Showcase AZ: Pivot Manufacturing


Small but mighty is a phrase used accurately to describe Phoenix machine shop Pivot Manufacturing. Located next to Phoenix Sky Harbor, the small business has been in the manufacturing industry for 18 years.

Born and raised in Arizona, President of Pivot Manufacturing Steve Macias knew shortly after entering the workforce that working for a large company was not his cup of tea. “My business partner and I went to ASU together, and after about 10 years being in the workforce, we decided we didn’t want to work for large companies so we started this place and went out on our own.”

The shop focuses on contract manufacturing, producing products for some of the biggest names in the defense industry for over 14 years. “Raytheon Missile systems in Tucson, as their name connotes, they make missiles, so we make a lot of parts for those,” Macias said. “General Dynamics out in Scottsdale does a lot of communication software so we support their builds for their communication hardware. BAE Systems here in town does seating that goes on aircraft, apache helicopters, troop transport, so we build a lot of parts that go onto their seats.”

Northrop Grumman is also a high-level client of Pivot’s.

Due to their continued relationships with these companies, as well as their strong quality and delivery record, Pivot continues to help grow their customer base in Arizona and other states.

“What we are doing is leveraging those relationships into building our business, so not just doing business with Raytheon in Tucson, but in Texas and Los Angeles and Massachusetts, same with General Dynamics, doing business with them in Massachusetts and Minnesota and Alabama,” Macias said.

With a team of 22 employees, Pivot has seen that finding a person who has the right work ethic, attitude, and will fit in with the work culture can be more important than finding someone who just has machining experience.

David Guido is one of those examples. Guido started as an intern three years ago at Pivot and has worked his way up to floor manager. “I showed a lot of interest in what was going on around here and I asked a lot of questions and didn’t have a job in industrial design,” he said.

“I used to not be very familiar with the industry at all or how to organize different types of people with machines,” he said. “Now, combining all of that is really rewarding.”

Though the company looks to expand their clientele outside of Arizona, Pivot has no intention to leave the state. “If you come here and you work hard and have a good idea, you can really make something of yourself, and we like that. That’s why we like doing business here, that’s why we like staying here,” Macias stated.

The small-business hopes to continue to grow as it sets its eyes on doubling sales in three years and tripling sales in five years.

Morgan Carr

Graham Bosch

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