Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego had a lot to talk about at the United States Conference of Mayors this week in Washington D.C.
First, she touted how the recruiting of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) has led to other foreign companies setting up operations in Phoenix, including the the breaking ground this week of Sunlit Chemical.
The Mayor commented:
“This week’s groundbreaking for Sunlit Chemical highlights the series of foreign companies investing in Phoenix as a result of TSMC. TSMC, Sunlit, and their supply chain position our region as a global center to advance high-tech devices, cloud computing and Internet of Things. With ASU and Maricopa Community Colleges, we are advancing curriculum which will deliver a steady stream of talent necessary for this promising industry’s continued growth.”
Mayor Gallego also reminded Phoenicians that the city was one of only 15 cities around the world to win one million dollars from the coveted Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge for its innovative Mobile Career Unit, saying:
“This innovative approach holds great promise to getting Phoenicians into good jobs, and we hope that it can serve as a model for communities around the world to better support individuals and families.”
During the conference, Mayor Gallego “led a panel with U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on the role of education and workforce development in equitable recovery.”
Please read the whole press release from Mayor Gallego’s office by clicking below.
She also met with the Michael Smith, the Director of Americorp, an excellent national service learning organization created during the Clinton/Gore Administration that helps place individuals in areas of need in exchange for educational assistance.
Mayor Gallego Touts Phoenix Accomplishments and Programs with the Hill’s Steve Clemons
Yesterday (January 20, 2022,) the Mayor interviewed with the Hill’s Steve Clemons to highlight the efforts Phoenix was making in technology, infrastructure (including transportation,) micro mobility, and greener sustainability programs.
During the interview with Clemons (who complemented the Mayor for getting things done,) Mayor Gallego commented that the top priorities for her are:
“We are still very much fighting COVID, making sure that the city does our part in getting test kits and vaccinations out. We’re also trying to take advantage of the fact that we’re going through a sea change in our economy and how can we make sure Phoenix is at the leading edge of clean technology and advanced technology, particularly semiconductors, bioscience, and transportation investments are happening right now.”
On the need to help fight inflation with semiconductors produced in the United States, the Phoenix Mayor said:
“We are planning to do our part. My biggest economic development announcement as Mayor occurred at the height of COVID and it was TSMC who makes the semiconductors that go in your IPhone…That was a huge relief for us. We want to be a global city and the fact that we could still have that type of global investment in our community was exciting. We have our community colleges, all hands-on deck getting the workforce ready as well as our university system, we have a small city right now building semi conductor fabrication in Phoenix…”
On building a clean sustainability future for Phoenix, Ms. Gallego said:
“We are the first city in the nation to have a permanent part of government that’s in charge of heat. What we said is we have to have all hands on deck and we need a way to coordinate an effort to adapt to heat.”
Among the “cutting edge solutions,” the Mayor and the city are trying to implement to building a green sustainability future for Phoenix are:
- Innovative design of buildings.
- Planting more trees.
- Instituting a cool pavement program.
On the Mayor’s transportation proposals to help reduce inequality, Ms. Gallego highlighted:
- Expanding (through a grant from the Biden/Harris Administration) the light rail system. Mayor Gallego said these efforts “were helping to revitalize the shopping malls that were not doing quite as well during COVID.”
- How electric vehicles (like buses) can serve the whole Phoenix population with greater accessibility.
- Creating more bicycle corridors along canal paths.
The Phoenix Mayor also discussed micro mobility “and how to deploy it” through “multiple different modes” like bicycling and scooters.
On upskilling and training workers to get jobs, Mayor Gallego said:
“We have from the semiconductor industry to bioscience these great leading edge jobs and we’re working with our educational institutions to make sure people are ready for them. We’ve had so many companies coming into Phoenix and we want to make sure the people who already live in Phoenix can get those jobs so we partnered with the community college (Maricopa County) not just to provide classes but also if you have a transportation barrier, how can we get you there or can we go on line. If daycare is a challenge, we have vouchers to support that as well and that has been very successful. We’re also learning that if we just go out into our communities, that can make it easier to break down barriers.”
At the end of the interview, Ms. Gallego said that she would like the Biden/Harris Administration to continue energy efficiency and conservation block grants to cities, commenting:
“Cities are innovation labs and that you ought to give direct funding to cities and let us see what we can do. We’re hoping the energy efficiency and conservation block grants that were in the last infrastructure and jobs act will really be a model because what Phoenix needs to fight climate change is different than what Washington D.C. needs. But we’re going to have that great American ingenuity and we’ll come up with solutions, some of which will spread throughout the country so that direct partnership with cities will really get the dollars to the people.”
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