IN THE ZONE

Greetings,

Welcome to the December edition of In the Zone, the official newsletter of the GMFTZ. This month, we are proud to officially welcome KORE Power to the GMFTZ. KORE Power has plans to construct a 1.33 million-square-foot facility to make batteries for electric cars and trucks and energy storage systems for various commercial users, from other manufacturers to power utilities. The facility will employ 1,250 fulltime workers at full build out.

This holiday season, we are grateful for our committed GMFTZ board members and partners at WESTMARC, GMFTZ advisory council members, economic development partners at the state and local level and all the stakeholders that support the growth of the West Valley’s FTZ #277.

Thank you for your commitment to advancing growth in the West Valley. Happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Allison Grigg

President

GMFTZ Board of Directors

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

The West Valley Regional Workforce Development Strategy for the years 2024-2028, West Valley Pipeline (WVP) 2.0, is now published.

WVP 2.0 is the product of many discussions over the past 18 months with West Valley businesses across multiple industry sectors about the workforce challenges they face, including several businesses in the Greater Maricopa Foreign Trade Zone. In addition, we held focus group and one-on-one discussions with West Valley city leaders and other stakeholders, conducted multiple online surveys, and we analyzed literally thousands of lines of data.

Our thanks to everyone who provided a perspective or an opinion (sometimes you did not realize that you had, but we were listening!), feedback, and support during the several months that we have been developing this updated strategic plan.

You can access the updated WVP 2.0 on our website , along with static snapshots of some of the data that we pulled to support the conclusions in the report. If you have specific questions about the data, please drop me a note and I can share with you the fuller data table(s).

While this is a five-year strategic plan, we will continually evaluate the labor force and employer challenges to be able to react quickly as market conditions change.

While WESTMARC created WVP 2.0, it is through our partnership with all of you, and we invite you to join us as we begin the challenging work of implementing the strategy.

Kevin Dumcum, AZED Pro

Director of Regional Workforce Development

WESTMARC

Be a part of your workforce solution, Employer feedback requested!

Employers: Help us understand your staffing challenges by completing our

Employer Survey. Your Individual responses are strictly confidential and will be analyzed only in aggregate with other survey responses. The results will help us design better solutions to meet your needs.

Please contact Kevin Dumcum at [email protected] if you have any questions.

EDUCATION & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Download flyer here

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Download flyer here

Manufacturing pathway launched at GCU to meet big need

In September CNC Machinist Pathway at GCU was launched with financial support from Benchmark and Modern Industries, the 15-week program prepares participants to learn computer numerical control (CNC), which uses computers to precision manufacture parts, a trade in high demand.

The next cohort launches January 2024. For more information and to enroll click below:

ZONE INFO

Welcome to our new GMFTZ companies!



KORE Power

COMMUNITY INFO

Greetings Zone #277 Operators,

Annual Reports for GMFTZ Zone #277 are due by March 1, 2024. 

The FTZ Board will be holding the following no-cost annual report training webinars:

For Operators (content of all operator webinars is the same):

• Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 2:00 - 3:00 pm Eastern - webinar covering operators' use of OFIS to fill out and submit their annual report to the grantee.
• Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 2:00 - 3:00 pm Eastern - webinar covering operators' use of OFIS to fill out and submit their annual report to the grantee.
• Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 1:00 - 2:00 pm Eastern - webinar covering operators' use of OFIS to fill out and submit their annual report to the grantee.

RSVPs are required for these webinars. Each RSVP should include the individual's name and e-mail address and should be sent to: [email protected]. 

Prior to the webinars, participants will receive an e-mail with information to access the webinars.

User Guides for the OFIS system for both grantees and operators are attached here. If you have questions or any problems accessing the system or preparing the report, please contact Chris Wedderburn ([email protected]) or Qahira El-Amin ([email protected]).

If you have had a change in your Zone administrator, or need to update your zone contact information, please email Kimberly Jordan, Project Manager- GMFTZ Zone #277 at [email protected].

Thank you!

Let's Connect!

[email protected]

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