(light music) - Coming up next on this special Labor Day Edition of "Arizona Horizon," details on a massive new semiconductor packaging and testing facility set for construction in Peoria.

Also, tonight, Habitat for Humanity opens a new training center to teach construction and home building skills, and we'll hear about efforts to promote careers in Arizona's hospitality industry.

Those stories and more next on "Arizona Horizon."

- [Announcer] This hour of local news is made possible by contributions from the friends of PBS, members of your PBS station.

Thank you.

- Good evening, and welcome to this special Labor Day Edition of "Arizona Horizon."

I'm Ted Simons.

A huge new semiconductor packaging and testing plant is set to be built in Peoria with construction starting in 2025.

The facility is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the area over the next decade, according to Peoria's Mayor Jason Beck.

Good to have you back on the show.

- Thank you for having me, sir.

- Okay, semiconductor packaging and testing facility, what does all that mean?

- So once the semiconductor is actually, or the actual wafer, whether it's at TSMC or Intel is actually produced, the next step of that, what makes it function, what makes it work, one is the testing of it and make sure that each one of the chips are actually capable of actually doing what they need it to do.

But it's also the packaging of it, and they package that specifically for companies like Apple specifically, the majority of the iPhone chips will be made in the city of Peoria that will be produced at TSMC.

- [Ted] I was gonna say, this is the largest such facility in the world?

- It is, specifically in the United States, but it is 500,000 square feet, 2,000 jobs, $2 billion worth of infrastructure.

It's gonna change the Northwest Valley and change Arizona.

It's also gonna change the United States.

- Amcor choosing Peoria here, why did they choose Peoria?

- Well, we have an amazing group of individuals that are actually working in our city government.

I'd love to honestly tell you that it's actually the city employees that actually made this happen.

From the city manager, assistant city manager, our economic development department, we have put together a very, very dynamic team of city employees that have really tried to drive the culture of economic development for our city's future, and for the Northwest valley.

- The Taiwanese plant so close up the road, that doesn't hurt matters, does it?

- It does not hurt matters at all.

But it's really making sure that you actually take advantage of the locale, which is seven and a half miles from this location that they're actually moving to.

And really being able to align yourselves with not only subcontractors of TSMC, but also contractors and companies that are gonna work in and around TSMC's environment that are actually going to create.

- I was gonna say, the relationship between this plant and TSMC will be- - Very symbiotic, yeah.

I mean, they are gonna be working hand in hand together.

So the majority of chips that are made at TSMC, specifically for Apple, will go through the Peoria plant.

- Okay, construction starts when?

- [Jason] 2025.

- And finishes?

- The first phase will be 2027, approximately 350 jobs in phase one.

And it will be about a seven to eight-year project.

- Now, I notice that the entire project has to be completed by 2034 and there are other targets here that Amcor is required to meet.

Talk to us about that.

- So we did not want to just see what, and for us, we wanted to put a plan together that allowed a company to come in and be able to have checks and balances to be able to produce for the future of Peoria.

For us to be able to pour in economic development and infrastructure in and around this facility, it's very important for companies to actually pour in as well.

So it's almost like a co-investment, if you will.

It's not really a co-investment, we don't own any of the company, but we are pouring into the community.

We're pouring into the infrastructure and being able to do so.

So it's very important and we felt it was very important for us to be able to have those checks or those gates, if you will, for that company that's actually bringing those jobs.

If they want things done, they have to be able to pour into it as well.

It's a very strong economic plan that was worked very hard on by a lot of employees in the city of Peoria.

- I'm seeing a land purchase date, a minimum number of full-time workers, minimum number of I guess capital investment.

- It is.

And if they don't, they actually have penalties with that.

So they're, I can tell you, it was passed last Tuesday by the City Council unanimously, 7-0.

And they are off to the races.

They're actually meeting in our city tomorrow, I think they've got a five-hour meeting plan tomorrow, and they're already looking at construction times and actually moving the timeline up even faster.

- How much water will be needed for this plan?

- That's a great question.

So at its max capacity, it's 978,000 gallons a day, all reclaim water.

We get back over 80% of that water on a daily basis.

So max total loss on a daily basis is about 200,000 gallons.

- So reclaimed water, does that mean a recycling plant has to go up there as well?

- It is.

So we already have reclaimed water that goes into that area specifically.

So they will be actually be tuning the water specifically to go into that actual facility itself.

- As far as public comment, as far as the citizens, residents of Peoria, what do they think about all this?

- So I've only heard really good things with the exception of a few minor hiccups here and there.

I've had a few comments.

We had one commenter that came to a council meeting this last week, gave a few comments about it.

We've heard a few people that have said, "Well, you're taking our desert and you're doing these types of things," and that's gonna happen with economic development.

I think it's important to listen to every citizen throughout that process.

But at the same time, I was elected to bring in change in the city of Peoria, and I was elected to focus on economic development and public safety and infrastructure, and that's what we're doing.

- And the last question here, during the press conference, during the announcement, you said, "This is the beginning, I promise you."

- It is.

This is one of the things I think there's two pieces of this.

One is this changes our national defense and national security platform.

Having the reshoring of tech back into our country and bringing these manufacturing jobs back into our country, and not just the United States, but also specifically Peoria in the Northwest valley, in Arizona itself.

What that does is that changes the future of our state, but it also changes the future of our nation, our national security platform from that.

The other aspect of that is the other companies that are in and around and working around both the Amcor and TSMC environment, there's some big things that are coming in the next couple months that we'll hopefully be back to talk to you about soon.

- Those things tend to be accelerators.

Jason Beck, Peoria Mayor, good to have you here.

Thanks for joining.

- Thank you, sir, appreciate it.

(soft music) (car honking) - [Narrator] At the entrance of Bullhead City's Community Park on State Route 95 is a marker honoring Northeastern Arizona's vital relationship with the Colorado River.

(ship horn blares) For nearly 30 years in the mid-1800s, commercial steamships served the mining communities of Northern Arizona, hauling supplies from as far down river as Yuma.

Cargo was unloaded at nearby Hardyville, often returning downstream with barge loads of local ore. Bulls Head Rock, from which Bullhead City derived its name, was located just upstream.

The escarpment was used as a navigation marker and the point where Mojave Indians forwarded the river.

Bulls Head Rock was submerged in 1953 with the building of Davis Dam.

(lively music) Today, the Colorado is still Bullhead City's lifeblood.

Jet skis have replaced the steamships, and Laughlin, Nevada's casinos just across the river have replaced the mines.

Mining tourist wallets instead of the ore from the mountains.

(bright music) (light mysterious music) - [Narrator] When you support Arizona PBS, you plant a seed, seeds that provide educational outreach in our community, seeds that put our digital resources to work, seeds that foster the trusted news coverage you expect from PBS, and seeds that continue the amazing PBS programs you love.

But our garden can't keep growing without your support.

Visit our website to see all the ways you can help our garden grow.

Plant a seed with Arizona PBS today.

Hey kids, Arizona PBS KIDS and Delta Dental want you to have a healthy smile.

So here are some tips for you to remember.

Number one, use a toothbrush with soft bristles.

Number two, get a new toothbrush every three to four months, and number three, when you brush your teeth, don't forget to brush your tongue.

When your teeth are happy, all of you is happy.

From Arizona PBS KIDS and Delta Dental, have a healthy smile.

- Habitat for Humanity recently opened up a new center that's designed to teach a variety of construction skills to help those looking to fill construction jobs.

We learn more about the program from Habitat for Humanity CEO, Jason Barlow.

Oh my goodness, you guys are doing all sorts of work.

You're always busy.

Now this, before we get going too far, I think everyone thinks they know what Habitat for Humanity is.

You give me a good definition.

- Well, Habitat for Humanity, we've been here 39 years in the valley and we build, we bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope.

We have built and served thousands of people here in the valley over our history.

And most people think about two things, that we give away our homes, Jimmy Carter's our founder, neither of those are true.

Actually, we sell our homes to our homeowners.

They buy their homes from us and then those mortgage payments come back.

But we're also known for repairs and we have a big repair program.

And so this is how we got started down this construction training path.

- You said none of those things were true, Jimmy Carter didn't found it?

- He did not.

He was not the original founder, but he had put us on the map.

He's our biggest supporter.

- He is indeed.

All right, so, and repairing, renovating homes and a great job doing that.

But you got now a new center teaching construction seals.

What's this all about?

- Right, our Construction Training Center officially opened December 8th, Governor Katie Hobbs was there to welcome everybody and to talk about the importance of skills training.

So we've been in the valley for so long, fixing and building homes, we're great at training.

We take people that don't know anything about the construction trade on a Saturday, come out to a Habitat home or a repair site, they build the home, we teach 'em everything they need to know.

So it dawned on us, why don't we do that in a classroom?

Why don't we actually try to fill the gap of missing construction workers in the valley?

- And you're talking about training people well enough for employment.

- That's right, that's right.

They graduate with several certifications.

National Center for Construction Education and Recert Certificate.

They can get OSHA 10, CPR, if they need a GED, we do that as well.

- I also noticed the Role In The Green Environment, that's a certification?

- That's right.

Role In The Green Environment, we bring in experts on solar panels, lead certifications.

So this is nobody I tell this program to doesn't think it's amazing.

These people learn the construction trade in the classroom, maybe in the morning.

Then they go out and work on a Habitat home in the afternoon from the ground up with the family, generally, with them working right alongside of 'em.

- And we're seeing some folks working right now, obviously getting those skills and working and training.

But you've also got a mockup of a home, that's fascinating, a fake home that you got everyone working on, huh?

- Our new Construction Training Center has a classroom, it has a computer lab and it has a laboratory, which I guess you're seeing on the screen here, showing where we can actually train students in electrical, plumbing, roofing skills.

We even got a slab of a roof there and they just put stuff on and they can undo it for the next class.

- My goodness.

The program, how long does this last?

I mean, you've gotta take a little bit of time here.

- It's about 12 to 14 weeks.

And when they graduate, we have about a 94% graduation rate and a placement rate that's higher than any other program in the country that we can track anyway.

And people just, I mean, developers, contractors say the number one thing is a shortage of workers.

- [Ted] Yes.

- I've heard anywhere from 40 to 100,000 short in the valley right here, contractors.

And we're trying to help fill that gap with people that can go out and get a job immediately.

- Are developers and contractors contacting you?

- Yes, some of them are, and we love to have them come in 'cause they can brief the class.

We've had garage door companies come in and talk about garages.

Think about property management, they need construction people to work on their homes.

- [Ted] Yes.

- So just about everywhere you think about the construction trades, really the construction science, what Rosie Romero calls it, that is where we're trying to help people.

- And as far as affordable housing, we've talked about this on this program so many times, it's an issue with the, everyone's trying to figure out how to get affordable, how to get more housing.

I would imagine this is part of the equation, is it not?

- This is a small part because we find sponsors that want to help this program and they actually will pay for the sticks and bricks costs for the students to go out and train on that home and build the whole thing up from the slab up.

Which is a great, I mean, that's hands-on training that most people never get.

- Yeah.

And so you do work with employers on this?

- [Jason] We do.

- How many of the folks that graduate come back and say, I like Habitat for Humanity, I'm sticking close to home.

- Well, we've hired three of the graduates since we started.

And we get people from the graduating class come back and help as volunteers.

And they're amazing 'cause they know what they're doing just from day one.

- You know, we started with a definition of Habitat for Humanity.

Let's end with where Habitat for Humanity, how much it has grown over the years and with Habitat for Humanity's future, what do you see?

- Oh, I think we've got a bright future.

We have tremendous capacity in this valley, we still have tremendous need, we need to bring the two together with an agency like Habitat for Humanity or other to help build more homes.

The number one reason for homelessness is lack of affordable housing, we read that all the time.

We're helping that affordable housing part of that spectrum.

- If someone's interested right now, they say, "I'm thinking of maybe switching careers, I know someone who might be interested in getting to some plumbing and electrician work."

How do they get in contact?

How do they learn more?

- They can go to our website, habitatcaz.org.

Habitatcz, for Central Arizona, .org/ctp.

That's the construction training program or just in our Program, dropdown box, Construction Training.

They can find out how to apply.

We can also shop at our restores and you can donate.

We're always looking for people to help with this crisis that we're facing.

- Jason Barlow, Habitat for Humanity, congratulations on your success.

Thank you so much for sharing.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you, sir, for having me in.

(light exciting music) (soft music) (car honking) - [Narrator] Just off I-10, in the town of Quartzite, stands a pyramid gravestone to a curious name still celebrated in these parts, Hi Jolly.

Hi Jolly was actually Hadji Ali, a Greek-Syrian immigrant who came to the United States in 1856.

He worked for the Army as the caretaker of a herd of animals being used in an experiment aimed at establishing a new way to transport goods across the southwestern deserts by camel.

The Civil War ended the Army's fascination with the camels and they were turned loose in the desert.

Hi Jolly remained a faithful Army scout for some 30 years and died in Quartzite in 1902.

Wild camels were spotted in Arizona as late as 1935, and some believe they still roam the desert.

A haunting and romantic legacy of Hi Jolly whose monument still attracts thousands of visitors every year.

- Pipeline AZ and the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association have teamed up to help educate students and job seekers on the variety of career opportunities in Arizona's hospitality industry.

We recently spoke with Mary Foote, CEO of Pipeline AZ, and Kim Sabow, President and CEO of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association.

Good to have you both here, thank you so much for joining us.

Mary, we'll start with you, Pipeline AZ.

What is that?

- So we are an online platform, we are free to use for everyone in Arizona.

We help people understand career pathway options, do career planning, and we serve everyone from middle school all the way to college students, high school students, and adults that are trying to find opportunities for re-skilling, up-skilling, and making connections to employment.

- So students young and old?

- Correct.

- Yeah, okay.

And you're teaming out with the Lodging and Tourism Association.

How did this partnership come about and what does it mean?

How does it enhance the operations of both?

- Well, if I could, I'll go back a little bit in time, during the pandemic, this industry was hit first and it was hit worst and we lost about 50% of our workforce.

So it's been an ongoing effort by the AZLTA to rebuild that workforce.

The state of the industry is great, we just need that workforce to sustain the visitors.

- I was gonna ask about the state of the industry because it seems like it's come back with gusto.

- It has.

2022, we saw our best numbers on record, far surpassing 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.

- Yeah, and so Pipeline AZ says what, if you're, first of all, whether or not you should be interested, and if you are, everything from entry level to upper management, what's involved here?

- Yeah, so we have more than 155,000 users now that are on the platform, again, across all ages.

So what we wanna do is show people current opportunities that are available right now in hospitality, but we're also trying to educate the future workforce as well.

So helping them understand what a great industry it is and what a great profession it is and how they can start at an entry level, work themselves all the way up to hotel manager, lots of different options.

- Let's say I've been in the hospitality industry in the past, or I'm interested in it, I've never been in it, but I'm an adult, I'm interested, I come to you.

How does the process work?

- Yeah, so they are able to come in, explore various different career pathways.

We have a lot of information about how entry level careers can then build into upper management positions.

And so there's also great information available about the salaries.

What are the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the different career pathways, and what are open employment opportunities right now that they can access?

- And what do employers get?

Let's say I'm an employer and I come to this partnership, and I say, "Okay, I'm struggling to find people."

How does that process work?

- So employers can post their openings online and it's this great hub that brings the employers together with job seekers.

So again, it's this fantastic hub for the ecosystem of hospitality.

- Are there particular jobs in particular industries that are most in need?

- Oh goodness.

- Yeah.

- Across the board, Ted.

It's really across the board.

- Okay, different way to ask this, are there areas of the hospitality industry that are improving and getting back to normal faster than others?

- I think that we are improving, again, in general.

And again, this industry, and I always do this for industry because it is so vast.

We represent not only hotels and resorts, but airlines, sports, attractions, you name it.

So it runs this beautiful big gamut of opportunities.

- And it really affects rural Arizona quite a bit, doesn't it?

- It does, it does.

It is truly the only industry that positively economically impacts all 15 Arizona counties.

It's the lifeblood of a lot of these small communities.

- Were they especially hard during the pandemic?

- They were, they were.

- You know, I asked if I were a student, if I were not a student, but just someone looking, let's say I'm a student, let's say I'm a ninth grader or something like that.

I'm thinking, "I don't know what I wanna do with my life."

I come, I hear about this, and my parents or whatever, I come to you.

How does the student, what kind of process is there?

- So students can come to our K-12 version of the platform.

Anyone is available to use it.

It is free to use and it is free to use because of our partnership with the Arizona Department of Education.

So every student has to complete an education and career action plan before they graduate, and we're actually the online platform that they offer.

- [Ted] Interesting.

- So we have lots of great information for anyone who comes to the platform organically, but we have strategic placement within not only the K-12 system, but also half the state's community colleges.

- And as far as, it's launched in September, true, this platform?

- Yes, it was just launched last month or two months ago.

- Two months ago, yeah.

- Two months ago.

Time flies.

- What kind of response so far?

- Fantastic, really great.

It's the first of its kind.

And I really have to thank Mary and her leadership coming together, AZLTA with Pipeline AZ.

It's been phenomenal.

It's exactly what the industry needed.

That sort of one-stop-shop for, again, job creators and job seekers to come together and rebuild the industry that is the lifeblood of this great state.

- And real quickly, where can people find out more information?

- So you can go to pipelineaz.com, but you can also go to azhospitalitycareers.com to get direct information about our partnership with the Lodging and Tourism Association.

- Sounds good.

All right, Mary, Kim, good to have you both here.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

(light music) - And that is it for now.

I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us.

You have a great evening.

(bright music)