Does Phoenix have an identity problem? (Tucson, Glendale: appointed, tech jobs, places to live)

[locolife]

Originally Posted by singlegirlinaz

I'm not following. Do the Burtons have a billion-dollar industry and create products that are used by people around the world? How are they cooler than one of the leading software developers?

I'm not knocking the Burtons but they're unknowns compared to Gates, Jobs or Musk. Those people are what the Phoenix valley could use more of.

I wasn't responding to a billionaire "coolness" contest. I was simply responding to this quote "This man is probably the most generous billionaire I can think of, and Phoenix could use more leaders like him."



We do have a lot of great philanthropists here.

[Valley Native]

Regarding corporate HQs: Phoenix was once the home of Dial, Circle K, and America West Airlines. All three were acquired by larger companies. Dial was bought by Henkel, and moved to Connecticut. America West became U.S. Airways, which was acquired by American Airlines, and moved its operations to Texas. Circle K was acquired by Tosco in 1996, but kept its HQs in Phoenix until it was purchased by Alimentation, and its HQs are now located in Canada.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Regarding corporate HQs: Phoenix was once the home of Dial, Circle K, and America West Airlines. All three were acquired by larger companies. Dial was bought by Henkel, and moved to Connecticut. America West became U.S. Airways, which was acquired by American Airlines, and moved its operations to Texas. Circle K was acquired by Tosco in 1996, but kept its HQs in Phoenix until it was purchased by Alimentation, and its HQs are now located in Canada.

In the day of mergers, that's very common. In MN, Mosaic Co. relocated to Florida while Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc. was acquired by an out-of-state company. NWA was acquired by Delta (now GA), Honeywell
merged a couple of times, and now in Charlotte, NC, and Medtronic left the country on paper to Ireland in order to dodge taxes. Once a company merges and "leaves", that opens up another Fortune 500 company to enter the list.

Still, Honeywell, Medtronic, Delta, and others have a massive presence in MN employing tens of thousands of people combined. Even so, huge corporations often pay far less in corporate state taxes (maybe a percent). So the prize for fortune 500 companies is for the state to gain taxes on those jobs (including the job itself) and not necessarily where they are officially headquartered. Also, add in some bragging rights for the politicians.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Regarding corporate HQs: Phoenix was once the home of Dial, Circle K, and America West Airlines. All three were acquired by larger companies. Dial was bought by Henkel, and moved to Connecticut. America West became U.S. Airways, which was acquired by American Airlines, and moved its operations to Texas. Circle K was acquired by Tosco in 1996, but kept its HQs in Phoenix until it was purchased by Alimentation, and its HQs are now located in Canada.

Why always focus on the negative side? The mergers work the opposite way as well, On Semiconductor has acquired many companies and maintained their HQ here. This is just one example.

On has acquired 16 companies which include GT Advanced Technologies (Aug 2021), Quantenna (Mar 2019), SensL (May 2018).

PetSmart has made 3 acquisitions. The company has spent over $ 3.48B for the acquisitions. PetSmart has invested in multiple sectors such as Pet Tech, Chewy, AllPaws, and Pet360 recently.

[FlurryCat]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Regarding corporate HQs: Phoenix was once the home of Dial, Circle K, and America West Airlines. All three were acquired by larger companies. America West became U.S. Airways, which was acquired by American Airlines, and moved its operations to Texas.

Actually America West bought USAirways, but kept the name of the larger, internationally-known company. HQ was still in Phoenix.
Then USAirways (actually America West) bought the name and assets of American in a fire sale as they were about to file for bankruptcy.
So the largest airline in the world (depending on how you measure) is actually America West, and is still mostly run by their management team. They didn't want to move out of Phoenix, but it made no sense to relocate the many-times-larger operation in TX. (Also, the CEO may have had some personal reasons for wanting to be in a different state.)

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by locolife

Why always focus on the negative side? The mergers work the opposite way as well, On Semiconductor has acquired many companies and maintained their HQ here. This is just one example.

On has acquired 16 companies which include GT Advanced Technologies (Aug 2021), Quantenna (Mar 2019), SensL (May 2018).

PetSmart has made 3 acquisitions. The company has spent over $ 3.48B for the acquisitions. PetSmart has invested in multiple sectors such as Pet Tech, Chewy, AllPaws, and Pet360 recently.

Why do you always call it negative when I post factual information that is disagreeable to you? I understand that mergers are common (if not expected) among corporations, and a few Phoenix based firms have expanded as a result. At the same time, it's a huge let down when long standing companies are acquired, and leave the home based city for an out of state location. It's almost like a piece of Phoenix's heart is ripped out when this happens ... not to mention loss of jobs/incomes.

Despite all the advancements over the years, we still lag behind in the national/global business sector. With our high growth rate + all the things which make Phoenix a great place to be, you'd think more lucrative companies would want to move their HQs here, and remain here permanently. We're definitely doing better with 8 Fortune 500 companies based in the Phoenix area, but it's still a rather meager amount for a metro this size. We've missed out on quite a few opportunities over the years because of our economic focus, including the lack of a notably large talent pool. I think this is slowly changing, although a little too late.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Why do you always call it negative when I post factual information that is disagreeable to you? I understand that mergers are common (if not expected) among corporations, and a few Phoenix based firms have expanded as a result. At the same time, it's a huge let down when long standing companies are acquired, and leave the home based city for an out of state location. It's almost like a piece of Phoenix's heart is ripped out when this happens ... not to mention loss of jobs/incomes.

Despite all the advancements over the years, we still lag behind in the national/global business sector. With our high growth rate + all the things which make Phoenix a great place to be, you'd think more lucrative companies would want to move their HQs here, and remain here permanently. We're definitely doing better with 8 Fortune 500 companies based in the Phoenix area, but it's still a rather meager amount for a metro this size. We've missed out on quite a few opportunities over the years because of our economic focus, including the lack of a notably large talent pool. I think this is slowly changing, although a little too late.

I didn't disagree it's just pluses and minuses, we've seen other companies grow significantly here in the same time that should be called out as well. But there seems to be a negative tone most of the time, whether stated or not it's certainly implied when only negatives are called out.

You call our Fortune 500 meager you must have a really poor view of places like San Diego, Salt Lake, Vegas and others which come up much shorter than us. Yes, we could have more and yes we could also have less. But those and Phoenix all remain good places to live.

[Ponderosa]

And Time magazine has named Tucson (yes, Tucson) as one of the world's best places along with cities like Vancouver and St. Moritz. How does Tucson have an identity that puts it there while Phoenix has nothing? Tucson embraces its Mexican-influenced heritage. Its barrios are actually places of attraction. It has preserved old architecture. Phoenix counters with fake western themes like Scottsdale and numerous "historic" downtowns that are nothing like the real historic downtown. Tucson is real, Phoenix is phony.

[WanderingRebel]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

And Time magazine has named Tucson (yes, Tucson) as one of the world's best places along with cities like Vancouver and St. Moritz. How does Tucson have an identity that puts it there while Phoenix has nothing? Tucson embraces its Mexican-influenced heritage. Its barrios are actually places of attraction. It has preserved old architecture. Phoenix counters with fake western themes like Scottsdale and numerous "historic" downtowns that are nothing like the real historic downtown. Tucson is real, Phoenix is phony.

Everything in Phoenix is fake - nothing is authentic. Maybe that's our identity. Just embrace it.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by WanderingRebel

Everything in Phoenix is fake - nothing is authentic. Maybe that's our identity. Just embrace it.

Can't think of anything more real than a city that rose from the ashes of a prior civilization. We're the place that nobody thought would make it, and here we are thriving.