Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) named a new head of a cornerstone business unit in CEO Pat Gelsinger’s revitalization plan for the company. The chipmaker on Tuesday tapped Stuart Pann as senior vice president and general manager for Intel Foundry Services, reporting to Gelsinger.
Benchmark Electronics Inc., an engineering, design and manufacturing services provider, has opened a new precision technologies facility in Mesa that will create 100 new jobs. Benchmark Precision Technologies, a services group of Benchmark Electronics (NYSE: BHE), on Friday celebrated the grand opening of its 64,000-square-foot facility at 730 E. Baseline Road.
When looking for an industry critical to sustaining Arizona’s economy, the answer is at your feet. Actually, it starts deeper than that. Reports from the past few years estimate Arizona’s mining industry provides a total economic impact of close to $8 billion annually and employs nearly 40,000 Arizonans. Minerals like copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium are critical manufacturing inputs for some of the state’s most productive industries ranging from aerospace and defense to electronics to clean energy. But as these industries boom, so does our demand for the critical mineral inputs that power them.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is moving forward with its plans to invest up to $3.5 billion for its Phoenix factory, according to a new Reuters report. The chip giant, which makes a large portion of the world’s semiconductor chips, said on Tuesday that its board had approved a plan to increase the capital investment for its Arizona factory by up to $3.5 billion. The approval comes two months after TSMC confirmed its plans to triple its investment in Arizona to $40 billion, a significant increase from its initial $12 billion investment. The potential $3.5 billion is part of the overall $40 billion investment.
Three months after completing its acquisition of battery maker Romeo Power Inc., Phoenix-based zero-emissions auto maker Nikola Corp. says it will move its battery manufacturing operations to Arizona. The move will transfer those operations from Cypress, California — where Romeo is based — to Nikola’s plant in Coolidge in Pinal County, south of Phoenix.
Two Arizona State University faculty members were selected to lead a regional proposal that will advance microelectronics research, development, education, and training in the Southwest. ASU President Michael Crow appointed Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, and Kyle Squires, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, to lead a team of faculty, staff and strategic partners to establish the Microelectronics Commons, a national network funded by the CHIPs and Science Act of 2022.
Julie Ibara started with ElectraMeccanica in May 2021. At the time, the company’s assembly and technical center on Loop 202 and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport was just a piece of dirt. Ibara remembers a groundbreaking about a week after she started. In the summer of 2022, she got the keys to the 235,000-square-foot facility where she currently oversees 14 employees. In the short term, that number is expected to grow to 40-50 people who will assemble ElectraMeccanica vehicles. Her team has a goal of building ElectraMeccanica’s 2023 model of the Solo in the U.S., which is a single-seat, three-wheel electric vehicle.
It was once planned to be just the future manufacturer of its single-seat, three-wheel Solo model, but ElectraMeccanica (Nasdaq: SOLO) announced it would make the new 235,000-square-foot Mesa assembly and technical facility its new corporate headquarters. ElectraMeccanica Chief Revenue Officer Kim Brink said the decision to relocate the company’s headquarters from British Columbia, Canada to Mesa was made earlier this month. She said the decision was one of the first Susan Docherty made as CEO. ElectraMeccanica announced Docherty as CEO on Dec. 5.
This three-wheeler could hardly be called a family car, but it’s sure to turn heads whenever it hits the road. The ElectraMeccanica Solo is a single-seat electric vehicle that’s billed as thrifty, fun and practical. They have been imported from China, though the ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. (Nasdaq: SOLO) opened an assembly and technical center in Mesa with the goal of building the 2023 model in the U.S.
A recent survey commissioned by the Tucson Metro Chamber, in partnership with the Arizona Mining Association, showed that more than 66% of Southern Arizona voters support copper mining in Arizona. The poll, conducted in late September, also indicated that when given a description of the project and its location, more than half of voters support (52.6% support, 37.7% oppose) Hudbay Minerals’ new proposed Copper World Project, located 28 miles south of Tucson.