In the News: Second Quarter 2023

This post contains items we have found in Arizona news websites and economic development releases where there are job figures recorded. While this list is not a complete description of activity during the last quarter, it does provide insight into current developments that affect Arizona’s employment base. Detailed information on individual announcements is available on the Reports and Presentations page (scroll to the bottom of the page). Graphs summarizing overall trends for Arizona, Phoenix, and Tucson are below.

This quarter there were three franchise operations that signaled they would be hiring throughout the state. Restaurant chain WaBa Grill has a franchisee that plans to open 10 new restaurants in Maricopa and Pima counties over the next seven years following the success of a location in Tempe. Restaurants are already planned for Glendale (which will open later this year) as well as Gilbert, Surprise and Chandler. Each location will employ 10-15. Noble Ground Coffee is expanding with plans to open at least eight locations over the next 12 months employing about 15 at each place. There are already leases for locations in Phoenix, Mesa, and Flagstaff. The company has also signed a three-year partnership with the Arizona Coyotes, Phoenix Suns, and the Tucson Roadrunners. Stine Enterprises signed a multi-unit franchise agreement with Hawaiian Bros. Island Grill restaurant chain and plans to build at least 50 locations in Arizona, each with about 40 employees. There are several locations in Phoenix already in the making. 

Avanti Windows and Doors is building a new facility in El Mirage that will serve as the company’s headquarters and provide 200 new jobs. High-end kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. is building a new facility in Goodyear that will be operational by April 2024 and create 250 jobs. There will also be 100 jobs moving there from the Phoenix facility, as that one will shut down. HyRel Technologies opened a facility in Peoria this spring that will bring 50 new jobs. The company is a provider of semiconductor modification solutions and chose Peoria for its proximity to semiconductor companies. Costco opened a location in Queen Creek this January, employing 100.

PepsiCo opened a new warehousing facility in Goodyear this January, creating about 65 jobs.  Benchmark Electronics opened a facility in Mesa that will bring 100 new jobs. Embark Behavioral Health opened a Scottsdale outpatient clinic this spring with four clinicians and a dozen employees with plans to add more. Axon Enterprise Inc., a Scottsdale-based company that makes Tasers and other law enforcement products, launched a new body camera product and plans to add 300 new employees worldwide. No word on exact number of jobs in Arizona.

TaskUs, which provides business process outsourcing, filed a WARN notice this spring for 91 layoffs in Chandler. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. in Goodyear stated it would lay off 98 this spring. RPM Logistics, LLC submitted a WARN notice this spring indicating 60 layoffs in Phoenix. Medical supply company McKesson Corporation closed its Scottsdale office amid layoffs company-wide, affecting 252 employees here. COR Restaurant Services, LLC in Surprise filed a WARN notice in February indicating 130 employees laid off. State Farm Insurance in Tempe laid off 186 near the beginning of the year. Discount vitamin/supplement retailer Vitacost, Inc. stated it would let go of 57 at its Tempe location. In a second round of layoffs for ttec, the company posted a WARN notice for 308 jobs in Tempe. This followed an earlier WARN notice for the Phoenix location, which was reported in last quarter’s report. Las Vegas-based Westfall Technik plastics manufacturer laid off workers as it closed two separate Tempe companies it owns: MicroTech Southwest lost 60 and Integrity Molding, Inc. laid off 54. Solari Crisis and Human Services, which handles the Arizona suicide hotline, let go of 27 people in Tempe at the beginning of the year. The San Francisco-based company that developed the Chipper Cash app filed a WARN notice in February indicating 49 layoffs in Maricopa County.

Chrome Hearts expanded its manufacturing in Tucson, adding 150. The new facility will employ jewelers, sewers, upholsterers and carpenters. The Diamond Store opened a location in Tucson this winter with six diamond experts on staff.

There were two notices of layoffs for the Tucson area this quarter. Scion Power Corporation let go of 14 employees in Tucson. Mural Consulting Corporation indicated it laid off 100 people.

Ecobat is building a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Casa Grande that will employ about 60. Optimal Health Systems is doubling the number of employees in the Graham County town of Pima, creating 20 new jobs at its supplement manufacturing facility there. EVelution Energy is building a solar-powered carbon neutral cobalt sulfate production facility in Yuma County that will employ 60. Cobalt is a component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Lucid Motors is laying off a substantial number of people in Arizona and California, reducing its organization by 18%. The Casa Grande plant will lose 968 workers based on WARN notices filed in March. Cardinal Glass in Casa Grande laid off 10 people this spring. The Yuma NextCare Urgent Care indicated it was letting 12 people go this spring. Rivers Edge Assisted Living in Yuma posted 30 layoffs this spring.