The semiconductor industry — foundational to everything from smartphones to fighter jets — is facing a widening talent gap. As global demand accelerates, driven by artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and national security needs, the shortage of skilled workers has become one of the most urgent threats to stalling our innovative ability to lead in defense and … [More]
AI-Fueled Factory Brings National Security and Manufacturing Jobs to Mesa
A new kind of factory is coming to Mesa — designed not just for production, but for national resilience. Hadrian, a California-based company using artificial intelligence to modernize manufacturing, has announced plans for a 270,000-square-foot advanced facility in the city's Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone, known as Factory 3. The project is estimated to cost $200 … [More]
Amkor’s $2 Billion Bet on Arizona Comes with a Commitment to Air Quality
Imagining the future of Arizona’s semiconductor industry evokes pictures of clean rooms and cutting-edge tools. However, Amkor Technology also wants clean air to be in that picture. The Tempe-based company, already one of the world’s largest providers of outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing, plans to invest $2 billion in a new advanced facility in Peoria. Two … [More]
ECM Technologies Disrupting HVAC Service Industry
ECM Technologies’ ThermaClear® product earned for the Phoenix-based leader in HVAC preventive maintenance and efficiency honors as the Most Innovative Business of the Year in the 2025 Champions of Change Awards. The annual program recognizes trailblazing leaders and organizations that are reshaping Arizona’s business landscape through visionary thinking, bold leadership and … [More]
Autonomous Trucking Moves Into Phoenix with New Shipping Terminal
Aurora Innovation, Inc., announced a significant expansion of its commercial operations, including surpassing 20,000 driverless miles at the end of June, recently growing its driverless fleet to three trucks, beginning driverless commercial operations at night, and opening its Phoenix terminal. “Efficiency, uptime, and reliability are important for our customers, and Aurora … [More]
ACA Opens 2025 Arizona Innovation Challenge Applications
The Arizona Commerce Authority announced it is accepting applications for the Fall 2025 Arizona Innovation Challenge, one of the nation’s largest business plan competitions. This year, the Arizona Innovation Challenge will feature a Fall 2025 cohort and Spring 2026 cohort, with investments for the most promising companies taking place in partnership with investors and venture … [More]
Valley Schools Get a Security Boost with AI Technology
Verkada, a leader in AI-powered physical security technology, now partners with schools and universities that collectively serve an estimated 20 million students and 2.5 million teachers and staff worldwide, including schools that educate approximately half of the students in Arizona. With increasing demands on school safety and operations teams, many education leaders are … [More]
Streamlining Customer Verification: Lessons from AI-Powered Fintech
In the fintech industry, customer onboarding ensures new clients can effectively access and use financial or banking systems. A well-structured onboarding process helps companies build trust with customers while meeting compliance requirements in highly regulated markets. Traditional onboarding and KYC methods include manual checks, which are slow and difficult to scale. … [More]
Scottsdale Firm Secures 5 Patents to Mine on Moon
LH3M has reached a defining milestone: the issuance of five U.S. patents covering the full architecture for detecting, extracting, and refining helium-3 from the Moon. As the only company exclusively focused on this mission, LH3M has positioned the United States at the forefront of the most pivotal energy and computing frontier. The U.S. is running out of … [More]
Tempe Space Tech Firm Secures Federal Contract to Speed Solar Production
Solestial, Inc., the solar energy company for space, announced that it has been selected by SpaceWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II contract in the amount of $1.2 million dollars to develop a novel, fast to manufacture, multiorbital solar array wing concept for small satellites. The award enables Solestial to optimize its low-mass, radiation-hardened silicon solar cells and solar … [More]
