Another big manufacturer is setting up shop in the West Valley. nVent Electric has leased a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing site in Goodyear, where it plans to build engineered buildings, including prefabricated electrical houses known as e-houses, for utilities, data centers and industrial customers. Production is expected to start in mid-2027, and the company says the site will employ more than 200 people once it's fully running (via nVent).
If you haven't worked around e-houses, they're factory-built enclosures that hold the guts of a power system. nVent describes them as custom modular buildings that house switchgear, motor control centers, drives, relay and control panels and other electrical gear. The company builds and wires them indoors, then ships them to the site as a largely plug-and-play unit, up to two stories tall. Until now, nVent has listed its e-house manufacturing in Pittsburgh, Kansas and Millington, Maryland.
The Goodyear lease is about keeping up with demand. "Demand for our engineered building products continues to grow as customers invest in grid modernization, power reliability and other critical infrastructure projects," said Sara Zawoyski, president of nVent Systems Protection. She said the new plant gives the company more speed and scale for complex projects that need to be deployed faster.
It's nVent's second capacity move in this line in a few months. In August, the company broke ground on a 58,000-square-foot expansion at an existing plant in Southeastern Kansas, which it expects to add up to 60 skilled trade jobs over the next year.
nVent didn't say which building it leased, who owns it, or whether any public incentives were involved, and we didn't find a City of Goodyear announcement with those details. Goodyear has drawn large manufacturers before. Andersen runs a 550,000-square-foot window plant and distribution center in the city that employs more than 400 people, according to the company.
Why it matters for Contractors
The first opportunity is the building itself. Turning a leased 400,000-square-foot shell into a production plant by mid-2027 typically involves tenant improvement work such as power distribution, lighting, compressed air, cranes or material handling, office space and fire protection. Commercial electricians, mechanical subs and TI contractors in the West Valley should watch Goodyear's permit activity for the address once it surfaces.
Second, expect competition for electrical talent. A plant that builds and wires switchgear buildings needs electricians, welders and assemblers, and 200-plus jobs is a lot of hiring in one corner of the metro. Small electrical shops may feel that in recruiting over the next year or two.
Finally, it's a sign of where the money is going. Factory-built e-houses are aimed at data centers, utilities and industrial sites, and nVent is betting that more of that equipment will show up prefabricated. For electrical contractors, that would shift more of the field work on those jobs toward setting, connecting and commissioning, rather than building gear rooms from scratch.