When the 202 Loop freeway was completed in 2019, connecting the East Valley through Laveen to Interstate 10, it made travel between this area of Phoenix, previously dominated by farmland, and other parts of The Valley much quicker and created new avenues not only for cars but also for businesses. Now, the City of Phoenix has dubbed this area the South Mountain Technology Corridor and hopes to woo big technology companies into the vicinity.
The City of Phoenix has been eyeing this section of the City for some time. In 2020, shortly after the completion of the 202 Loop, Christine Mackay, Phoenix Director of Community Economic Development, said in a Fox10 interview, “That 202 corridor is really set for more knowledge-intensive focused companies, more office related and more aerospace engineering, electronics, and IT type companies.”
In a 2023 Phoenix Business Journal article, Nathan Wright, Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development, said, “This is an ideal place for advanced manufacturing, not for logistics and distribution. This is some of the last area on a freeway that has this much infrastructure around it.”
Wright went on to say that this area of Phoenix lends itself to technology companies because of its orientation between the East and West Valley, with 65% of West Valley workers commuting east daily for work. Other benefits include the nearby 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the largest in the southwest, and the pending power expansion in the area.
“This was kind of a backup site for TSMC when they were first looking at sites,” Wright said of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. chip manufacturing complex recently established in North Phoenix, easily accessible from the South Mountain Technology Corridor through the 101 Loop. “It’s ideal for those types of companies that need big infrastructure and a highly-skilled workforce.”
The Phoenix Business Journal reported that this area has been shortlisted for a couple of “mega projects” representing more than $1 billion in business and more than 1,000 jobs each for companies in the solar, semiconductor, electric vehicle, and battery industries. These industries are expanding in Arizona and the Phoenix area, but no announcements have been made yet.
More recently, multiple news outlets, including the Arizona Republic and ABC15, reported that Amazon has bought a 220-acre plot of land for its $227 million subsidiary, Amazon Data Services. This investment will help Amazon expand its cloud computing infrastructure.
The South Mountain Technology Corridor is definitely becoming an area to watch. While it may not be suitable for smaller companies yet, as larger companies like Amazon take advantage of this growing area of Phoenix, more companies are sure to follow, creating more tech and associated jobs while bolstering and aggregating The Valley’s tech ecosystem.
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