YOU ARE AT:Mobile MinuteApple building solar-powered sapphire plant in Arizona

Apple building solar-powered sapphire plant in Arizona

Apple is bringing up to 2,000 jobs to Arizona – the company is building a new manufacturing facility in the town of Mesa, near Phoenix. The plant will employ at least 700 people, and the governor of Arizona says its construction and operation will create up to 1,300 additional jobs.

Those 700 factory employees will not actually work for Apple. Instead they will work for GT Advanced Technologies. GT has a deal in place with Apple to own and operate sapphire furnaces at the Mesa plant. Sapphire is used in the iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor. It is also used in all iPhone camera lenses.

Many of the new construction jobs generated by the plant will be related to building solar panels. The factory will be powered by renewable energy.

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Martha DeGrasse
Martha DeGrassehttp://www.nbreports.com
Martha DeGrasse is the publisher of Network Builder Reports (nbreports.com). At RCR, Martha authored more than 20 in-depth feature reports and more than 2,400 news articles. She also created the Mobile Minute and the 5 Things to Know Today series. Prior to joining RCR Wireless News, Martha produced business and technology news for CNN and Dow Jones in New York and managed the online editorial group at Hoover’s Online before taking a number of years off to be at home when her children were young. Martha is the board president of Austin's Trinity Center and is a member of the Women's Wireless Leadership Forum.