TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities announced today that Aris Integration LLC plans to hire nearly 600 people here in Tucson.
Aris is opening a headquarters and a manufacturing plant to make energy-efficient modular building panels.
They describe it as a fast, cost-efficient and energy-efficient type of construction for homes and commercial buildings.
They plan to begin manufacturing operations in Tucson by fall 2013. They plan to hire nearly 600 workers over the next five years.
The company's CEO and Founder admitted construction is not exactly
booming just yet, but he hopes the less expensive panel-style building will catch on. He described a prototype that's currently being used as a mess
hall in Gila Bend.
"That building was shipped from Rhode Island where we fabricated
it here, we hired a crew that had never seen us, never met us and five hours later
the building was up and operational," said CEO Duane Armijo.
Tucson News Now learned that veterans are expected to benefit from the company.
In July, Pima One Stop launched a special program that focuses on
getting veterans back to work.
They help with training, certifications and job placement for a
growing population of people who are returning from the wars overseas. Those veterans are expected to
play a big part in a new industry coming to town.
The CEO of Aris integration said, as a veteran himself, that he plans
to hire as many former military members.
He says he is committed to training veterans for
building and manufacturing work, as well as contractor roles.
An expert with Pima One Stop estimates local veteran unemployment at
about 8 or 9 percent. He says they will work with Aris to prepare and place
veterans.
"A lot of your reservists and army reserve people who get deployed
already have skills because they've been working in the community so basically
they're skills can be transferred right back to what they were doing, but some
will want to get more training," said Arthur Burrola with Pima One Stop.
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