ARIZONA & MEXICO

total). Sonora’s share is about 6 percent for both the number of establishments and the number of
IMMEX employees. 2
Figure 5: Manufacturing IMMEX employment by state 2015
Source: AZMEX Indicators (http://azmex.eller.arizona.edu ), based on INEGI
It is interesting to note that the first maquiladora assembly plant was opened in Nogales, Sonora, in
1965. Over the past decades several developments on national and international stages have brought
substantial changes to the industry. Here are some of major transformations:
1) Increased competition of low-cost labor in China caused some of the older assembly plants to
close in Nogales, Sonora, and relocate oversees;
2) Increasing utilization of Mexican technical and engineering skills as the sector transforms from
simple assembly lines to more complex production processes;
3) “New maquiladora model” that utilizes Sonora’s skilled workforce causes some Arizona
companies to move technical and engineering departments south of the border (reducing those
in Arizona), but allowing Arizona’s companies to stay globally competitive;
4) Emerging aerospace sector in the Empalme-Guaymas area with links to Arizona’s aerospace
industry creating a core of an Arizona-Sonora trans-border aerospace industry cluster;
5) Expanding automotive industry in the Hermosillo region;
6) Stronger linkages between maquiladora industry and institutions of higher education in Sonora
supported by both federal and state funding with a purpose to better match education and
industry needs.
2
Source: INEGI. Estadística Integral del Programa de la Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicios de Exportatción
(IMMEX), February 2015, www.inegi.org.mx
APRIL 2016 • ARIZONA TOWN HALL • ARIZONA & MEXICO • 44