In the News: Third Quarter 2026

This post contains items we have found in Arizona news websites and economic development releases where there are job figures recorded. It also includes items from the Arizona Job Connection Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act (WARN) search. 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.

Rosendin Electric purchased a building in Chandler for a new regional headquarters. The new location will consolidate the current 260 employees from around the Valley and have room to support up to 400 employees. Cavco Industries announced it is building a modular home factory in El Mirage that will be operational by mid-2027, though the report said it was too early to determine total expected employment. Swire Coca-Cola USA opened a new distribution center in Mesa this spring that employs 100 (some of which were transferred from other local locations). Private label food manufacturer United Foods International (UFI) opened a facility in Phoenix with 100 workers. 

Sprouts opened a location int Buckeye in July with 102 employees. Pickleball club Picklr opened a location in Cave Creek in June. No employment numbers were provided but another location recently opened in the state has 20 workers. Seafood City Supermarket opened in Chandler at the end of July, employing 100.Target opened a store in Mesa during July that employs 190. Boeing Co. received approval to build a new fabrication center next door to the existing facility in Mesa. The new fab will employ about 260. Dignity Health is building a medical campus in north Phoenix that is expected to open in 2028 and employ 700. Australian semiconductor company Syenta opened a facility at the ASU Research Park in Tempe this spring, creating 200 jobs. Several companies announced this quarter that they were shifting their headquarters from California to Arizona. Drone maker Knightwerx moved its headquarters from California to Scottsdale this spring, bringing 15 employees and plans to hire another 15. KB Home is moving its headquarters from Los Angeles to Tempe in 2027. 

Computer equipment wholesaler Ingram Micro Services is closing its Chandler facility by the end of the year and eliminating 75 jobs between September and December. Honeywell filed a WARN notice in May for 60 Chandler jobs in advance of the spinoff of Honeywell Aerospace. Transportation and logistics firm National Distribution Centers LLC laid off 96 employees in Glendale/Waddell. Central Admixture Pharmacy Services is closing its Phoenix facility and laying off 116 people between August and December. FedEx closed a Phoenix warehouse facility in early August, leaving 100 workers out of a job (though some may be picked up by other locations). After letting 65 employees go earlier this year (see last quarter’s report), Benchmark Electronics decided to completely shut down operations at the Phoenix manufacturing plant. The second round included 70 jobs, making 135 total jobs lost. Alcohol beverage distributor Republic National Distributing Company filed a WARN notice for 213 employees this spring after it was purchased by Reyes Holdings. Reports indicate that many of those workers will be extended job offers with the new company but no word on how many. Leona Arizona Employment Group cut 66 positions at the end of June within three schools it operates located in Mesa (two) and Lake Havasu City (one). SDH Education West, known as Sodexo, filed a WARN notice indicating 489 layoffs due to the loss of a contract with Grand Canyon University. Aramark, the company taking over the contract, stated it intends to hire Sodexo employees working on campus, so it may be close to a draw on job numbers.

California-based Arto Brick is moving its headquarters to Tucson and taking over the building that had previously housed the Sam Levitz furniture store as a factory. The brick manufacturer plans to hire 85 and have the facility operational by 2027. El Rio Health opened the Stone Health Center at the beginning of June in what was formerly the Tucson Heart Hospital. Expected employment is about 100. Tucson Unified School District will add six library media specialists beginning this fall. BBA Consultants is opening an office in Tucson that will employ about 25. The first Tucson location for Urban Air Adventure Park is expected to open during the first quarter of 2027 and employ 10-15.

The University of Arizona restructured its Health Sciences program, moving operations to several other colleges and letting go of about 28 staff. National facilities services provider Marsden Services permanently ceased operations at a Tucson location due to the termination of a client contract, causing the elimination of 85 jobs between May and June. DLH Solutions indicated it was letting go of 312 Tucson employees because a contract with Tucson CMOP transitioned to another company. Tucson CMOP is a Veteran’s Affairs Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy. Manufacturer Paragon Space Development Corp. laid off 77 Tucson employees in August. The job cuts were tied to Northrop Grumman and a termination of a contract for NASA’s Lunar Gateway program (HALO). Select Medical Corporation closed is Select Specialty Hospital – Tucson East at the end of July, leaving 99 without work. 

Beauty care products maker Think Smart Products, which is based in Scottsdale, plans to open a manufacturing plant somewhere in Arizona that will employ 30. Clark Pacific received approval from the Coolidge City Council to build a manufacturing plant to make concrete building systems. The company plans to hire 150 workers and stated that they have already received 600 applications for those positions. Florence Copper in Apache Junction has added 165 employees over the last four years according to recent reports and continues to hire. Beam Global, which produces solar powered charging stations and smart city infrastructure, opened a manufacturing facility in Yuma this summer that will employ up to 100. 

Commercial property maintenance company Tendit Group reported that it would permanently close its facilities and lay off employees in Colorado and Arizona, affecting 143 Arizona workers. Following a report from earlier this year for job losses in Scottsdale, the parent company of JeniusBank filed an additional WARN notice for 12 Arizona employees as the bank is closing down. Electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Group is laying off 705 employees in Casa Grande. The facility will remain open, though second shift workers will be let go. Prescott charter school Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy closed at the end of the 2025-26 school year, leaving 21 employees without work. Advanced Call Center Technologies, which goes by ACT, filed a notice that it was shutting down a call center in San Luis and laying off 232 employees in July.