NestlĂ© USA has announced to invest $675 million in building a 630,000-square-foot beverage factory in Glendale. The facility is scheduled to open in 2024 and create more than 350 jobs.  

“Nestlé’s investment for their sustainable and innovative beverage manufacturing facility is a valued addition to Arizona’s manufacturing industry, creating quality jobs in Glendale while making a positive impact in the community,” Arizona Commerce Authority President and CEO Sandra Watson ,

In hailing Nestlé’s decision to invest in the Valley, Ariz. Gov. Doug Ducey the increase in manufacturing in the state.

“NestlĂ© selecting Arizona is great news,” Ducey said. “Manufacturing in our state is surging and NestlĂ©’s decision adds to this momentum, as well as bringing diversification to this fast-growing sector of our economy.”

gathered by the ACA shows that manufacturing in Arizona has seen considerable growth and now makes up the second largest industry in the state. 

According to Nestlé, the Glendale facility will be its most technologically advanced factory and distribution center and will provide an ideal location to reach consumers in the Western states. The factory will strengthen its manufacturing capabilities in order to meet an increased consumer demand and changing dairy market.

This comes after a recent report by Bloomberg Intelligence, which that the plant-based food market could surpass $162 billion in the next decade. If estimates are correct, this will be a 451% increase from when this market was valued at $29.4 billion in 2020.

Daniel Jhung, president of beverage for Nestlé, said, “Beverages play an increasingly important role in the lives of consumers, a trend that’s been accelerated by the pandemic and is expected to continue to grow. This investment illustrates our continued commitment to leading and growing categories where we play, providing consumers with a variety of high-quality, innovative products to meet their needs.”

Beginning this summer, the company will be hiring workers for the factory, including positions in professional staff, manufacturing and production leaders, technical staff, and engineers.

to the ACA, NestlĂ© could receive up to $7 million in state tax incentives for newly created jobs. 

“We appreciate the partnership from state and local officials and look forward to contributing to the local economy and Glendale community for many years to come, including through the creation of over 350 jobs,” Jhung said. 

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The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee launched the official to Super Bowl LVII, which will be hosted at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023. The committee is working with the National Football League and the greater Arizona community to successfully pull off Arizona’s fourth Super Bowl.

At an official kickoff event for the committee, Arizona Gov. Ducey, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, and other state leaders spoke about how the event could benefit the state’s booming economic growth — Arizona is to add 127,000 jobs in 2022 — and how the public and private sector can coordinate to maximize potential. 

“The Super Bowl is a force multiplier for economic development in Arizona,” Ducey

The committee also announced that longtime Arizona Cardinal and Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce & Industry Heritage Award winner will be the executive chair of the committee. 

“I am thrilled to be involved with the committee and its partners as we collectively look to make Super Bowl LVII the most successful to date,” Fitzgerald said.

According to a conducted by the W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, the 2015 Super Bowl hosted in the Valley generated a total revenue of more than $700 million. 

In the seven years since Arizona last hosted the Super Bowl, there has been tremendous growth in the state. A recent provided by the Arizona Commerce Authority shows that Fiscal Year 2021 was a record-breaking year for economic development with significant projections for new jobs and investments. 

Jay Parry, CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, said her expectations are high.

“We are setting our sites even higher,” Parry said. “The goal is to elevate everything.”

There is also hope that the economic expansion will reach more local businesses and communities in the valley. 

“When we look at the events around the Valley, we want to extend those events to as many communities as possible and get as many of our local municipalities involved,” Parry said. 

One of the that the Super Bowl Committee uses to network with local businesses is the Business Connect Program. 

Under the program, the committee selects a group of diverse businesses to support through professional development workshops, networking, and contract opportunities. Chosen businesses are profiled in the Business Connect Resource Guide, which NFL vendors and event producers use to identify and select local suppliers to fulfill their Super Bowl LVII sub-contracting needs. 

In 2015, approximately 400 small businesses participated in the program, with an overall contract total for these businesses was $4 million. 

Parry emphasized that this economic growth will benefit not just Glendale and Phoenix, but that there is reason for the entire Valley to be excited. 

“Tempe is important. Scottsdale is important. They all have their personalities and unique restaurants, culture and hospitality they bring,” Parry . “So we want to make sure this truly is a regional effort across the Valley.” 

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Arizona last fall announced the launch of a “Cyber Command Center”, which will serve as the state’s headquarters for organizing operations. The center will provide a central location for facilitating information sharing and cooperation between cyber experts, government agencies, and private-public partnerships.

At a ceremony hosted at the Department of Public Safety’s Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), Gov. Doug Ducey was joined by leading state officials to celebrate the launch. 

“Cybersecurity is homeland security. Our society is becoming increasingly interconnected through technology, and cybersecurity has become one of the most important issues facing Arizona,” Ducey . “This new command center will be critical in protecting Arizonans and ensuring our cyber infrastructure remains safe and secure.”

Others in attendance included Tim Roemer, the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security and the chief information security officer. Roemer, who earlier in his career served in the CIA, led the initiative to launch the center and integrate its mission into homeland security. 

The creation of the center highlights the growing need to protect Arizonans against cyber attacks. Arizona’s Department of Homeland Security that, in September alone, they detected 68 million cyber threats and protected Arizona websites from more than 800,000 attacks.

Researchers that data breaches from 2005 to 2020 cost Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ore than $1.6 billion. Arizona is only one of two states, including New Jersey, that group cybersecurity with homeland security.

Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce talks business with Tim Roemer 

The Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce & Industry last month hosted a panel with cyber security experts in Arizona. Roemer led the panel and discussed the importance of the new cyber command center, public and private sector partnerships in cyber security, threat information sharing, and investment in cyber threat prevention systems. 

Reflecting on the new Cyber Command Center and Gov. Ducey’s remarks about some of the center’s primary functions, Roemer explained the importance of public and private sector partnerships. 

“We can throw tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars at advanced cyber protection technology and it won’t make a difference without coalition and partnership between business leaders in the private sector and the state government,” Roemer said.

Roemer was asked what businesses should be focussing on to protect against the growing threat of cyber attacks that include email phishing, ransomware, zero-day exploitation, and even password attacks. He said companies should, “Protect their human firewall, invest in their employees, and create a culture of cybersecurity awareness.” 

Roemer stressed the importance of annual cyber security training, examples of which include internal simulated phishing attempts and various kinds of penetration testing that can determine weak points in a company’s digital security perimeter. 

The panel also included David Riza, the security delivery senior manager at Accenture, a company that specializes in business strategy, technology strategy, and operations strategy services. 

Riza was asked about security strategies for different kinds of businesses and corporations and whether some business models are especially vulnerable to cyber threats. 

“Some businesses are bigger targets,” he said. “Government, energy, architecture are a few industries that cyber hackers want to attack. Access to these industries allows hackers to cause real-world physical consequences.”

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