VIAVI Solutions Inc., is bringing its corporate headquarters and an optical-security and performance-products manufacturing facility to Chandler this year to support growing demand for its technologies.
VIAVI plans to transition its San Jose, Calif., headquarters to the new facility, which is anticipated to house at least 100 employees by 2022. In preparation for the move, the company already has relocated its corporate headquarters to a temporary office in Scottsdale. Its San Jose office will continue to operate as a functional center of excellence and sales office.
“While equipment will be installed and manufacturing will ramp starting in spring of 2022, hiring will be initiated in summer or fall of 2021 so employees can be placed and trained in advance,” Amit Malhotra, VIAVI global lead for communications, wrote in an email to Wrangler News. “While there will be a few transfers for the headquarters, the majority of personnel in Chandler will be dedicated to the manufacturing facility, and as this is a capacity expansion rather than a relocation of an existing plant, we expect a significant number of hires from the local talent pool.”
VIAVI is a global leader in network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications-service providers, enterprises, network-equipment manufacturers, government and avionics.
“The facility combines our headquarters and manufacturing facility, and will be subject to government security requirements due to the nature of manufacturing taking place, and so we … need to be very careful about sharing the details,” Malhotra said, declining to provide a specific address yet. “It will be an existing building.”
It also is a leader in light-management solutions for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive and defense applications.
“Chandler continues to make the short-list for exciting headquarters and manufacturing projects due to our supportive business climate, talented workforce and quality of life,” said Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke. “We are thrilled that VIAVI chose Chandler and we are confident that our community offers the ideal environment to scale their business.”
VIAVI generated $1.14 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2020, and has more than 3,600 employees in 50 locations throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific/Japan/China.
“Arizona welcomes another headquarters, drawn here by what our state has to offer: a talented workforce, innovation ecosystem, quality of life and more,” said Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. “We thank VIAVI for investing in Arizona, and look forward to their future success.”
In recent years, VIAVI has seen growing demand for OSP technologies, driving a need for manufacturing-capacity expansion as well as for redundant capabilities.
In seeking to locate a new facility, the company found that Arizona provided the ideal conditions of business-friendly, high quality of life at reasonable cost and strong base of talent. The Optics Valley region of Arizona is a world-renowned hub for optics research and VIAVI is an Industrial Affiliate at the University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences.
“As a global company, the right locations have been critical to our business success, and we have always contributed to the communities where we operate,” said Oleg Khaykin, VIAVI president and chief executive officer. “We are excited to establish a major new hub in Chandler and expand our involvement in the state’s optics ecosystem.”
Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority president and CEO, added that “Now, more than ever, communications and optical technologies are critical for businesses, schools, governments and residents. Arizona provides the ideal platform for VIAVI to continue advancing its innovative products and serving customers worldwide.”
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