City of Mesa
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Mesa, AZ: A premier location for international aerospace, aviation, and defense companies.
Mesa offers:
- 35-square-mile developing aerotropolis surrounding Mesa Gateway Airport
- Advanced aerospace and defense manufacturing district surrounding Falcon Field Airport
- Abundant, highly-skilled workforce
- One of the nation’s strongest aerospace/defense clusters
STRONG AEROSPACE / DEFENSE CLUSTER
Arizona Ranked #3 in
Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness
PwC 2025
Arizona is a leader in Aerospace and Defense with more than 1,300 companies in Arizona’s supply chain. Arizona’s A&D industry employees more than 62,400 people, $5.9 billion in total exports, and $29.5 billion in economic impact to Arizona. (Arizona Commerce Authority)
- #5 largest employment in space and defense systems manufacturing
- #2 largest employment in guided missile systems and space vehicle manufacturing
- #5 in concentration of Aerospace and Defense manufacturing establishments
- #6 largest employment in aviation maintenance
- #8 largest recipient of Department of Defense spending
IN GOOD COMPANY
Mesa hosts major facilities for some of the world’s top Aerospace and Defense companies.
- Able Aerospace, A Textron Company
- ACSS (Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems)
- Ascent Aviation Services
- BAE Systems
- The Boeing Company
- CAE Aviation Academy
- Cessna
- Embraer
- Gulfstream
- Heliponents, Inc.
- Inter-Coastal Electronics
- KP Aviation
- Lockheed Martin
- MD Helicopters
- Nammo Defense Systems
- Northrop Grumman
- Serastar
- Top Aces
- Virgin Galactic
LOW TAXES, BUSINESS FRIENDLY, & INCENTIVES
Low / No Taxes – Arizona’s corporate and individual tax rates are among the lowest in the nation. Arizona has no franchise tax, no business inventory tax, and no estate tax. Mesa has no primary property tax.
City of Mesa Opportunity Zones are part of a federal program designed to spur investment by providing tax benefits to investors who hold their investment between five to ten years. Most of the Mesa Gateway Area sits within an Opportunity Zone.
Mesa Military Reuse Zone provides a number of tax incentives to businesses that locate at Gateway Airport and provide aviation or aerospace services, or engaged in manufacturing, assembling, or fabricating aviation or aerospace products. The incentives include a significant property tax savings for up to five years for capital intensive companies, construction sales tax rebate, and job tax credits.
Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #221 includes more than 2,000 acres surrounding the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. FTZ-qualified companies may bring merchandise into the U.S. and into the FTZ for the purpose of storage, repacking, display, assembly, or manufacturing and may be duty exempt (on re-exports), duty deferred (on imports), or have inverted tariffs, meaning imported inputs may have a lower tariff once manufactured into a finished product. Companies may qualify for significant state real and personal property tax savings.
EDUCATED WORKFORCE
Arizona State University (ASU) is consistently ranked in the top 50 engineering programs in the country. Arizona's major institutions, including ASU, Embry Riddle University, Northern Arizona University, and University of Arizona, have been provided NASA Space Grants.
Arizona's numerous aerospace and aeronautical engineering programs include U.S. News and World Report's #1 rated Regional Colleges West Embry-Riddle Engineering program.
AIRPORTS
Mesa boasts two airports: Mesa Falcon Field Airport and Mesa Gateway Airport. Each offers a diverse portfolio of aerospace, defense, aviation and other high-tech industries, plus the operations to support those such as MRO, cargo and R&D activities. In addition, the Phoenix area is home to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, serving more than 50 million passengers with more than 1,300 daily flights in 2024.
Mesa Gateway Airport (MGA) is the heart of the Mesa Gateway Area. MGA, a convenient alternative to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, provides commercial service to nearly 50 destinations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
With three runways measuring 10,400, 10,200 and 9,300 feet, MGA can accommodate the largest aircraft in the world. The Airport has on-site U.S. and Mexican customs services, an FAA-contract air traffic tower, and various buildings and hundreds of acres available for development.
Mesa Gateway Airport is a cost-effective, global business location for aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul companies. Companies such as Cessna, Embraer, CAVU Aerospace, and Able Aerospace Services have chosen Gateway Airport because of its proximity to available labor, education facilities, and economic advantages. Businesses at Gateway Airport can take advantage of unique incentives and programs such as the Military Reuse Zone, Foreign Trade Zone, Opportunity Zone, or Private Activity Bonds.
Falcon Field Airport is consistently ranked among the top five most active general aviation airports in the U.S. with more than 270,000 operations annually. The airport has an FAA air traffic control tower and two runways of 5,100 and 3,800 feet to accommodate a wide variety of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
Falcon Field Airport has more than 100 aerospace and defense businesses on airport or adjacent to the airport including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, MD Helicopters, Mercury Systems, Nammo Defense Systems, AQST Space Systems, Serastar Technologies Corporation, Valkyrie Aero, and Van Horn Aviation.
Falcon Field Airport is ideal for aircraft components/systems manufacturing; aircraft/helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul uses; aircraft restoration; aircraft testing; aircraft sales; corporate aviation departments; and fixed-base operators. In addition, with helipads and nearby desert areas for practice maneuvers, Falcon Field is especially suited for helicopter operations and manufacturing.
The airport has more than 50 acres available on-airport for aviation-related development with direct runway/taxiway access and is surrounded by six industrial parks with more than 1,000 acres of industrial-zoned land and 10 spec industrial buildings recently completed or under construction for a total of 526,000 square feet of space.
Arizona Laboratories for Security & Defense® (AZLabs™) as a former Air Force Research Laboratory, AZLabs maintains Department of Defense security accreditations to support a broad range of proprietary projects including experiments, prototype evaluations, and distributed test and training with access to a highly skilled, tech-centric workforce. AZLabs lies adjacent to Mesa Gateway Airport, Arizona State University Polytechnic campus, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Mesa. This strategic location offers tenants proximity to existing restricted airspace and military operations areas (MOAs), via three 10,000-foot runways, taxiways, aircraft parking, and access to fuel for U.S. Government and military patrons.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENT AREAS
"SkyBridge Arizona is a 360-acre, multi-use business park that is situated on the south side of Mesa Gateway Airport. With several buildings and over $30 million in infrastructure already complete, the development features unparalleled airfield access to meet the unique needs of aeronautical users. It is capable of delivering more than 3 million square feet of hangars, industrial, office and hospitality projects. Additionally, Mesa Gateway Airport has on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection to facilitate international air cargo operations. to learn more about SkyBridge Arizona and facilities planned or currently under construction, please visit their website."
Elliot Road Technology Corridor®, located in the northeastern portion of the Mesa Gateway Area, offers more than 200 acres of shovel-ready sites with robust infrastructure and a streamlined entitlement process – perfectly suited for technology companies, and high-tech campuses. Located in the Corridor are Niagara Bottling, EdgeCore's data center campus, Meta's data center campus, Amazon, and Dignity Health's Mesa General Hospital.
Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone, located in the southern portion of the Mesa Gateway Area, is within one of Mesa's Opportunity Zones and is well suited for large, heavy manufacturing operations. Major manufacturers such as CMC Steel, Bridgestone, FUJIFILM, CRM Rubber, ZF Lifetec, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals have operations in the zone due to the large amounts of available land and extensive infrastructure. The western portion of the zone also has rail access and sits within the EO Floating Zone, which provides an expedited entitlement process.
Gateway East Development, is located on the east side of Mesa-Gateway area and consists of over 270 acres available for development. The site is designated as a GOLD site within the REDI Site program of the Site Selectors Guild. Gateway East is focused on build-to-suit opportunities and has sites ready to go. There is easy access from State Route 24 and will have an SRP substation constructed on site in 2026 that will provide for all the required power needs.
Falcon District has more than 60 acres available on Falcon Field Airport for aviation-related development with direct runway/taxiway access. Surrounding the airport six industrial parks with more than 1,000 acres of industrial-zoned land and 10 spec industrial buildings recently completed or under construction for a total of 526,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Much of the Falcon District sits within an Opportunity Zone.
VIDEOS
Able Aerospace Services Grand Opening
Mesa Gateway Airport Economic Impact
09152025