"We looked at Utah and the Vegas area," said General Manager Mark Stojevich, "We also checked out the Sparks/Reno area."

The town of Kingman, 140 miles west of Flagstaff, eventually won out.

"The cost of land and the affordability of the area were the main factors," he said. "We also have the ease of access to major highways such as I-40."

The expansion to the Southwest was market driven, Stojevich said.

"We were servicing all of our business from our facility in St. Joseph, Mo.," said Stojewich. "The freight distance out here was enough that it made the move worthwhile. We wanted to be in the Southwest where a couple of major clients are located."

Hallett brought 30 jobs with the opening of the plant, and Stojewich said that could easily double in the near future.

Like Hallett Wire, coming to the Southwest was simply a matter of getting closer to its customer base for Marley Cooling Towers, the largest producer of commercial and industrial water cooling towers.

Eloy became the new home for a manufacturing extension of Marley Cooling Towers, which purchased 20 acres of land in the community of 5,000 and built a new facility ... its first brand new plant in 25 years, according to Ken Holliday, assistant to the senior vice-president of operations.

"We knew where our competition was, and were knew where our market was," Holliday said. "We checked out Nevada and Utah, and we already had two operations in California, and from our experience we knew that was not the most friendly place to do business."

From there, it was simply a process of elimination.

"Because we often drive with wide loads, Utah would make us go through Denver to get to the Texas markets, so that basically left us with Arizona," said Holliday. "We knew we needed to be on I-40 or I-10, and I-40 is at higher elevations and can be shut down due to weather. That left us doing a search along the I-10 corridor."

When they started looking at Eloy, Holliday said they were overwhelmed by the cooperation.

"I can't say enough about the city fathers of Eloy. To give you an example, when we first brought down our plans for the new plant, we gave them to the city engineer in the morning. They were approved within the hour," Holliday said. "It was that kind of cooperation from day one."

"More than the dollar value (of the job training programs), it was evidence of their desire to have us be a part of their state," Holliday said. Marley now employs 50 people at its new plant, and that could possibly double as business grows

The small community near Phoenix is home to Dimension Aviation, which won the contract to convert 60 DC-10s to cargo planes. The project, which involves 600 jobs, will generate an estimated $84 million in economic benefits for the community.

The first plane rolled into the renovated $15 million facility at Goodyear in late March.

The conversion of each plane will take about six months and will be done under the direction of McDonnell Douglas. Seats, galleys and lavatories will be removed and a strengthened cargo deck will be installed, along with a 12-foot cargo door. The cockpit will also be replaced to accommodate a two-person crew, rather than the three-person team currently needed.

Here is a just a sampling of manufacturers that have chosen to locate in the valley surrounding the greater Phoenix area.

• Suncoast Post Tension, a manufacturer of foundation reinforcement systems for the construction industry, moved its manufacturing operation to Phoenix. The company, originally from Texas, is now housed in a 15,000 square foot facility and has 15 employees.

• Pylam Products Co., a manufacturer and distributor of commercial dyes, moved to Tempe from New York. The company now has a 30,000 square foot building with 15 employees.

• DOPACO, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer and distributor of paper board products, has chosen Phoenix in order to be closer to its growing Southwest customer base. The company has 50 employees at its 113,000 square foot facility.

• Continental PET Technologies, a plastic injection blow molding operation, has a 125,000 square foot facility in Tolleson. Producing containers such as Gatorade bottles and Penn tennis ball canisters, the company now has 60 employees.

• Another plastics manufacturer is Plastican, Inc., maker of shipping containers for petroleum, chemicals, paints and adhesives. The company is the largest injection molder in the country, and will employ 85 people at its 50,000 square foot facility in Phoenix.

• Southwall Technologies chose Tempe as its home for the manufacturing of ultra-thin anti-reflective coatings for televisions and computer screens. This new 54,000 square foot facility will cost $14 million, and employ 30 people.