Peoria has officially inked a $2 billion deal with Amkor Technology to make the city home to the largest U.S.-based advanced semiconductor packaging and testing facility.
The agreement will also bring more than 2,000 new jobs to Peoria yield numerous economic development benefits.
“Our staff has worked diligently for the last 10 months to really focus on economic development and really try to focus on the tech and finance companies coming to Northwest Valley specifically,” Peoria Mayor Jason Beck said.
“Looking at the opportunity, and its proximity to (the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in North Phoenix), the fact that every single iPhone chip or Apple chip, for American iPhones, potentially, are made in the city of Peoria is absolutely exciting for all of us.”
According to a release from Sen. Mark Kelly, Amkor is the world’s largest U.S.-headquartered, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test service provider. The new plant in the Northwest Valley will help serve as a strong foundation for the city to expand upon its pillars Beck installed in his mayorship — specifically improving economic development and creating an innovative government.
“Coming in on the pillar concept, what we wanted to try to focus on was the economic basis allows all boats arise,” Beck said. “It’s rising tides affecting our goal was to create more jobs in specifically in Peoria, and it drives revenue for the city at the same time, which then, in turn, creates better city services. So, it’s a cyclical aspect.”
Striving for improvement in the Peoria economy through the deal with Amkor allows for the city to capitalize on bringing people in for jobs to compliment the numerous housing options Peoria has focused on in prior years.
Having the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. nearby has opened the door for Peoria leadership to learn about the process of having a large manufacturing plant in the city, leading to more fruitful partnerships with Amkor in the nascent stages of the new deal.
“I was trying to focus on how states like Indiana, how they were trying to focus on bringing tech companies and manufacturing companies from overseas into their state,” Beck said. “I went to Austin, and I met with people in Austin and talk to representatives there and talk to them about how they were bringing technology companies in.
“It just goes back into that cyclical process where you’re actually driving revenue back to the city, and then you’re overall taking those tax dollars and those revenue dollars generated and continue to apply those to your overall process of the city to make the overall city better.”
Beck sees the deal as a benefit for not only the West Valley, but to the nation, if not globally. As “an entrepreneur at heart,” the ability for Peoria to be a hub for technology will help the city continue its growth by “bringing companies back into the fold in the United States.”
“The sooner that we’re able to bring these high-tech manufacturing companies back into the United States, from Korea, and from Taiwan, I believe it actually stabilizes not only our nation but the globe,” he said. “What ends up happening is as technology is the future of national defense, and being able to have that capability, and being able to have that strength as a nation, prevents the worst — that’s just the reality of it.
“So, it’s very important for me personally, to make sure that we’re actually looking out for our country, from that standpoint. It’s really important for us to have the stability of growth in our in our state and in our city, to make sure that we’re actually creating jobs that are high-paying jobs, that are going to be here long term.”
With the project’s first phase taking roughly two to three years, the deal will be the basis of Peoria’s new chapter, which Beck has high expectations for success.
“The satisfaction of this is really trying to focus on what’s going to happen in the next 20 years of Peoria,” he said. “Our goal is not to just serve the people with what we’re doing today, but to make sure that we have a solid platform for the city’s future — for the next 20 to 40 years.
“I think that making sure that we have job growth, making sure that we actually have a focus on technology and defense in our specific area, it gives us capacity for citizens to not only have great jobs here but also thrive in the Northwest Valley.”
