per new job created. This program will ultimately increase Arizona’s competitiveness raking from number nine to number three in the Mountain West. By leveraging these incentives with our infrastructure, GPEC, the City of Phoenix and the Arizona Commerce Authority have built the momentum for bringing highwage jobs to Phoenix jobseekers hungry to get back to work. For Phoenix Workforce Connection, a division in the city of Phoenix’s Community and Economic Development Department, it’s vital to understand the critical connection between economic development efforts and workforce development. One of the most challenging questions for attraction teams to answer is “Will your local talent pool support our corporate needs?” The answer is a resounding yes from local workforce systems, now serving an unprecedented number of degreed and non-degreed professionals finding themselves unexpectedly faced with unemployment. Dubbed the “unlikely unemployed,” they have flooded the One Stop system looking for training in resume writing, interviewing and simple job seeking strategies. Many of these candidates were accustomed to being recruited for previous employment opportunities, so were unfamiliar with the competitive process for applying online, networking, getting an interview or landing the rare job offer in today’s landscape.
Power-One’s first Phoenix hire was Jennifer Swenson, a laid-off worker who networked through several jobseeker organizations in search of her next place of employment as the company’s Human Resources Director. The leadership team for Power-One made a commitment to hire from the Phoenix market first, Arizona second and out-of-state as a final resort. As HR Director, Swenson wasted no time marketing the company and its job openings to the hoards of engineers, operations managers, project managers and more. In 2011, Power-One is expected to hire 125 employees with a five-year projection of creating more than 350 jobs. Greater Phoenix recruitment efforts are on track to create more than 6,800 jobs over about the last year, and have drawn companies that together, invested a total of more than $764 million into the region’s economy and consumed consumed more than 5 million vacant square feet. Of the nearly 30 companies it has assisted this year, 11 of those are in the renewable energy space. As industry leaders like Power-One enter the market and others follow, their suppliers are not far behind, creating even more jobs and ensuring higher wages and better benefits for Phoenix residents.
a year after Arizona approved landmark renewable energy legislation, the state was coined the “Solar Energy King” and the country’s renewable energy leader in Business Facilities magazine.
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