Rendering of new headquarters, courtesy of ASM
Scottsdale has long been amenable to the needs of the business community, save for the spare corporation that attempts to threaten the city and hold it hostage (looking at you, Axon). A recent announcement demonstrates precisely this ethos and acts as a very positive harbinger of the economic future of our city.
Tech giant ASM recently announced that it will build a 400,000-square-foot production facility near the Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road. Eventually it will house 1,200 new jobs, and most of them paying 6-figures.
Haven’t heard of ASM? You’re not alone; for a semiconductor giant they have managed to fly under the radar. They create the machinery that allows semiconductor chip companies such as Intel to make the incredibly sophisticated chip designs that it does. They sell the picks and shovels for the gold miners, so to speak.
While this has significant economic ramifications for the city, it is worth noting that there are much, much larger ramifications regarding the global economy and global geopolitics. The most advanced semiconductor producer in the world is TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor. It is able to create the most powerful and complex semiconductor chips in the world and is of massive strategic importance for the United States. The problem? They’re headquartered in Taiwan, which is now under continual risk of invasion by China.
As part of President Biden’s CHIPS Act there has been a massive, coordinated effort to de-risk from TSMC, and that includes creating technological and engineering expertise here in the US. Regular readers will remember TSMC’s expansion into Arizona, one that has been slow going (perhaps intentionally, as TSMC’s importance also provides a deterrent to invasion, as the United States would be obligated to intervene). ASM’s expansion here is a further example of America attempting to build that expertise here.
That said, ASM likely had many different options when it came to expanding in the United States. Arizona’s and Scottsdale’s business-friendly climate and the desirability of the city undoubtedly gave it a leg up on its competitors. So when politicians attempt to position the city as not being business-friendly, it’s worth keeping this in mind; that’s born in political opportunism, not reality.