Job growth and specialized training were among the items touted by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego as part of last week’s state of the city address at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Gallego said …
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Job growth and specialized training were among the items touted by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego as part of last week’s state of the city address at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Gallego said officials persevered to claim successes in business growth including the announcement Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced it would build a $12 billion chip manufacturing center in northwest Phoenix.
On March 31, 2021, TSMC and the city signed a development agreement that will bring the chipmaker to the Valley.
Those business development success, Gallego said, came even as officials continued to battle tough times maneuvering through the unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said during the speech Friday that officials trudged through the “most significant pivot points” in the city’s history during the past year. She talked about topics that ranged from the pandemic and the Valley’s housing shortage to job growth in the chip industry during the speech.
“Through it all, we have reaffirmed our resilience,” Gallego said. “As a city, we looked hard at what we were doing. We rethought fiscal management. We dug deep and found ways to help those that needed it most. We did more than survive. We found ways to thrive. Here are some examples: During the pandemic, with the arrival of TSMC — the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. — we closed the largest economic development deal in city history.”
Officials expected TSMC to “draw a steady stream” of businesses that will supply the Valley’s semiconductor industry. Among those, Gallego mentioned
Sunlit Chemical, which broke ground on its $100 million center on Jan. 20.
The 900,000-square-foot center is expected to be built on 17 acres in north Phoenix. The company will produce hydrofluoric acid and other high-purity grade industrial chemicals in the first phase of the operation.
Another company, Foxlink, a green energy producer, announced in February it will set up a manufacturing site in Phoenix. According to a press release, the site will be used to produce “green energy products, such as charging stations, battery module assembly and energy storage equipment.”
Gallego showed her passion for the project and acknowledged her background in economic development may have helped ignite a spark to go after the company.
In October 2019, Phoenix officials took a 15-hour flight to Taipei helped jump start a process that led Phoenix officials to land a Taiwanese semiconductor company.
On Oct. 17, 2019, city of Phoenix officials left Sky Harbor International Airport and traveled to Taiwan to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Phoenix and Taipei that began in 1979.
City of Phoenix officials including Christine Mackay, economic development director for the city, went on the trip.
“As someone who worked in economic development before running for office, this is personal for me,” Gallego said. “As you may have noticed, I never get tired of talking about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. With its $12 billion investment, TSMC remains one of the most important assets we’ve attracted to Phoenix.”
The goal is to have a strong pipeline for semiconductor jobs by providing topnotch training in the Phoenix area so local students can eventually fill those roles, she said. Phoenix has partnered with Maricopa Community Colleges to help attain that goal.
“This partnership is so exciting it drew First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to Phoenix,” she said. “I told her then what I’d like to share with you now — I intend Phoenix to be the strongest semiconductor hub in the United States with the best semiconductor training programs in the world.”
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Daily Independent @AzNewsmedia
Journalism has fascinated Brent Ruffner since junior high school.
Since 2001, his stories have been published in newspapers from the Albuquerque to the Arizona and he has always had a knack for making sure his facts are right and his words are to the point.
Growing up, Brent watched as sports reporters covered his beloved Phoenix Suns, a team he followed since Charles Barkley first arrived in Phoenix via trade in 1992. Sports reporting was a dream back then.
But after gaining some writing experience, Brent found a love for news instead of covering different types of sports. In 2008, he moved to New Mexico and covered crime, schools and city beats all while holding elected officials accountable.
He covered stories that ranged from a DEA drug bust gone bad to an award-winning story on school lunches.
In Arizona, Brent was a freelance writer who covered everything from the importance of citrus in the state to Esteban owning a store in downtown Prescott.
Brent is a 2007 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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