West Phoenix, AZ is growing at an alarming rate. During our recent heated visit, we studied the economic vitality of Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield and Tolleson. This area is the fastest growing area in all of Phoenix, which is the second fastest metropolitan DMA area in the United States of America. Maricopa County is number 2 next to Clark County in the Las Vegas NV metro. Surprise, Glendale and Goodyear are breaking all kinds of records as the governor discusses future water and resource issues. Of course, we deal with economic factors before attempting to enter a region, as most seasoned entrepreneurs do.
Avondale’s population is growing and there are currently around 36,000 residents. 33% of whom are Hispanics with a high school education level. Agriculture and agriculture processing is the largest industrial sector, although that is also changing as light industry is taking advantage of the labor supply. Many new car dealerships are helping the city coffers with sales tax revenue, although some of that has been given up in the short term as incentives, but it all starts in two years. Beam Corp is a major employer there, says Jeffrey Fairman, Director of Economic Development.
Avondale is just south of Luke AFB and makes a lot of income from the military employees who buy goods and services there. Also in the area is an 80,000 square foot Medical Center. Also major employers include; LP Steel Industries, Cashion Tank and Steel, California Materials, Bio Scientific and several new projects in progress. Median home prices have risen 10% last year and are still good; $ 132K which is the average for the area. The growth of housing once again is incredible. The City’s Optimization Committee assists in permit processing.
http://www.Avondale.org
Local kids enjoy the local water park, bowling alley, church youth groups, and Pop Warner soccer and many soccer teams. The MAG-Maricopa Association of Governments is spending $ 15.5 billion on new transportation infrastructure, much of which will go to widening the freeways through Avondale on I-10. The 22-member panel is roughly $ 1 billion over budget, but that will pick up as housing isn’t slowing down. Almost the only big downside is car theft issues, which the Phoenix area is number two only surpassed by Tucson AZ. Most of these cars arrive in Mexico. Of all the cities in West Maricopa, there is a serious fire hazard in hot summers until the summer monsoon season begins, at which point fire crews on duty and hot shot crews relocate to Colorado, Idaho. , Montana, Washington, South Dakota.
In Goodyear, AZ things are a little different. The population has exploded and continues to do so. Lots of people exercise in the Palos Verde Rd prisons and the newer prison you can see from I-10, some people we spoke to worked at the nuclear power plant or for SRP or Betchel, all of whom work there in the power plant. There are about 20,000 people in Goodyear, but there are also about 5,000 new houses being built at the moment. It’s 22% Hispanic and that number is fading, but future growth should be just below that ratio in my opinion for the next decade. As more and more Hispanic families enter the middle class, we will see them turn Republican and shop in the Goodyear area with a median home price of 142K and rising.
Goodyear, as you may have guessed, is named after the Akron Rubber Baron, which you can learn more about on the second floor of the Goodyear building on the outskirts of Akron at the World of Rubber Museum in Goodyear’s original headquarters. At Goodyear they made rubber for the US Navy seaplanes, now that facility is Lockheed Martin. The area is now mixed with retail, food processing, and lots of aerospace space, we spoke with a maintenance supervisor from Timco, who said their newest contract would require hiring an additional 140 people. Luftstanza Airlines also has its training center there. Del Monte and Poore Brothers process there. Snyders of Hannover, Rubbermaid, Walle Corp, Cavco.
Goodyear Airport is a major asset along with neighboring business parks. The runway is over 8,500 feet and any aircraft known to man can land and take off. The city has attracted many companies and is business friendly and has online applications for almost all permits. They have attracted; Aviation – Plastics & Composites, Sun Cor Development, Chariot Eagle, Wal-Mart Dist McClane Contractor, West Valley Medical Center. The weather is hot in the summer, but viable year-round if you can handle the average daytime temperatures;
[http://www.wrc.dri.edu/index.html] .
From June to September it is 100-105 degrees. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council also has some interesting statistics for the area. All cities in West Phoenix pay an additional 2% sales tax and the schools are considered excellent, even with all non-English speaking students struggling at first.
Litchfield has about 4,000 residents with only 8% Hispanic, but it is growing exponentially. Some of the top employers include; Conklin Rose, 4-star Wig Wam Resort, the Goodyear family grew cotton there and then sold the land to Litchfield, who grew long-staple Egyptian cotton for use in tire manufacturing and processing for Goodyear. Water, of course, brought by SRP. In the future we will do a complete study of the history of the SRP-Salt Water River Project. The median home price in the area has risen to 310K. The city is pro-business and allows the classification of soils at risk before final permits to test the capacity of the land to support the project. These four cities on the west side of PHX have an average of 16.8% of the population between the ages of 25 and 34, which means a labor supply and a good customer base. 16.2% have an age group of 35 to 44 years. 46% Hispanic and similar to Los Angeles. The workforce is 29% smaller than secondary education. 23% have only a secondary education and 24.8% have some university but do not have a degree. The prevailing average wage for labor is $ 9.86 per hour.
Tolleson, has seen good growth since the freeway interchange for Circuit 101 connecting to I-10 was completed. Great new Auto Center. Freightliner Facility, Truck Stop, primarily because city fathers saw an opportunity due to the freeway interchange and moved about 6 new car dealerships down I-10 and used a fast track permit processing program to do the rest. Also in the area are Lisanti Foods, Nabisco, Quaker Oats, Western Container, Greater PHX Auto Auction, Auto Zone Dist., Graybar Dist., Sara Lee Dist., Sysco Dist., Frys Dist., Cactus Transportation, Cost Co Dist. ., Fed Ex Depot, and there are still plenty of residents who have driven home prices on this adjacent industrial highway to 100K on average. Tolleson has a population of 5000 and 70% Hispanic, unemployment is 6%. The main jobs are based on services, retail, warehousing and manufacturing. Other large employers include CSI, Sun Land Beef, Albertsons Dist., Pet Smart Dist. Dist., And several meat and food packing plants.
http://www.tollesonaz.org.
Phoenix’s western suburban areas have gone from dusty farm communities to extremely livable middle-class soccer mom communities with all the trimmings. It’s a good place to do business, a great customer base, and will continue to develop for another two decades.