How did Arizona lock in billion-dollar investments from TSMC, Intel, and LG Energy? Ian O’Grady, Senior Policy Advisor to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, joins ChinaTalk to share war stories from the state that’s successfully reshoring semiconductor and battery production. Our conversation covers: Labor Disputes and Crisis Management — How the Governor’s Office mediates disagreements between stakeholders and keeps workers happy. Clean Air Act vs. chips — Why Arizona’s fabs struggled to get building permits despite the state’s low per-capita emissions. Arizona’s Abundance Playbook — Including a consolidated commerce authority, a culture of engineering &gt; litigation, and institutional factors that help Arizona outbuild Ohio and Texas. Taiwanifying the Desert — How Phoenix welcomed TSMC engineers with Mandarin programs in schools, Din Tai Fung, and a new Costco. Industrial Policy Resource Wars — How Arizona avoids backlash based on power and water use concerns. Co-hosting is ChinaTalk researcher Aqib Zakaria. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona's Abundance Playbook

ChinaTalk

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** ChinaTalk

## Participants

- **Jordan Schneider** (None)
- **Aqib Zakaria** (None)
- **Ian O'Grady** (None)

## Transcript

Industrial policy It's cute to write bills in Washington and all But all those projects and build-outs actually have to happen in the physical world Which is generally not inside the DMV To discuss how industrial policy actually gets manifested at the state level We're going to steal an odd lots line here We have the perfect guest, Ian O'Grady Senior policy advisor covering economic development and workforce

For Governor Hobbs of Arizona who has been interacting with all of the wonderful IRA and CHIPS Act build-out That we've seen in the Sunshine State over the past few years Ian, you show up January 2023 This is after the CHIPS Act has passed And there is already a lot of excitement and buzz about all of the fabs

Which may or may not end up being stood up in the broader Phoenix area Take us away, Ian! What were the first things that ended up getting thrown on your plate from a semiconductor perspective? As you guys took off? Yeah, great to be here Very excited, Jordan So, a couple of things in terms of timeline One, you know, TSMC is announced in 2020 That's a huge, huge date We're getting one fab That's amazing

We're so excited that they're going to be investing in Arizona and the U.S. And, you know, make that jump The other is, you know, I think CHIPS Act 2021 IRA 2022 And then we're coming into 2023 We have all these kind of incentives happening We have all the reshoring The, you know, bringing jobs back to America effort And so, that's great But anytime we have that Or, you know, I think we talk about trade Trade deals too, right? In terms of what's been happening recently with President Trump Whether it's that policy or the incentives or the tariffs

You then have countries and companies who say Okay, we want to invest in the United States Where do we go? And so that sets off this huge competition between states And so, every state is then showing the companies And local governments too How, where do we invest? Why does it make sense to do it here? And then once that process happens It's like, well, okay Permits power people How do we hire everyone we need to hire? How do we get those folks into jobs? You know, from fab technicians

To security guards To like the construction is super important At any given day We have about 10,000 folks up at TSMC Working on the construction side Which is incredible And then power is super important In terms of, you know, just the cost And how do we What does it look like for their, you know Their pro forma when they come to our state And so I think, you know Again, like you said The legislation is great We love the framework You know, Senator Mark Kelly was huge

On the investment tax credit For CHIPS Act But then it's like, okay Where do they go? And so we start those introductions We start talking to these companies About, you know Where do they ...

Arizona's Abundance Playbook

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Arizona's Abundance Playbook

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.