PHOENIX, Arizona – Arizona is experiencing a new era of economic growth, securing record-breaking investments in the bioscience and semiconductor industries. According to the Arizona Commerce Authority, the state’s proactive efforts to secure a skilled workforce and support job seekers are yielding significant results.
In early March, Arizona captured global economic attention by announcing two massive investment deals within hours of each other. Mayo Clinic, one of the top hospitals in the nation, revealed a $1.9 billion expansion of its Phoenix campus, promising to create 3,500 new jobs. This investment will allow Mayo Clinic to increase its clinical space in Phoenix by approximately 60%, enabling it to provide innovative healthcare services and research opportunities to more patients.
“This remarkable investment will forever transform the patient and staff experience at Mayo Clinic in Arizona through growth and innovative clinical care, research and education,” said Richard J. Gray, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. “Significantly expanding our clinical footprint in Phoenix will allow us to care for more patients than ever before and set a new standard for patient care and medical innovation.”
Simultaneously, global foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced a historic additional investment of $100 billion to expand its operations in the Phoenix area. In addition to its existing plant under construction, TSMC plans to establish three more semiconductor manufacturing facilities, two advanced packaging facilities, and a large-scale research and development (R&D) center. This additional investment brings TSMC’s total investment in Arizona to $165 billion, marking the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.
“Based on the success of our first fab in Arizona and the strong partnership we have developed with the government and our customers, TSMC is committed to increasing our investment in the U.S. by an additional $100 billion to support the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem,” said TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei, emphasizing Arizona’s growth potential and the importance of collaboration.
The consecutive announcement of two such significant investments in a single day is no mere coincidence. It is a clear indication of Arizona’s successful strategy in attracting advanced industries to drive economic growth.
Emerging as an Innovation Hub for Bioscience
Arizona’s thriving bioscience and healthcare industry plays a crucial role in the development of innovative medicines, medical devices, and healthcare technologies. Leading companies such as Mayo Clinic, Banner Health, Barrow Neurological Institute, BD, Stryker, Dexcom, TGen, and GT Medical Technologies, among others, are based in Arizona and driving innovation.
Arizona’s bioscience and healthcare sector encompasses a wide range of fields, including research, clinical care, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical device manufacturing. Notably, the state ranks second nationally in medical equipment, pharmaceutical, and chemical manufacturing employment concentration and fourth in overall bioscience and healthcare job growth. Institutions like the Flinn Foundation and the Arizona Bioindustry Association continuously support the sector’s advancement, while the Phoenix Bioscience Core serves as an innovation hub, and the University of Arizona’s Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies is expected to foster groundbreaking research.
A Legacy and Future in Semiconductor Manufacturing
Arizona has been at the forefront of semiconductor innovation for over 70 years. Starting with Intel’s first manufacturing plant in 1979, the state’s semiconductor industry has steadily grown. Today, Arizona is home to over 200 semiconductor-related companies, including Applied Materials, NXP, EMD Electronics, Sunlit, Amkor, and ASM.
In 2020, TSMC announced its plans to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility in Phoenix, with a total investment expected to reach $165 billion by 2025, creating over 6,000 new jobs. Since 2020, leading companies in the semiconductor industry have announced more than 50 expansion projects in Arizona, resulting in the creation of over 16,000 jobs and more than $205 billion in investments, the largest in the nation.
An Optimal Environment for Success
Arizona’s unprecedented economic momentum is underscored by the remarkable achievement of securing two major investments in a single day. The state’s pro-business environment, skilled workforce, top-tier universities and community colleges, and ecosystem of industry leaders provide an ideal foundation for long-term business success.
Complementing these investments, the Arizona Commerce Authority is actively promoting the ‘Future48 Workforce Accelerators’ initiative in collaboration with local community colleges to develop the future workforce. This program aims to equip local colleges with the latest technology and curriculum to ensure workers can quickly integrate into production lines.
As a concrete example, Central Arizona College’s Superstition Mountain Campus, in partnership with Pinal County, LG Energy Solution, and the Arizona Commerce Authority, launched a specialized job training program focused on the manufacturing processes of cylindrical lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and other technologies. The program will offer personalized training utilizing virtual reality (VR) and simulation technologies, along with instruction on LGES manufacturing equipment and safety protocols.
Gateway Community College’s Central City Campus in Phoenix is focusing on meeting the workforce demands of Arizona’s semiconductor industry. The training facility, established in collaboration with major companies like Intel, NXP, and TSMC, will provide training courses to enable more Arizonans to enter the microelectronics sector.
Furthermore, the Arizona Commerce Authority invested $13 million in February in Northern Arizona University’s training programs and the expansion of research related to metrology, which plays a crucial role in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation. This investment will enable NAU to establish a microelectronics metrology certificate program, a semiconductor training center, and a metrology research and education laboratory, accelerating the development of specialized talent in these fields.
With its proactive approach to attracting advanced industry investments and its future-oriented workforce development policies, Arizona is poised for continued robust economic growth.
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