Ok, I just read that out loud in my head and, believe me, I know how nerdy it sounds.

But I’ve been spending obsessive amounts of time getting to know Greater Phoenix.

Partly in an effort to become better friends with the Valley. Partly because I keep hearing that this place is the center of something big.

So I started digging. And I think I found something.

I’m not a reporter for a national media company with a research team supporting me.

I’m just a guy who loves tech, the people behind it, and the stories that come from both.

So this article is an observation. A working thesis if you will. Built from public information and a lot of in-person conversations.

It might be slightly off. Or a lot off. However, I’d like to think I’m onto something.

Here’s what I think: Phoenix has stopped simply selling land and is now offering access. And access, it turns out, even for a city, gets you things money alone cannot.

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Here is one of the Phoenix stories we know.

You’ve heard it, read it, seen it. Hell, you might even work there now.

TSMC picked Phoenix, to the tune of $265B. Intel is expanding in Chandler. Amkor is building a packaging facility. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) puts total investment into the region’s semiconductor supply chain at more than $300B.

It’s an incredible story and it’s been covered on all the platforms.

But I began to notice the way the stories are told skews toward square footage, dollar figures, and groundbreaking photos.

Now, I’m not saying those things aren’t important. They are. They’re also largely about buildings.

I know you can point at a building as proof of the development that’s happening in a city. But here’s the thing. Any state with cheap land and a good incentive package can attract a building.

So what I went looking for was the why. Why here? Why now? Why this fast?

Here are the Phoenix stories we should get to know.

Wait, it gets more interesting. According to TechCrunch, Selby’s firm got in, in part, by promising to help Etched eventually re-shore its chip fabrication to Arizona. Selby credits the access to his role on the Arizona Commerce Authority board, where he helps recruit companies here.

Let’s pause and think about this: an investor got into one of the hottest chip startups not by outbidding the coasts, but by offering something the coasts didn’t have. In this case, the asset wasn’t the check, it was Arizona.

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Let’s pause and think about this: what they’re actually offering founders is an end-to-end path from design and prototype through packaging and high-volume manufacturing. A front door to the supply chain.

In the announcement, Phoenix’s economic development director, Ryan Touhill (who I recently met for coffee and a chocolate chip cookie), said something worth pausing to think about. Touhill talked about workforce pipeline, speed to market, and “the industry density that companies are looking for.”

Conferences like SEMICON West don’t decide to move for warmer weather. They move toward density.

Nope.

Copper Sky Capital was anchored by Pinnacle West, the parent company of the electric utility. Alongside Salt River Project and Western Alliance Bancorp. A utility, a water power group, and a regional bank.

Let’s pause and think about this: These are some of the most conservative pools of capital that exist. They’re definitely not built to chase trends. Their entire job is to not lose money in boring (and I mean that lovingly), predictable ways.

And they collectively looked at backing startup formation in Arizona and said, “yes!”

When this kind of money moves first, I’ve learned it’s worth asking why.

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Here’s my working thesis.

From my experience, and my nerdy website reading, what I typically see is cities competing on cost. Whether that’s cheaper land, lower taxes, friendlier permitting, etc. Phoenix absolutely has those things and they matter.

But what does a city do when anyone can cut a tax rate?

Phoenix has built something much harder to copy: a place where being physically present gets you into line.

And once you’re in line, proximity becomes trade-able.

You can trade your place in line for equity. For deal access. For a company that might have otherwise been built or relocated somewhere else.

The city itself becomes leverage.

Why all this matters if you run technology at the enterprise level.

I write for people who build and run tech. So let me get specific about why any of this should matter on a random afternoon when you’re buried in use cases.

You get a first look. When 40-60 deep-tech companies get built here every year, the CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, and CDIOs in this Valley are going to have conversations with those companies before anyone else. Early pilots. Proofs of concept. Design partner status on AI and infrastructure technology from the beginning.

You get access to the talent that comes with it. Engineers are moving here for the fabs and startups. Some percentage of them are going to eventually look around for their next thing. They’re going to look around here. That’s a hiring pool most enterprise tech leaders in this country would love to have.

And you get a great answer to the “where do you do tech” question. Look, I know for a fact that there’s a professional pressure to run tech in a place that’s perceived as legit. Phoenix is legit.

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Be honest, what am I missing?

I don’t have all the answers. I just noticed a pattern that I’m following.

Is this repeatable, or is it a Jack Selby thing? Maybe what Im calling a strategy is really one extremely well-connected person doing what well-connected people do.

Are these companies here, or just manufacturing here? There’s a difference between a headquarter and a purchase order.

Is the enterprise side of the Valley plugged in? The fab economy and the enterprise IT economy could be running on completely separate tracks.

If you’re an investor here, someone who chose to move here, an enterprise tech leader watching all of this happening, or someone on the corporate side who decided to back a VC fund, I’d love an hour of your time.

Especially if you think I’m reading any of this incorrectly.

Because I’m going to keep pulling on this thread.

And subsequent articles will have names, faces, voices, and stories from those making all of this happen.

It’s great to be here, Phoenix.

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The Henry is part cocktail bar, part cafe, and part co-working space.

Like Phoenix itself, it’s an interesting mix of culture, community, and people who get s**t done. At scale.

When I visited earlier this year in January, everything was fresh to me. Along with some help from my pal Jay Kolbe, I managed to put together some impactful meetings at the last minute. I met with tech investors and founders, business leaders, sports technology innovators, and more. It made an impression on me that you can read here.

This time, with a bit of “history" and significantly more lead time, I navigated my return to Phoenix differently. This opened doors to meetings with top business and tech leaders across the region. During my week here, I’ve had conversations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Tucson.

They all zeroed in on the same thesis: Steve, help us tell the tech story here.

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Here’s what a week in the Valley (and a day trip to Tucson) looks like.

Coffee with a person whose job it is to convince the world to come to Phoenix. A downtown conversation with the person who gets companies to build here. A Scottsdale chat with the CIO digitally transforming city government. A Tucson lunch with the team running one of the country’s most impressive innovation networks. And an immersive conversation with the office that turns university research into high growth startups.

Different people in, seemingly, different worlds. Maybe not.

Because each of them, in their way, said a similar thing.

It’s this: the work they’re doing and that’s happening in the region is extraordinary. But it needs a bigger megaphone.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested across semiconductors, bioscience, and aerospace and the people behind it all are heads down doing the work.

Nobody is exploring the “why” while telling the stories of the people making it happen.

That’s what Tech in PHX is for.

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We’ll tell the human stories behind the tech rise: the people, the decisions, the why.

Many media outlets report the facts. It’s time to talk about the people.

Because the cities I see getting tech right clearly understand that tech is just part of a bigger story. There are four key pieces to it all: industry, universities, community, and culture. It’s the second two that most cities overlook or outright dismiss when building their high tech business visions.

But those are the guidelines for this platform. We’ll dig into all of it. A lot.

Why me and why now?

This is a fair question because I’m not from Phoenix and I don’t currently live here.

However, I’ve spent decades in Milwaukee doing exactly this work. Most recently through Experience Milwaukee.

What I’ve found in Phoenix is a place that’s crafting one of the most impressive economic development showcases in the world. But the stories don’t match that work.

Two cities with the same mission: get more megaphones!

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What’s coming?

Interviews with civic and tech leaders shaping the region. Notes from rooms where Phoenix tech is happening, including cafes like the one I’m sitting in.

If you want to build here, invest here, work here, live here, or just want to understand the place you call home a bit better, Tech in PHX is for you.

If you’re leading the way here and you’re looking for a bigger megaphone, I got you. You can reach me at steve@techinphx.com anytime.

More soon, Phoenix!

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