Phoenix’s West Valley wants seat at table for new tech business

PHOENIX — Arizona’s tech industry is continuing to grow and some in the West Valley are working to see more of that business come their way.

A group called Westmarc, comprised of business owners, citizens and public officials in the West Valley, met on Wednesday at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird Campus to discuss ways to lure more technology business to the Valley’s west end.

“I think we have locations that are perfect for those facilities, it’s just a matter of getting the word out,” said Richard Hubbard, president and CEO of Westmarc.

Hubbard said technology companies bring jobs and the West Valley is behind other parts of metro Phoenix in being competitive for businesses.

Chandler and Mesa have seen numerous companies bring technology centers to the East Valley, including General Motors and Apple. Hubbard said he’d like to see the West Valley also gain consideration as a friendly place for technology.

“I would really like to see more data centers and technology centers over in the West Valley,” Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko said. She represents parts of the West Valley.

“We certainly have the capacity to host these types of facilities.”

Lesko said luring companies there can be done without having to sacrifice too much with economic incentive packages.

Infrastructure also plays an important role in deciding where technology companies operate because they need a lot of power and data lines.

And while Lesko said West Valley cities should look to improve their infrastructure to become more competitive, they could, in the meantime. be luring companies with the state’s good weather and lack of natural disasters that can cause server or power outages and business-friendly tax structure.