Aaron McDonald thinks back to when he came to Maricopa County nearly 20 years ago as a young ironworker hoping to get work building a new football stadium. Driving in from Wyoming for the first time, he was struck by the overwhelming desert expanse that surrounded Phoenix. Today, those sweeping vistas are dotted with industrial development that is transforming Arizona's economy.
, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 'The growth, to me, just really doesn't seem like it's gonna slow down at anytime. We know we have Biden to thank for this work.' The question for Biden's reelection team is whether enough voters in this battleground state will feel the same way in November.
and hopes that the enormous investments in green technology and semiconductors can make a difference in a state where Biden bested President Trump by a mere 10,000 votes in 2020. But recent polling points to the challenges in winning over those voters. The Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act will ultimately send about $24 billion to Arizona, according to data compiled by the White House.
has committed to spending $65 billion in the state building facilities in the next decade, on top of the roughly $11 billion in loans and grants it recently received from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The company has said its new facilities, when completed, will create 6,000 permanent and roughly 20,000 temporary jobs. 'When you drive to the north, or you drive to the south, you see what my wife calls the cranes of prosperity.
had already committed billions to construct new manufacturing facilities before they received government grants and tax breaks in the last year. 'Some of these companies were starting to move' to the region, said Eelco Bergman, the chief business officer of Saras Micro Devices. 'I think where things like the CHIPS Act helped is they took that spark and threw some kindling on the flame.