Nike to invest $184M to mold soles in Arizona

Athletic shoe giant Nike Inc. is planning to invest at least $184 million in a plant in Goodyear, Ariz., to make its Nike Air soles in the United States.

The Nike Air Manufacturing Innovation plant will employ 500 people and is expected to go into production in 2020. It will become Nike's third U.S. manufacturing facility dedicated to the Nike Air models. The other two are in Beaverton, Ore., and St. Charles, Mo. The Arizona facility will house design, engineering and product creation teams.

Air soles will also be made in Arizona.

Nike added that 50 percent of each Nike Air sole is made of manufacturing waste. This, the company said, has led to 57 million pounds of manufacturing waste being diverted from landfills from May 2018 to May 2019.

"The expansion of Air MI in Arizona helps us keep pace with the growing demand for Nike Air. It also greatly increases the size of our US manufacturing footprint … as we continue to accelerate our growth," said Eric Sprunk, Nike's chief operating officer.

Arizona had threatened to pull financial backing for the project due to controversy involving Nike pulling a version of the U.S. flag from some specialty shoes. But state officials confirmed to local reporters that the incentives had been reinstated.

In a news release, Nike said hiring would begin immediately, stating it is seeking "masters of teamwork [to] challenge assumptions in order to get faster, drive efficiency and fine-tune technology to deliver quality performance plastic."