Intern, Author at Arizona Technology Council

NAU Opens New MPaCT Lab, Expanding Arizona’s Semiconductor Research and Workforce Capabilities

Image: NAU Northern Arizona University FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Northern Arizona University (NAU) officially opened its new Microelectronics Processing and Characterization Testing (MPaCT) Lab with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 17, marking a major step in the university’s efforts to support Arizona’s rapidly growing semiconductor industry. NAU President Dr. José Luis Cr...

BC Automation Guest Post: Before You Trust Industrial AI, Can You Trust Its Data?

Image: BC Automation BC Automation Engineering Perspectives Thomas J. Schwieters | Founder & Chief Technologist, BC Automation The model is only as good as the fidelity of the observation. We don’t go to a symphony wearing earmuffs while standing around the corner. Yet we’re asking AI to understand manufacturing processes using data that has already been filtered, scale...

Westmarc Announces Kristin Allen As New President And CEO

WestMarc To lead the organization’s next era of leadership, economic vitality and strategic impact GLENDALE, AZ, October 13, 2026 – WESTMARC named Kristin Allen as its new president and CEO. Allen, CEO of Global Ties Arizona, will take the helm on Dec. 2, 2026, bringing a proven track record spanning two decades of building partnerships, developing programs and engaging stakeho...

Comcast Business Guest Blog: Gartner® Report: 2026 Strategic Roadmap for Enterprise Networking

Comcast Business Enterprise networking is evolving to support AI-driven workloads, requiring a shift from manual operations to more automated, software-driven, and adaptive environments. Organizations must modernize networks incrementally by aligning teams, investing in AI-ready infrastructure, and adopting unified operating models that integrate networking, security, and cloud. W...

New Taiwan Office in Phoenix Strengthens $21.2B Trade Relationship

InBusinessPHX Arizona and Taiwan celebrated another significant milestone in their expanding partnership as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office officially opened its new office in Phoenix, Arizona. Governor Katie Hobbs joined leaders including Dr. Chia-Lung Lin, Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs; TECO Phoenix Director General Kevin Chiao; Ingrid Larson, Managing Director, ...

$6.4M Mesa Training Hub Opens to Strengthen Arizona’s Aerospace Workforce

Image: Gov. Katie Hobbs announces Mesa’s aerospace and defense Future48 Workforce Accelerator in February 2025. InBusiness PHX InBusinessPHX Maricopa Community Colleges and Chandler-Gilbert Community College joined Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Commerce Authority, and industry partners to officially celebrate the grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ari...

Utility-Scale Solar & Storage: Separating Public Health Fact from Fiction

Image: Arizona Public Health Association AZPHA Utility-scale solar projects are popping up all over Arizona. Why? Because solar is often the least expensive option for generating more badly needed electricity. That’s good for several public health reasons. Cheaper energy generation means (or at least should mean) lower electricity costs, which helps the social determinants of ...

Governor Hobbs, Maricopa Community Colleges And Arizona Commerce Authority Celebrate Grand Opening Of Aerospace & Defense Future48 Workforce Accelerator

Arizona Commerce Authority MESA, AZ (October 6, 2026) – Today, Maricopa Community Colleges and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) joined Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), and industry partners to officially celebrate the grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Arizona’s first-of-its-kind Aerospace & Defense-focuse...

Phoenix proposal aims to grow EV charging network, closing gaps in low-income areas

Image: Tim Agne | KJZZ |A Kia EV6 charges on a Level 3 DC fast charger at an Electrify America charging station in Phoenix. KJZZ A new plan drafted by the city of Phoenix calls for up to 1,900 high-mileage electric vehicle charging ports across the Valley. The city’s Charging Action Plan found metro Phoenix requires more high-powered charging ports by 2030 to match projected d...

Navy Awards $22.9B to 17x Tomahawk Output Raytheon

Image: Rtx.com Tech Times The U.S. Navy on Monday awarded Raytheon a $22.9 billion contract — the defense arm of RTX Corporation — to ramp Tomahawk cruise missile production from roughly 60 units per year to more than 1,000 over seven years, a 17-fold increase representing one of the most expansive single-weapon production commitments in American history. The contract, issu...

BC Automation Guest Blog: P1: From SCADA to the Intelligent Plant: Plantwide Visibility

Image: BC Automation BC Automation Part 1 of 3 Bringing Utilities, OEM Packages, Process Areas, and Production Systems Into One Operational View Most industrial plants already have plenty of automation. What they often lack is a coherent view of it. A packaging line has its own PLC and HMI. A chiller package has another. Boilers, compressors, refrigeration, wastewater, mixers, va...

How renewable energy can help save Arizona family farms, ranches

Image: Cattle, rangeland and solar power, such as this experimental effort at the Rutgers University Animal Farm at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, may be one way to help keep cattle ranching viable. Lori Nardoza/Rutgers wmicentral My family has raised cattle in Navajo County for over 80 years. Cattle ranching isn’t a job. It’s a way of life. N...

ProtosEQ Introduces Frontline™, a New Way for Organizations to See Workforce Stress Before It Becomes a Performance Problem

ProtosEQ Frontline™ gives leaders a simple, real-time view of workforce stress and energy without creating another complicated employee survey or collecting unnecessary personal information. PHOENIX, Ariz. — October 1, 2026 — ProtosEQ, a human performance intelligence company focused on understanding how people operate under pressure, today announced Frontline™, a simplified ...

Tech Parks Arizona Recognized Among Nation’s Top Innovation Districts

Image: Tech Parks Arizona Tech Parks Arizona TUCSON, Ariz. – Tech Parks Arizona has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading innovation districts in a new national report from the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. The analysis highlights the nation’s strongest innovation districts as powerful economic engines where higher education i...

GridStor closes US$220 million financing for 400MWh Arizona BESS

Image: Announced 21 September, GridStor closed the US$220 million tax equity bridge, construction, and term debt financing agreement with financial partners ING Capital LLC, KeyBank N.A., and Zions Capital Markets, to complete development of the 400MWh White Tank BESS project. Image: GridStor energy-storage.news GridStor, a US-based developer and operator of grid-scale battery ene...

ASU’s London Expansion Builds a New Talent Bridge to Arizona

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessphx Michael Goodwin was less than a minute into his remarks when he made clear to the audience of 300 or so gathered for the opening of ASU London, a new independent, U.K.-degree-awarding higher education provider founded by ASU, exactly why they were there. “We’re here to celebrate the opening of what we believe will become one of the pioneering n...

Surprise City Council approves flexible setbacks for battery storage facilities after unanimous vote

Video image: ABC15 ABC15 SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Surprise City Council unanimously approved new setback rules for battery energy storage systems Tuesday night, opting for a flexible approach that city leaders say balances safety concerns with growing energy needs. Rather than establishing a single minimum distance between battery storage facilities and homes, the council voted 7-0 ...

Arizona Defense Manufacturer Raytheon Secures $20.7B Missile Production Contract

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessphx Raytheon, an RTX business, will accelerate production of AMRAAM missiles to record-setting levels under the terms of a five-year multi-year contract with two option years valued up to $20.7 billion awarded as part of the Department of War’s Arsenal of Freedom. This contract follows the landmark agreement between Raytheon and the Department of War...

Electronics distributor Avnet moves into 156,000-square-foot Tempe office

Image: Avnet CEO Phil Gallagher at the company’s new headquarters in Tempe. Jim Poulin | Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix Business Journal When Avnet Inc.⁠ CEO Phil Gallagher walks down the halls of Avnet’s new Tempe headquarters, he sees a modern open office space that fosters collaboration among the company’s employees. Avnet’s new headquarters reinforces the globa...

ASU extends nation-leading innovation streak to 12 years as Arizona schools see rankings shift

Image: Arizona State University remains the nation’s most innovative school, according to U.S. News & World Report. File Photo Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix Business Journal Arizona State University and the University of Arizona tied with 10 other schools at No. 121 in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. At the same time, ASU stretched its nation...

Comcast Business Guest Blog: The 2026 Comcast Business Cybersecurity Threat Report

Comcast Business Comcast Business analyzed 79.3 billion cybersecurity events detected between March 2025 and February 2026. With AI now accelerating both the volume and sophistication of attacks, it is essential for enterprises to launch a layered cybersecurity defense that pairs advanced technology tools with human-led expertise to help protect their business. In this yearR...

Pima Community College: Where Southern Arizona’s Workforce Begins

Image: Pima Community College Pima Community College Pima Community College is working alongside industry partners to build the talent, training, and technology infrastructure Southern Arizona’s growing economy needs. Southern Arizona’s economy is evolving, and Pima Community College is evolving with it. Growing industries like advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, cyb...

Comcast Business Guest Blog: To build the next generation of experiences, GenAI demands data in motion

Comcast Business Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the way enterprises conduct business, from managing supply chains to optimizing product development. But one of GenAI’s most profound impacts has been powering a new generation of customer and employee experiences. With its ability to process massive troves of data, both structured and unstructured, from multi...

SRP Invests $3M in Arizona’s Public Universities for Power, Water and Wildfire Research

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessphx Salt River Project has invested $3 million in 34 research and development projects with Arizona’s three largest public universities – Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona – as part of an ongoing effort to support reliable power and water delivery to SRP customers. Every project awarded funding by...

FPT Guest Blog: The Retention Engine: Leveraging Predictive Data to Drive Aftermarket Service Revenue.

A customer brings her SUV into a Southwest dealership for a routine oil change. The brake pads are close to the end of their life, close enough that a trained eye glancing at the wear indicator would catch it. No one glances. The service advisor processes the visit that was scheduled, not the one that was needed, and the customer drives off the lot with a problem quietly getting worse. ...

Employee Spotlight – Paloma Santiago

Image: Linkedin Inside the Council with Paloma Paloma Santiago is a community and nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing workforce development, education, and economic growth throughout Southern Arizona. As Vice President of the Arizona Technology Council, she brings together business, education, and community partners to strengthen the region’s talent pipeline ...

Editorial: Wind power in Pinal

Pinalcentral Electricity demand in Arizona just keeps growing, with more people here and more use of the power in many ways. Along with that comes a desire for “clean energy,” or power generation without emissions. A switch from coal to natural gas power plants has helped. However, use of renewable energy is attractive to most people. Now, a major source of wind energy has come to...

Echoes of the Boom: Arizona’s Fab Explosion Brings Suppliers in Tow

Image: inBusinessphx inBusinessphx Arizona’s semiconductor boom has long been measured by its biggest numbers. Billions in investment. New fabrication plants. Thousands of jobs. TSMC’s latest expansion pushes those numbers to another level, but some of the clearest signs of its impact are showing up in the smaller facilities and industry connections forming around those massive pr...

Salt River Project greenlights massive Pinal County energy center with solar, gas and storage

Image: SRP has a new power project in the works for Pinal County. Jim Poulin | Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix Business Journal The Salt River Project gave the go-ahead this week for development of a massive energy generation and storage project to be built in Pinal County. The project, called the Marigold Energy Center, will be located on various parcels of land around the unincorp...

Goodyear approves Desert Rainbow Solar Project

Westvalleyview The Goodyear City Council approved a special use permit for a sprawling solar energy and battery storage project in south Goodyear that is expected to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue and hundreds of construction jobs. The council voted 6-1 to approve Resolution No. 2026-2537 for the Desert Rainbow Solar Project, a utility-scale solar energy generation facili...

Searching for breakthroughs in generating fusion energy

AZPM Fusion technology holds the promise of solving the world’s energy challenges. University of Arizona SVP for Research and Partnerships Tomas Diaz de la Rubia discusses the latest breakthroughs in developing fusion energy and how it has advantages over conventional power plants. Tomas Diaz de la Rubia spoke with Tim Swindle, professor emeritus of Planetary Science at the Universi...

TSMC and ASML Partner to Shape the Future of Advanced Chipmaking

Image: inBusinessphx inBusinessphx ASML Holding N.V. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced a collaborative initiative to lead the semiconductor industry’s transition to a larger-format Extreme Ultraviolet lithography photomask. While High NA EUV will be adopted for production using the current, 6-inch masks, the transition to larger, 12-inch masks is expected to f...

Axon Executive, UMB Arizona President Tapped to Lead 2027 WM Phoenix Open

Image: inBusinessphx inBusinessphx The Thunderbirds, hosts of the WM Phoenix Open, have appointed Chris Camacho the Tournament Chairman for the 2027 edition of “The People’s Open”, which is set to tee it up Feb. 8-14 at TPC Scottsdale. Additionally, The Thunderbirds announced that John Damiris has been named Assistant Tournament Chairman for the 2027 event, which will be the 92n...

Comcast Business Guest Blog: 3 threat trends driving adaptive cybersecurity

Comcast Business Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity, enhancing both offensive and defensive capabilities. On the one hand, it’s fueling faster, smarter, automated defenses. On the other, it’s given attackers multiple new, easily accessible ways to wreak havoc. And that means that cybersecurity leaders can’t stay in the past. The current moment calls for cybe...

CLIMATE MATTERS: Tucson, Local First Arizona map path to greener economy

KVOA The City of Tucson and Local First Arizona are working together to expand the region’s clean-energy economy while creating new opportunities for workers and small businesses. The partnership, developed through collaboration with the Urban Institute’s Climate Capacity Initiative, examined how Southern Arizona can connect climate investments to workforce training and lo...

SCOUTz Comes Out of Stealth to Retire the “So, Tell Me About Your IT” Meeting

Scoutzsecurity.io SCOUTz, a security sales intelligence platform for managed service providers, today came out of stealth and opened a 30-day open beta to any MSP that applies at scoutzsecurity.io. The platform is built for the part of the sales process that MSP tooling has skipped: everything between a booked first meeting and a signed client. The channel has no shortage of tools and ...

ASU Among Eight Universities Leading National Manufacturing Workforce Initiative

Image: InBusiness Phoenix inBusinessphx Arizona State University is among eight universities selected to lead a national initiative focused on preparing the next generation of workers to advance American manufacturing. The Foundry School, a U.S. Department of State initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, was announced today in Washington, D.C., by Vice President J....

New global hub advances Arizona’s semiconductor industry

Representatives from the organizations forming the Silicon Photonics at Arizona-Kaohsiung Center announce the partnership’s launch at SEMICON Taiwan in Taipei. From left: Mike Czechowski, City of Tucson chief economic development officer; Chih-Peng Li, National Sun Yat-sen University president; Ta-Sheng Lo, Kaohsiung City deputy mayor; Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority president a...

Battery storage projects advance in West Valley as data center demand surges

Image: The Sierra Estrella Energy Storage Facility in Avondale. SRP Phoenix Business Journal A handful of new battery energy storage system facilities are on tap around metro Phoenix as demand swells for power needed to operate future data centers while ensuring grid reliability. Right now, Arizona is leading the country for battery storage capacity growth, with 6.2 gigawatt-hours ...

GCU Targets Arizona Workforce Needs with New Law and Skilled-Trades Colleges

Image: In Business Phoenix, GCU inBusinessphx Grand Canyon University begins another academic year with record enrollment and plans to expand its academic offerings in two dramatically different but equally important areas: law and the skilled trades. GCU expects to serve a record 141,000 students during the 2026-27 academic year, continuing a period of remarkable growth that has posit...

SRP Completes Five-Year Pipeline Project to Secure Valley’s Water Future

Image: In Business Phoenix inBusinessphx As communities across the Southwest face ongoing drought conditions and increasing water supply challenges, SRP announced the completion of the Gilbert Road Pipeline project — a major infrastructure investment designed to enhance water reliability and operational flexibility throughout the Valley. The new system will enable SRP to move water f...

Battery storage can help keep Arizona power affordable | Opinion

Arizona Republic Arizona knows heat. But in recent years, even long-time residents have felt the difference between a hot summer day and the kind of extreme heat that stretches household budgets, tests local infrastructure and makes reliable electricity a matter of public safety. That is why Arizona utilities are increasingly using flexible technologies like battery energy storage to s...

South32 Hermosa Completes FAST-41 Permitting Process, Enabling Development to Begin on Federal Forest Service Land

Federal leaders, including USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden, visit Hermosa as U.S. Forest Service signs Final Mine Plan of Operations authorizing activities on federal land PATAGONIA, Ariz. – The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) signed South32 Hermosa’s Final Mine Plan of Operation (MPO) during a ceremony at the project site in Southern Ar...

Arizona State University surpasses 200,000 students for first time in history

On the first day of the fall 2025 semester, first-year theater students Gabby Opulskas and Milo Buagarini take a selfie with Sparky on Aug. 21, 2025. | Samantha Chow/Arizona State University Phoenix Business Journal Arizona State University enrolled more than 200,000 students during the 2025–26 school year, surpassing that enrollment milestone for the first time in university history...

Arizona leads nation in battery storage growth with 6.2 gigawatt-hours added in Q2

Recurrent Energy’s Papago Storage facility in Tonopah, Arizona. | Blattner Energy Phoenix Business Journal Arizona has become the nation’s growth leader for battery electric storage systems, with more than 6.2 gigawatt-hours of new storage added in the second quarter and two of the nation’s largest projects located in the state. That storage capacity jump made Q2 the stronges...

National Academy of Engineering honors ASU’s Panchanathan with prestigious award

Sethuraman Panchanathan, University Professor of Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University. | Deanna Dent/Arizona State University Phoenix Business Journal In 1969, 8-year-old Sethuraman Panchanathan stood in line outside the American Center in Chennai, India. He was with his father and hundreds of others who had come to see something truly remarkable in the history of hum...

Copia Power seeks rezoning for 3,100-acre solar and data center project near Phoenix

A growing number of energy generation and data center projects are planned on the outskirts of the Phoenix metro. | Salt River Project Phoenix Business Journal Another solar plant project with battery energy storage systems to help power future data centers is in the works outside of Phoenix. Salt Lake City, Utah-based Copia Power, which develops, builds and operates grid-connected pow...

Techbros Becomes the World’s First ITAD Company Certified to ISO/IEC 42001

TechBros Artificial intelligence is no longer an experiment running quietly in a lab. It routes our logistics, screens our data, and increasingly decides what happens to the technology we retire. As AI spreads into every sector, one question keeps surfacing in boardrooms and IT departments alike: who is checking the AI? For Techbros® Electronic Recycle & ITAD, the an...

GCU plans to open new College of Law, College of Construction and Industrial Technologies

AZ Big Media Grand Canyon University begins another academic year with record enrollment and plans to expand its academic offerings in two dramatically different but equally important areas: law and the skilled trades. GCU expects to serve a record 141,000 students during the 2026-27 academic year, continuing a period of remarkable growth that has positioned it as the largest Christi...

West Valley city softens proposed battery storage restrictions after industry pushback

Demand for battery energy storage systems, which help power data centers and ensure grid reliability, has exploded. | Steve Johnson Phoenix Business Journal The city of Surprise has spent the past two years trying to work out a new zoning ordinance specifically targeting battery energy storage systems. In that time, demand for these BESS facilities — used to help power data centers a...