pacific has opened a new intermodal terminal and BNSF has revealed a proposal for a master-planned, 4,321-acre rail-served facility in northwest Maricopa County. The new Union Pacific facility, opened in February 2024, includes drayage support provided by Duncan & Son Lines, a family-owned logistics firm in Buckeye, Arizona, that primarily focuses on international container drayage from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The facility is the first such intermodal service between the L.A. Basin and Phoenix and by converting truck to rail is expected to take thousands of trucks off the road per year. Keith Jones, vice president of sales for Duncan & Son Lines, tells Site Selection the launch of rail service into the Phoenix market has provided significant productivity enhancements to DSL Logistics. “The ability to move hundreds of containers into Phoenix on one train rather than with hundreds of trucks dramatically improves efficiency,” he says in an email. “More importantly, the rail service affords some of our drivers more flexibility in scheduling and the opportunity to spend more time at home if desired as they can work locally delivering containers coming off the rail rather than making an 800 mile roundtrip journey to and from the LA/ LGB Port Terminals. The added benefit of local trucking versus over the road helps DSL Logistics Central to the $2 billion investment from Amkor (among others) is partnering for talent development with such institutions as Arizona State University (Tempe campus pictured), Grand Canyon University, Northern Arizona University, Maricopa Community College and Western Maricopa Education Center. Photo courtesy of ASU168 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N become an employer of choice for drivers searching for opportunities to work locally.” More opportunities could be afoot eventually when domestic intermodal container service is introduced, he says. Skills and Skills Programs Abound If infrastructure is the backdrop, talent is downstage center. Groundbreaking efforts are taking place here too. In addition to the new Future48 Workforce Accelerator in partnership with Maricopa County Community Colleges to meet the needs of the semiconductor industry, the Semiconductor Technician Quick Start Program developed with that same system has certified over 900 students since launching in 2022. Meanwhile, reinforcing new apprenticeship programs from such giants as Intel and TSMC, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has authorized the allocation of $4 million to further expansion of semiconductor apprenticeships. And the Arizona Commerce Authority also has invested $100 million in Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona to strengthen semiconductor infrastructure and workforce development. Of such partnerships, no less than Brian Harrison, TSMC president, has said, “ASU’s Fulton Schools of Engineering and initiatives such as the Microelectronics Industry Council create a friendly environment for TSMC Arizona. Our partnership with ASU is crucial for creating a strong talent pipeline and has allowed us to recruit some of the best semiconductor talent in the U.S.” Clean Tech One climate tech company growing in the region is Amphenol Industrial Operations, a maker of interconnect systems, which is producing new solar products at a 58,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing operation in Mesa. As of early this year the facility was churning out 3,000 solar junction boxes per day with two more lines being added and other products also being produced. The operation employed 70 at the outset. Asked why Mesa was the right location for the facility, Mark Cunningham, general manager, says, “First, it was close to several key customers. Second, Arizona had a favorable business climate, labor availability, ease of access and close proximity to our current Nogales location. And third, Amphenol has a small hub of business units set up in the Mesa area, making it easier to leverage and collaborate with other businesses already established in the area.” Mesa will also be the home of the world’s first direct air capture (DAC) manufacturing facility from CarbonCapture Inc., which signed a lease for 83,000 sq. ft. in June. At full capacity, the facility is projected to manufacture 4,000 modules per year — equal to 2 megatons of removal capacity. “After an exhaustive nationwide search, the site was chosen due to its central location, availability of clean energy and workforce readiness,” the company said. The new Union Pacific intermodal terminal with drayage service from Duncan & Son Lines will take thousands of trucks per year off the road between the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Phoenix. Photo courtesy of Duncan & SonNext >