New businesses are popping up every day in Buckeye, it seems.
Just last week on Aug. 6, Buckeye City Council approved a new 2,000-acre tech corridor. You’ve got Five Below, Funko and Costco already operating. There’s also KORE Power coming to town along with the new Ross Dress for Less, Rehrig Pacific Company, businesses in Verrado's The Landing and two new hospitals by Banner Health and Abrazo Health. This industry growth means a lot of things for the city and its residents, including jobs and a lot of them over the next several years.
Five thousand jobs, to be specific.
Approximately 88% of Buckeye residents commute out of the city for work, said Economic Development Director Suzanne Boyles. That’s actually an improvement over the past three to five years from 92%. These incoming jobs mean that more Buckeye residents can cut commute times and stay close to home.
“We are bringing those job opportunities closer to home so it’s a higher quality of life for residents,” Boyles said. “It’s closer to home, less commute time, more time with families — all working for advancement here in the city.”
“It’s a great time in Buckeye with all the growth and especially with all the advancements with manufacturing with folks like KORE Power,” said Jarret Guy, West-MEC’s assistant superintendent for teaching, learning and campus operations. “We stay very connected to that growth to make sure we are creating a pipeline starting at the high school level.”
West-MEC is currently the school system’s largest campus offering 15 career pathways within manufacturing, health care, information technology and industrial trades. Most students are high school juniors or seniors completing job training before graduation. However, there are also opportunities for adults who want to come back to school and learn a new trade to pivot their careers—such as preparing for one of the industry opportunities coming to Buckeye. Guy said the three largest areas of interest at the time for the city are health care, trades and advanced manufacturing.
“The real way to sustain these industry partners for the long-term is to create that pipeline where we are getting young people into those industry pathways early,” Guy said. “Adult training pathways as well are designed for those folks that are working in industries who want to upscale or start a second career.”
MANUFACTURING AND TRADES
The $1.25 billion KOREPlex project is estimated to create more than 700 jobs during the construction phase and 3,000 permanent jobs when the site opens, according to KORE Power.
“We have worked closely with the City of Buckeye to design a manufacturing facility that is a significant step forward for lithium-ion battery manufacturing to be done in the United States by a U.S. company. After close coordination, we’ve created a design that works with the local community, consistent with their comprehensive plan,” said Lindsay Gorrill, KORE’s founder and CEO, in a press release. “The KOREPlex will not only be a centerpiece of KORE’s growth as a company, it will also be a hub of economic development for Buckeye and Maricopa County.”
Planning and Zoning gave unanimous approval of phase 1 and 2 in a February meeting. Phase 1 at KOREPlex includes the construction of a 909,000-square-foot manufacturing hall for the production of lithium-ion cells and modules, a 28,000-square-foot administration building, and 14 buildings for storage and more. Phase two includes the construction of a second 909,000-square-foot manufacturing hall, solar carports, and additional support buildings.
Those 3,000 jobs are diverse in type, as well, Boyles said—including executive teams, supervisors, IT, human resources and more.
“When you have a business of that scale, it’s not just one category,” she said. “It’s a variety of jobs they are bringing into the community so what that does its it allows for more opportunities for our residents in various categories. Residents may not be engineers or looking for manufacturing jobs, but there are HR jobs and IT jobs.”
West-MEC is partnering with KORE to create a workforce pipeline through its energy and manufacturing systems program.
“As KORE Power comes in and is closer to being operational, we will be able to identify what are those specific skills that maybe they need for their current employees that are already hired or more customized training for those pathways,” he said.
West-MEC will use a similar model with KORE that it used with employee pipelines created for Palo Verde Generating Station, Cardinal Glass Industries and Arizona Public Service, all of which also use West-MEC for their employee trainings.
“[Kore] is very interested in a similar model,” Guy said. “It was a strong fit right from the get go but they are very engaged by coming on site, engaging their employees with our teachers and our students and really having a strong presence on campus.”
The energy and manufacturing systems program is one education pathway that prepares students to disperse into jobs within that category. When a person goes through the program, they will be prepared for hire at a manufacturing plant like KORE where they will receive more specialized training.
West-MEC also has news to share: Starting this school year, it’s going to offer an automation and robotics program.
“As these employees are coming into all the facilities that are very automated with a lot of automated systems and robotics protocols, we want to make sure that we are maximizing that skill set,” Guy said. “We created a one-year program where students can really hone in on that side of the industry.”
With Buckeye's exponential growth, Guy said there are also numerous opportunities in construction and trade industries. Welding, for example, is a major pathway at West-MEC along with general construction and electrical.
“All those trades are in huge demand right now, as well,” he said. “Those are pathways that we offer training for right there in Buckeye at the high school and adult level, which is another gateway into very high-demand, high-wage jobs that exist out there.”
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is also an important area of interest with massive expansion in Buckeye. The West-MEC campus provides programs in medical assisting, medical lab assisting, dental assisting, pharmacy technician and a nursing pathway. The school is active with Banner and Abrazo to prepare for the workforce needed to fill jobs at the new hospitals opening in Buckeye.
“Both of them are building facilities right there, literally right next to our south-west campus in Buckeye,” Guy said with excitement. “So we are very in tune with making sure we are prepared in filling those pathways.”
The 300,000-square-foot Banner hospital will connect with the current Banner Health center also located at Verrado Way and the I-10. It is slated to open later this year with a 120-bed hospital that includes surgery, intensive care, imaging, a maternity ward and emergency department. There is room available to grow by another 300 beds.
BUCKEYE RESIDENTS, BUCKEYE JOBS
Each year, the city hosts its Reduce the Commute job fair which aims to connect Buckeye residents with Buckeye jobs. Guy said this type of awareness is essential to helping reduce that 88% commute rate even further. People often don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to jobs and there may be an opportunity right around the corner.
“There is a need for awareness of what those jobs are and what are those skill sets,” he said. “These are transferable skills that people may have that they don’t realize they need that they could pivot into one of these opportunities.”
Boyles and Guy encourage residents to stay connected with opportunities in their back yard that might enhance their quality of life.
