Bechtel opens Chandler office to serve customers in semiconductor, battery and data center industries – Phoenix … – Phoenix Business Journal

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Construction and engineering firm Bechtel Corp. has put down roots in the East Valley for its newest business vertical.
The Reston, Virginia-based company opened its 8,000 square foot office in April at the Chandler Viridian complex to serve manufacturing and technology customers with a focus on semiconductors and electric vehicles.
The Chandler office, located at 3133 W. Frye Road in Chandler, includes space for employees working in engineering, procurement, project controls and construction management. Denis Bacon, the general manager of Bechtel’s Chandler office, said about half the time is spent working on current projects Bechtel has under contract while the other half is spent on prospecting clients and gauging their interest in an expansion to the area.
Bechtel’s clients include Australia-based Sicona Battery Technologies, which selected Bechtel this year to conduct an engineering study for a new U.S. headquarters. The company is also the general contractor for Intel Corp.’s, new semiconductor fabrication plants in Ohio.
Bechtel also works with clients in the energy, infrastructure, mining and metals, nuclear and security and environmental sectors. The global company has been in business since 1898.
Bacon said the decision to locate in the East Valley was a desire to be near a concentration of companies and people in the semiconductor and electric vehicle sectors along with being in proximity to Arizona State University. Bacon said Bechtel worked with CBRE Group Inc. to find the new space. Cushman & Wakefield’s Pat Boyle and Jerry Roberts are the listing brokers for Chandler Viridian.
“We have a really great access to a talent pool here who can support Bechtel and our clients wherever they go,” Bacon said. “It affords opportunities for folks to go other places, travel abroad and have careers at Bechtel.”
To date, Bechtel has brought on 12 employees in Chandler, though other workers from different Bechtel offices often work temporarily there. Bacon said the Chandler office has room for 50 employees and could expand within the building if needed.
The company also has an office in Glendale, which mostly handles corporate services and administrative functions.
Bechtel joins several other firms that support the semiconductor industry and have recently opened or announced plans to bolster operations in the East Valley. In the last month, Moov held a grand opening for its new office at 100 Mill on Tempe Town Lake; Cactus Materials started production in two fabs; and Foresight Technologies looks to double its headcount and will expand its facility to support the development and production of high-purity fluid delivery equipment.
Such activity comes as the White House has designated Phoenix as a workforce hub to help meet the demand for qualified and diverse talent in semiconductors, renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Elsewhere in the East Valley, Benchmark Electronics Inc. opened its 64,000-square-foot precision technologies facility in Mesa that will create 100 jobs and Edwards opened a 200,000-square-foot space in Chandler that could create 500 new jobs earlier this year.
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