While other states in the U.S. may produce more vehicles in total, Arizona is attracting the startup electric vehicle (EV) sector, bringing thousands of additional jobs and billions of capital investment to the state, having some nickname the area the “Electric Valley”.
Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) and Arizona Forward co-hosted a discussion on February 1, on Arizona’s “Electric Valley”, with engaging speakers, including: experts from local chambers and economic development organizations. It also included the executives from three top EV companies - Lucid, Nikola, and Electra Meccanica.
- Britta Gross, Managing Director, Carbon Free Mobility, Rocky Mountain Institute & Orlando Public Utility Commissioner
- Marisa Walker, Sr. V.P., Arizona Commerce Authority & Executive Director, Institute of Automated Mobility
- Renee Louzon-Benn, Executive Director, Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce
- James Smith, Economic and Workforce Development Director, Pinal County
- Mike Boike, Senior Director of Manufacturing, Lucid Motors
- Elizabeth Fretheim, Global Head of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Nikola
- Julie Ibara, Plant Manager, Electra Meccanica
- Jon Ford, Moderator, Community Development Regional Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
The panelists exemplified the Arizona teamwork and coordinated approach that has put the state in a leading position to attract more advanced manufacturing and skilled jobs. With fierce competition from other regions in the U.S., the goal was to address the questions: how does Arizona maintain and grow its attractiveness to EV manufacturers, and what does being a leader in the EV (and associated supply chain) manufacturing mean for Arizona in terms of tax revenue, investment, clean jobs, and clean air?
Renee Louzon-Benn, executive director of the Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the great relationship between Lucid’s expanding manufacturing site, the city, and county. She spoke of the success of Casa Grande and the county in developing the needed skills and workforce.
“I think what was really key is knowing that Lucid was going to need a skilled workforce. The state of Arizona, Pinal County, the City of Casa Grande and Central Arizona College partnered to develop Drive 48, a state of the art advanced manufacturing training center.” She went on to add “Lucid is attracting 20 somethings to live and work in Casa Grande.”
James Smith, economic development and workforce director for Pinal County, punctuated many of Renee’s points. “Silicon Valley likes Arizona because it's so close. The technology can be developed in Silicon Valley and manufactured and implemented here in Arizona. We would never be able to manufacture the internal combustion engine, because so many of those suppliers are in the upper midwest, but when you remove some of those pieces and parts and it’s much more about technology it really lends itself to Arizona having that supply chain here and being able to manufacture here.”
“Not only do we have that positive business environment, but I also think we are training a whole generation of workers for this industry going forward. The underlying factors for success are off the charts,” said Smith.
Following the webinar, the Federal Department of Transportation announced funding for EV charging in Arizona; dollars allocated to the state as a result of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. “Arizona stands to get up to $76.5 million over the next five years to develop electric vehicle charging stations along interstate corridors, in hopes of increasing EV ownership by reducing range anxiety for drivers”, according to AZ Cronkite News.
