< Previous126 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION NEW LAW TURNS NIMBY TO YIMBY P lenty of communities fight to retain a major employer’s headquarters. Very few employers have to mount the fight themselves. That’s what happened in Scottsdale when law enforcement technology manufacturer Axon’s world headquarters plan, approved by the Scottsdale City Council in November, ran into opposition and a voter referendum petition that Axon Founder and CEO Rick Smith said was led by “a California labor union and a few washed-up politicians.” A January groundbreaking was canceled by the maker of tasers and other equipment. By the end of January, a petition from Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE) with over 19,000 signatures had been certified, enabling the referendum to be placed on the 2026 ballot. The group, which received assistance from California union organization Unite Here and its Worker Power arm in Arizona, opposed the project ostensibly over housing density and traffic concerns. Worker Power previously (and successfully) opposed arena development plans from the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, who relocated to Salt Lake City last year. The company’s “Save Arizona’s Future” campaign included a fully developed website, an array of videos, testimonials and backgrounders, and its own petition to support passage of SB1543, a measure that Smith said, “allows qualifying companies to build campuses — including office space, housing, and amenities — without getting bogged down in red tape.” Axon’s 44-acre campus plan features workforce housing components in a community where the average home value has gone from around $500,000 in January 2019 to over $848,000 in late April 2025, according to Zillow. The new HQ aims to add more than 2,000 new jobs in the community where Axon was founded more than 30 years ago. On April 18, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed the measure into law. Specifically, the measure stipulates that any city with a population between 200,000 and 500,000 can allow hotel or multifamily residential development as ancillary uses for an international headquarters project in a light industrial zoning district without the ancillary development having to go through a separate application process that requires a public hearing. The HQ has to employ at least 1,000 people and pay them an average wage of at least 125% of the county median wage. The legislation also states that the ancillary use is allowed if at least 30% of the multifamily housing units are occupied by the international HQ company’s employees or by police officers, firefighters, teachers, veterans or health care workers who work within five miles of the HQ or who are families of HQ employees. The law further stipulates that no municipality may “unreasonably withhold a building permit” or delay an inspection as long as the number of multifamily residential units is within a ratio of 27 units per gross acre of the entire HQ campus, and that complementary retail and restaurant development shall be allowed within the campus. Asked for comment, the company sent Site Selection a statement from Axon Founder and CEO Rick Smith: “Today marks a defining moment for Axon, for Scottsdale and for the state of Arizona,” he said. “I am incredibly grateful to Gov. Katie Hobbs for signing SB1543 into law, and to the many Arizona legislators, business leaders and community members Scottsdale-based Axon in April 2024 introduced Draft One, a software product that employs generative AI to quickly draft high-quality police report narratives based on auto-transcribed body-worn camera audio (which then require human officer review and approval). Photo courtesy of Axon SITE SELECTION MAY 2025 127 who stood behind this important measure... SB1543 is more than a single company’s success story — it’s a bold step forward for Arizona’s economy. This legislation ensures that Arizona remains competitive in attracting high-impact global headquarters projects, providing the tools needed to create high-wage jobs and drive innovation at scale.” “This measure also delivers real solutions to one of Arizona’s most pressing challenges: the housing supply crisis,” Smith continued. “By leveling the playing field and allowing companies moving to Arizona to build housing for their employees, SB1543 supports not just Axon team members, but also teachers, public safety professionals and working families across the Valley who deserve access to attainable housing near where they work.” Axon’s career web page at press time showed 356 job openings around the world, 64 of them in Scottsdale, with healthy numbers also in such locations as Boston, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, London and Ho Chi Minh City. The company plans to increase its Arizona workforce to more than 5,500 high-tech jobs. —Adam Bruns Downtown Scottsdale with the McDowell Mountain range in the background Photo by DaveI5957: Getty Images128 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION the company is focused entirely on cloud-based innovation, placing an even greater emphasis on talent, collaboration and proximity to other major tech players. Tempe’s location, resources and innovation ecosystem made it the natural landing spot. Tempe is also putting itself on the map in the semiconductor industry. The city was recently selected as one of three U.S. sites to host a CHIPS for America facility operated by Natcast. The site will host both the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), including a cutting-edge Prototyping and Piloting Facility (PPF). The PPF will allow researchers and private sector partners to test advanced materials, devices and packaging technologies at scale, filling a critical gap between laboratory discovery and commercial production. “A strong research and development ecosystem is essential to ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of semiconductor innovation,” said former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a January 2025 press release. “Arizona has long been a hub for technological progress, and this new facility will strengthen our domestic supply chain, drive advanced manufacturing breakthroughs and secure America’s leadership in this critical industry. Thanks to the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, combined with the other two CHIPS for America R&D flagship facilities, we will help bring American innovations to the global market, further securing our national and economic security.” The new facility, located at Arizona State University (ASU) Research Park in south Tempe, is expected to become operational in 2028 and generate hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars in long-term investment. STATE SPOTLIGHT Nucor continues to grow its steel manufacturing operations in Marion, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Nucor and JobsOhio How Ohio Rebuilt its Factory Base How Ohio Rebuilt its Factory Base T he so-called “experts” who years ago predicted a hollowing out of the Midwest’s industrial base should pay a visit to Ohio, and they should begin their tour in Dayton. Why Dayton, you ask? For starters, the Dayton-Kettering- Beavercreek metro area in Southwest Ohio was ranked No. among all Tier MSAs (population between , and by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com132 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION million) in the country in total corporate facility projects landed in , per Site Selection. With investment deals, the Dayton MSA beat out second-place New Orleans, which had , and third-place Allentown, Pennsylvania, which tallied . For Dayton, this marked the metro area’s second No. ranking since and coincided with a record-setting run of economic development performance for the Dayton Development Coalition. “We have consecutive years in the top of tier two metros; and this is the sixth time we’ve ranked No. ,” says Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the DDC. “We don’t take this for granted. It shows the resilience of Dayton, Ohio.” Resilience is the operative word. Rewind the calendar to to — the Great Recession — and you see that Dayton lost major employers GM, Delphi and NCR during that period. “We lost a lot,” says Hoagland. “But at the same time, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was growing. Our economy has really diversifi ed since then.” Case in point is Westrafo, an Italian company that last year announced a $ million investment to establish its fi rst North American factory in Trotwood, Ohio, near Dayton, and employ Ohioans to produce power transformers and energy solutions. Westrafo plans to move in July into a new , -sq.-ft. facility near the intersection of Wolf Creek Pike and Olive Road in Trotwood, a town of , people in Montgomery County. How signifi cant is this deal for Ohio? Consider this: “We considered the whole U.S.,” says Westrafo CEO Alberto Cracco. “We started in Texas and landed in Ohio. e process BY THE NUMBERS OHIO 10 th Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure in $000s: $3,226,963 Number of NCRCs: 255,117 | % Improved 2023–24: 4.50% Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2024–2025: +1 Industrial power cost (¢/kWh): $7.03 Total Rev. as Share of Total Expenses, FY 2008-22: 102.4% 2024 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 0.83 Selected Top Projects by Capital Investment COMPANY CITY INVESTMENT $M Cologix Johnstown 7,000 Amazon Sunbury 2,000 First Quality Tissue Defi ance 984 Anduril Industries Columbus 900 Microsoft Corp. Hebron 580 Source: Conway Projects Database We have 19 consecutive years in the top 10 of tier two metros; and this is the sixth time we have fi nished ranked No. 1.” — Jeff Hoagland , President and CEO, Dayton Development Coalition134 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION was long. It took about a year. We visited a lot of states. A lot of the off ers were attractive.” At the end of that site selection process, Cracco says, a handful of factors sealed the deal in favor of the Dayton region. “Ohio is the heart of the United States in location and industry,” he says. “ at was a very important part of the site selection criteria that we used. Also, the type of skilled people we found in Ohio in the industrial sector was a big factor. We need highly skilled engineers and production personnel.” Cracco says Dayton delivers other assets. “ e cost-to-quality ratio that we are expected to have in Ohio compared to neighboring states is a big advantage for us,” he notes. “Other criteria included airport distance; worker salaries; state and local taxes; labor unions; local schools; grants and incentives; real estate costs, including the cost of land and the cost of building; utilities; and culture.” e greenfi eld project is in an established industrial park and is moving much faster than Cracco expected, he says, noting he was not expecting such fervent support from local offi cials. “ e government in Italy puts obstacles in your path. Here in Ohio, everyone in the government worked together with us on this project. ey all provided the data we needed to do the deal. ey understood that we are investing a lot of money.” Headquartered in Vicenza near Venice in northeastern Italy, Westrafo maintains production facilities and operations in Italy and Ghana. “Dayton is very similar in its industrial base to where we are located in Italy,” says Cracco. “We are in a very localized community with around the same size of city. I feel at home when I am in Dayton.” Ohio: A State of Producers Making manufacturers feel at home is job one for JobsOhio, the state agency charged with guiding economic development. JobsOhio CEO J.P. Nauseef says, “ ere is a lot of shifting going on with reshoring of e cost-to-quality ratio that we are expected to have in Ohio compared to neighboring states is a big advantage for us.” — Alberto Cracco , CEO, Westrafo e cost-to-quality ratio Westrafo’s new plant is under construction in Trotwood, Ohio, near Dayton. Photos courtesy of WestrafoNext >