City of Mesa
Home EconDev MenuFirst Quarter 2021
THE QUICK JAB
Bill Jabjiniak, Economic Development Director
Welcoming 2021 by recognizing the challenges and celebrating the successes of 2020
As we enter 2021, I want to extend a sincere thank you to our clients, partners, and community members for your grit and dedication to navigate through 2020. While it was a challenging year, it was also a rewarding one. Like many organizations, we had to pivot, modify, and adapt. Through the pandemic, I am pleased to note that we maximized technology, developed new ways to stay connected and do business, plus we became stronger and more resilient. Survival has been difficult for many businesses and will continue to be for the next few months. However, I believe it is important to pause and recognize the success and achievements we have realized during the last year.
Mesa's Office of Economic Development works to diversify the economy by attracting and expanding companies that create high-quality jobs and generate capital investment in Mesa. Key project highlights from 2020 had a significant impact on the community and will continue to play a vital part in Mesa's growth. Here are a few we would like to celebrate:
High tech manufacturing expansion is also good for the environment
Commercial Metals Co., known as CMC Steel, manufactures concrete reinforcing bar, rebar, and steel t-posts produced almost entirely from recycled scrap metal. The recycler plans to construct a new facility adjacent to its existing state-of-the-art micro-mill and will provide 185 high-quality jobs within the community. When fully operational by early 2023, CMC's new mill will produce Merchant Bar Quality (MBQ) steel products, bringing nearly half a billion dollars of economic activity annually to the Mesa community and roughly 1,000 new jobs in the state of Arizona, including employment at vendors and local businesses, according to an economic impact study conducted by CMC Steel.
Using recycled scrap as their raw material rather than virgin natural resources, CMC is reducing the need for mining of natural resources and reducing CO2 emissions by 58 percent. They are committed to environmental sustainability by recycling more than 450,000 tons of scrap metal recycled into straight and spooled rebar.
Mesa gains coveted Fortune 500 company that is ranked #2
Amazon leased the recently built Longbow Gateway One (3115 N Higley Road) speculative industrial building (by The Opus Group) located in Falcon District. The almost 150,000 square foot building is now home to Amazon's Mesa delivery station. Located at the southeast corner of Higley and Longbow Parkway, Amazon will create full-time and part-time jobs and will allow the region's residents to receive their packages faster than ever.
The fully-leased building recently sold to New York-based Lexin Capital for $36 million, further illustrating the strength of the Mesa's industrial sector.
Boeing expands in the Falcon District
In October, Boeing started construction of a new one-story fabrication center of approximately 155,000 square located on +/- 21.5 acres of vacant land within the western part of the existing Boeing campus at the northeast corner of Greenfield and McDowell Roads. Building on its 35+ year history in Mesa, the Boeing Company now employs more than 4,500 people and manufactures the Apache Longbow helicopter in Mesa.
Mesa continues to attract medical device manufacturing and operations
Dexcom Inc., a leader in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for patients with diabetes, selected the Landing 202 as its home for their additional expansion. The 486,000 square foot facility adds to their existing portfolio that is three times the size of their west Mesa location that started three years ago. The abundant, talented workforce and the proximity to its headquarters in San Diego, along with their key suppliers, were the key driving factors in selecting Mesa for their locations. The Mesa locations employ more than 1,000 employees currently.
Mesa, AZ Asian District adds international destination retailer
In the first quarter of 2020, the new brand "Mesa, AZ Asian District" launched and shortly after came the announcement of an international retailer.
H Mart, an upscale Asian-American supermarket chain, opened its first location in Arizona. The adaptive reuse of the 63,000 square foot former Albertsons at Main and Dobson became H Mart's home. The supermarket chain has more than 40,000 items featuring a wide variety of Asian, Hispanic, American foods and related products.
HMart.com
Award-winning year for Mesa Office of Economic Development
The City of Mesa's Office of Economic Development was honored by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) with three gold and three silver Excellence in Economic Development Awards. The awards were presented at a ceremony in October at IEDC Annual Conference held virtually due to the pandemic. These awards are an affirmation of our economic development team and our community partners' efforts to develop and promote Mesa as a premier location for companies from around the world to locate and expand. For a list of the awards and the categories, click here https://mesanow.org/news/public/article/2676
Additionally, the City of Mesa's Office of Economic Development was awarded a Golden Prospector Award from the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) in the category of Multimedia Promotion for its work on Mesa's Asian District Brand Launch. The branding initiative was a partnership between community stakeholders and the economic development team to define and promote the Mesa, AZ Asian District as a vibrant, inclusive, day-night community that embraces all cultures attracting businesses, residents, and visitors from across the region.
Along with the accomplishments mentioned above, several other elected officials, partners, and community members contributed to the City of Mesa's success. I look forward to working with our existing and new partners in 2021 to build an even better Mesa.
I wish each of you a safe and prosperous 2021!
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please email me at William.jabjiniak@mesaaz.gov
Grant from Santander Consumer USA Inc. opens doors for student entrepreneurs at Mesa Community College
The Mesa Community College Green Flag program received a $50,000 grant from Santander Consumer USA Inc. Foundation (“SC Foundation”) to support low-income and underrepresented student entrepreneurs enrolled in the program during the 2020-2021 academic year.
“The majority of brilliant business ideas introduced by students rarely materialize due to inexperience, limited capital and lack of resources,” said Dan Piercy, MCC Business faculty and director of the MCC Green Flag program.
The SC Foundation’s support helps eliminate major financial barriers to business startup costs and provides educational stipends for up to 15 low-income and underrepresented MCC student entrepreneurs. The grant increases equity and access to the tools, training and seed money required to launch new small businesses and grow career opportunities in the East Valley.
MCC Green Flag program supports students with guidance, academic advisement and support to help them successfully complete required classes. Education and training from MCC expert educators and the business acumen and connections provided by businesses in the East Valley through the Mesa Chamber of Commerce form a foundation for success.
Learn more about this program at mesacc.edu/green-flag.
The Mesa Chamber is fostering a digital economy with Mesa Community College students
The Mesa Chamber of Commerce, in association with Mesa Community College, has launched a new program called the App Boutique. Designed as an extension of their existing Green Flag Mesa Partnership, the program is intended to create Mesa-centric opportunities for MCC students in their Maricopa Information Technology Institute – East Valley (MITI) program to apply their Apple iOS Programming skills to build apps for small, Mesa-based businesses.
As a beta test of the program, the two organizations are building an app around Suicide Awareness. Aside from the obvious benefits of the app itself, the beta process will help define the future participation of Mesa businesses in the program.
"If we build a technology base of Apps being used by Mesa businesses successfully, we believe that will help Mesa keep these new programming students in Mesa and create a digital economy based in Mesa for longer-term benefits," shares Mesa Chamber of Commerce CEO Sally Harrison.
Following a period of beta testing, the partnership will create an application process for businesses to apply to have an app created. Contact Sally Harrison at sharrison@mesachamber.org for more information.
Falcon Field Airport (FFZ) welcomes new FBO and private jet terminal
In December, Falcon Field Airport welcomed Avflight Corporation’s private jet terminal and fixed based operator (FBO). The new FBO at Falcon Field Airport is Avflight's 23rd location in the United States.
“The addition of Avflight Mesa provides a strong presence for the Avflight Network in a thriving southwestern U.S. market,” said Garrett Hain, Avflight’s vice president of finance. “This strategic acquisition will connect Avflight’s loyal customer base to major businesses, entertainment, and tourism in the greater Phoenix region. We are proud to bring Avflight’s expertise and passion for aviation to FFZ to serve as a premier gateway to this vibrant community.”
With an eye toward expansion, Avflight ultimately plans to move its operation to a new FBO facility across the field in May. The development, already under construction, includes a 5,000 square foot office and 11,000 square foot hangar with the potential for a total of 60,000 square feet of hangar space to accommodate a growing customer base at the Mesa airport.
The new state-of-the-art FBO facility will have a modern aesthetic typical of the Avflight brand and include pilot and passenger lounges, snooze rooms, showers, a kitchen, flight planning room, and conference room. The new FBO facility will allow for direct access from road to ramp with ample parking space for added convenience.
Conveniently located within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Avflight Mesa is approximately 30 minutes to Scottsdale and Phoenix, and about 20 minutes to Tempe and downtown Mesa. The FBO also provides the closest fly-in option for the Chicago Cubs’ training facility—Sloan Park—and area attractions and major corporations.
(article: https://www.aviationpros.com)
Visit Mesa launches new
Fresh Foodie Trail GeoTour
Visit Mesa launched the new Fresh Foodie Trail GeoTour with Geocaching HQ, offering up a fun, family-friendly socially distant activity in the destination. The new GeoTour is aimed at promoting the East Valley agritourism attractions that are popular experiences this time of year. The new tour will lead geocachers to the farm stops on the award-winning Fresh Foodie Trail and lucky treasure hunters can collect a series of limited-edition stickers along the way. Guests that find all 10 geocaches will earn a digital souvenir through Geocaching.com and a Fresh Foodie Trail Recipe booklet and branded wooden spoon from Visit Mesa. Attractions participating in the tour include Steadfast Farms, Jalapeno Buck’s, True Garden Urban Farm, and other regional farms in the area.
Geocaching is a popular sport, and an activity Visit Mesa is familiar with promoting to visitors. The organization launched their first GeoTour more than a year ago. That tour has more than 2,100 logs to date representing visitors from seven countries. Visit Mesa is still actively managing the Autism Certified City GeoTour, a collection of geocaches anchored at many of Mesa’s participating Certified Autism Centers and city parks. Both GeoTours can be searched on the free Geocaching.com App on any mobile device.
Learn more at, www.VisitMesa.com/Geocaching.
Visit Mesa releases new
2021 Mesa Life Visitors Guide
2021 Mesa Life visitors guide made possible with support from the City of Mesa. The guide will be actively distributed throughout the year at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Falcon Field, and Mesa hotels, area attractions. The complimentary travel planning guide is also available online for download and mail order. This year’s issue includes:
- A three-page feature on cycling in Mesa.
- A recap of where to find the city’s newest murals.
- An editorial on autism travel in the country’s first-ever Autism Certified City.
New this year is the Fresh Foodie Trail® GeoTour, inviting visitors to explore Mesa’s charming farms and agritourism attractions via GPS. Suggested itineraries, an updated 2021 Events Calendar, and a complete business directory to Visit Mesa partners are also included in the 64-page resource. For more information and to order a copy, head to www.VisitMesa.com.