Beyond the business plan, your new company needs many things to open its doors. A great location, a sales tax license, a sign, utilities and the like. Learn how to get what you need right here.

Tax and License
The City of Tempe does not require a business license, but does require sales tax licenses and other permits. Find out what is required to operate your business.

Zoning, Inspections, Building Permits, Signs
The Community Development Department will guide your company through the processes required to open your business.

Building Safety 
Sign Code
Zoning 
Fire Inspection

Traffic Counts
Get information about the flow of traffic on Tempe streets to determine the best location for your business. Visit Tempe in Motion.

Tempe’s value proposition is simple: we have the right workforce, the right location, and the right facility for your company to thrive.

• An educated and technically-skilled workforce is the backbone of Tempe. 42 percent of our residents have a bachelor’s degree and with community partners such as ASU and UAT, graduates in the degrees you are looking for are always available.
  
  
• Tempe is an urban environment that prides itself on its connectivity, sustainability, and quality of life. With its diverse offerings for activity, entertainment, transportation, employment and workspace, the city leads the Valley with a dynamic sense of place.
  
  
• Tempe is situated in the central Southeast Valley, 10 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and crisscrossed by five freeways as well as public transit options. Its unique location makes it close to everything and very easy to get to from anywhere else in the Valley.
  
  
• The City has strong representation in various high-tech industries, specifically Advanced Business Services, Advanced Manufacturing, Biotechnology and Healthcare, and Advanced Technologies. We are a leader in Class A office space and high technology office parks.

IDEA Tempe is a phased development that focuses on bringing new biotechnology and technology companies to Tempe. The 18-acre, 1 million sq ft project includes five commercial buildings with restaurant and retail space, two parking structures, as well as a 40,000 sq ft of arts rehearsal and classroom space. IDEA is an acronym for Innovation, Discovery, Education and Arts. 

The first building opened on March 6, 2020. The Boyer Company is the developer. Okland Construction is the general contractor. BD, one of the world's largest medical device companies, is the first tenant for this campus.

Building Our Arts Community

Planned to be part of IDEA Tempe is a 40,000 sq ft arts facility to be built as a wrap for the first parking garage. This space would have a black box theater, classroom space, rehearsal room and more. There is no timeline for this wrap yet.

Building For the Future

Building Our Priorities 

Tempe values sustainability, education, the arts and efficiency. The IDEA Tempe campus will incorporate these principles into every element of its creation.

The construction of these buildings will include LEED sustainability standards, such as solar panels on rooftops. A thorough remediation of the site will remove debris and dirt will be reused.

Boyer and Oakland Construction have agreed to an apprenticeship/highly skilled labor workforce program for this project, bringing opportunity to students and members of our workforce.

The art on this campus will be above that which is required and will be done in coordination with City of Tempe arts administrators. 

Building Tempe Together

Key Industries

Tempe has many outstanding businesses that are strong partners in the community. Our Economic Development team can make introductions to top companies in the area to help your business flourish.

Tempe Equal Pay Business Designation

Tempe's Equal Pay Business designation signals to potential staff members that they will be treated fairly. Learn how your business can get this designation at www.tempe.gov/equalpay

Tempe Equal Pay Businesses

•  Landings Credit Union
• GoDaddy
• Architekton, Inc.
• Mulligan's Manor
• Mountain Park Health Center
• Dinos2 Personalized Auto Sales, Inc.
• Express Employment Professionals
• Factor 1 Studios

Largest Employers by Category

• Education – Arizona State University
• Business Services – State Farm
• Utility – Salt River Project
• Food Distribution – Safeway, Inc.
• Financial Services – Wells Fargo
• Advanced Technology – Honeywell
• Advanced Manufacturing – Freescale
• Automotive: Carvana
• Healthcare – Express Scripts
• Construction – Sundt
• Medical Device Manufacturing – Medtronic
• Telecommunications – NETSIAN Technologies
• Information Technology – Insight Direct
• Brewery – Huss Brewing Company
  
  

Tempe is like no other city and as such, has opportunities to locate businesses in an urban, transit-oriented and historic downtown, along our lakefront, in one of our many corporate campuses, at a state of the art research park or adjacent to the nation's largest university. Check out some of them.

Light Rail Corridor

Tempe is the only Arizona city with light rail from border to border. Light rail moves from the city of Mesa, along Apache Boulevard through downtown Tempe, across Tempe Town Lake, and heads into Phoenix. This multi-modal area offers many different development opportunities for large and small businesses.

Additionally, the city is adding a streetcar route along Rio Salado to create improved connectivity on that corridor. The Tempe Streetcar will connect downtown Tempe to ASU and Tempe Marketplace and Smith Industrial Innovation Hub.

ASU Research Park

The 320-acre ASU Research Park offers its corporations a professional business environment, with mature landscaping and three lakes covering 18 surface acres. Recreation facilities include more than 6 miles of surfaced jogging and bike trails, picnic ramadas and three lakes. Park corporations are offered access to many university services, such as ASU Technical MBA program on site, cooperative research opportunities and patentable proprietary research contracts. Corporate neighbors include Edward Jones, ASU Flexible Display Center, Solterra Solar Cells and dozens more. Space is available for development. Contact Ryan@asuresearchpark.com or visit https://asuresearchpark.com/

Discovery Business Campus

This 135-acre business park at the northwest corner of Elliot Road and the Loop 101 will offer approximately 2.5 million square feet of office and light industrial space. Corporate neighbors include Freescale Semiconductor, Northern Trust and Shutterfly. https://northwoodinvestors.com/investment/discovery-business-campus/

Tempe Town Lake

Why not work at one of your favorite places to play? Second only to the Grand Canyon as a publicly-owned destination, Tempe Town Lake is visited by more than 2.5 million people annually. Beyond the special events and recreation, Town Lake offers many development opportunities along its shores, as well as Class A office space. It neighbors Sky Harbor International Airport, the 2,000 acres of Papago Park and Mill Avenue. New opportunities await with I.D.E.A Tempe the new technology campus at Tempe Center for the Arts. www.tempe.gov/lake

Emerald Center

Land is available at Emerald Center, located at I-10 and Warner Road in south Tempe. This prime retail and commercial space is already home to Arizona's only IKEA, Dick's Sporting Goods, Eurway, Holland Boone, Lifetime Fitness, Arizona Patio, Tres Amigos, Total Wine and many others.

Fountainhead Corporate Center

Fountainhead Corporate Park is a 170-acre mixed-use project currently containing approximately 1 million square feet of office space and a 270-room resort. A 308-unit Mark Taylor apartment project is adjacent to the site. Corporate neighbors include University of Phoenix, East Valley Tribune and more. 

Papago Park Center + SRP Grand

Located in the geographic center of the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area, right at the junction of two freeways, Papago Park Center offers both available land for development as well as existing office buildings. The development is home to Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller companies. The SRP Grand site is a 58+ acre site at the base of Loop 202 and Washington, just minutes from downtown Tempe, downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport.

Watermark Tempe 

Watch a video. The Watermark will be the first high-end mixed-use project featuring class A office buildings, great restaurants, unique shops, luxurious multi-family units, and a future hotel on Tempe Town Lake. The project will include 265,000 sq ft office space, 360 apartments, and 44,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant.  Phase two includes of 340,000 square feet of additional office space. Details

Mill Avenue District

Tempe's historic Mill Avenue dates back to the 1800s as one of Arizona's first urban areas. Some of the original buildings still exist. Bookended by Arizona State University and Tempe Town Lake, Mill Avenue offers more than 20,000 jobs, more than 100 retail shops and restaurants and dozens of annual events, such as the Tempe Festival of the Arts, Third Thursday concerts, parades and more. www.downtowntempe.com

Downtown Tempe and Tempe Town Lake offer the best opportunities in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

Urban Land Institute Arizona named the intersection that joins the two areas as a Hottest Intersection in Arizona. 

More than 40,000 people work within a mile of Tempe Town Lake because of the great companies located in the area and the ability to play where you work - sometimes while you work. Tempe Town Lake is known for lunch hour standup paddleboard adventures. 

Downtown Tempe offers not only fantastic office space, but an abundance of lunch, happy hour and team building activities. Several light rail and bus stops in downtown Tempe and Tempe Town Lake make commuting easy. 

Explore the opportunities at Tempe Town Lake through this storymap. Scroll to Developments. 

Discover more about downtown Tempe business locations here.

Tempe has the most educated and technically-skilled workforce in Arizona, which is a testament to the strength of the city’s higher education institutions.

• 42 percent of Tempe residents have baccalaureate degrees
• 18 percent have masters and above
• More than 50 percent have post-secondary certifications
• 92 percent have high school diplomas.
• Median age of our resident base is 28.1 years
• Tempe’s Achieve 65 program is focused on facilitating post-secondary achievement for 65 percent of Tempe’s residents.