For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Contact: Aida Ross, aross@azdem.org
Thanks to Democrats, New Jobs Are Heading to Arizona
First Solar, Corning Announce Historic Manufacturing Investments in AZ
PHOENIX — Today, First Solar and Corning announced new multi-million dollar investments to build manufacturing facilities, create good-paying jobs, and upgrade infrastructure in Arizona, thanks to President Biden and Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Corning, the largest U.S. fiber-optic cable producer, will build a new factory in Gilbert to bring fiber and cable manufacturing investments to more than $500 million and add hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the state.
Tempe-based company First Solar — the biggest U.S. solar panel maker — will invest up to $1 billion in building a new solar panel manufacturing facility in the Southeast U.S., pivoting from earlier considerations to build capacity abroad. First Solar Chief Executive Mark Widmar credited the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives and support for helping to spur investment in domestic solar manufacturing.
While Arizona Democrats successfully worked to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, every single Arizona Republican in Congress voted against these key pieces of legislation and the benefits they will bring to Arizona.
Here’s what Arizonans are reading on how President Biden and Arizona Democrats’ leadership is bringing manufacturing jobs to the Grand Canyon State:
Arizona Republic: Big effort for fiber cable in Arizona: $100M Corning factory planned in Gilbert, AT&T expanding service
- Corning Inc. will build a $100 million fiber-cabling factory in Gilbert that will employ 250 people and help AT&T deploy high-speed internet access, the companies announced on Tuesday.
- “This new facility will provide additional optical cable capacity to meet the record demand the industry is seeing for fast, reliable connectivity. We are also working with Corning to create training programs to equip the next generation of technicians with the skills to build the networks that will expand high-speed internet access to millions of Americans.”
- “We believe access to broadband means access to opportunity — from education to health care to quality of life,” Corning Chairman/CEO Wendell Weeks said in a prepared statement. “Corning is doing our part to make sure everyone — regardless of where they live — has access to reliable, high-speed connections enabled by optical fiber.”
The Wall Street Journal: First Solar to Invest $1.2 Billion in U.S. Plants, Spurred by Climate Law
- On Tuesday, Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar Inc. said it would invest up to $1 billion in a new factory in the southeastern U.S. that will eventually be able to make 3.5 gigawatts of panels each year and $185 million in expansions the company now plans at factories in Ohio.
- First Solar Chief Executive Mark Widmar had said until recently that although the company was eager to boost its manufacturing footprint, high costs and a lack of policy support meant it was considering adding capacity in Europe or India rather than at home.
- The company pivoted after President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this month, Mr. Widmar said. The IRA contains hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for companies to manufacture clean-energy equipment such as solar panels and electric-vehicle batteries, as well as tax credits for companies that build green-power projects using American-made components.
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