Issue 75: President POV
By Jenna Saucedo-Herrera
The time has come. Our strategic plan has launched and the only thing stronger than my motivation is my gratitude. SAEDF continues to receive tremendous support from the business community with new and increased investment of over $1M in the first quarter of 2021! That said, our work is just beginning.
The incredible team of volunteer executives leading our investment campaign have barely begun their outreach to businesses and private individuals to grow SAEDF’s annual budget. We know that in order to execute our plan to its fullest potential, we’ll raise $38.5M over the next five years. The public sector, specifically the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, have been outstanding partners over the past few years. It’s time that the private sector collectively goes all in so that we can advance our regional economy in a truly collaborative way that will change the trajectory of our region’s economic future.
SAEDF and our multi-sector partners are ready. We have the right community team, the right playbook, and the necessary energy to grow JOBS, develop PEOPLE, and elevate our PLACE over the next five years. We have the opportunity of a lifetime to overcome our greatest challenges and become the city we deserve to be. With this plan in action, we’ll bring 140,000 new jobs, $8 billion in new wages, and 200,000 new degrees and certifications. These are not SAEDF goals—these are outcomes we know we can achieve TOGETHER with our community partners.
In our first year as a regional marketing collaborative, we are proud to welcome communities from all over the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. Let me assure you, this is just the beginning of what will become long, strong, and meaningful partnerships in south Texas. Our inaugural collaborative includes: Boerne, Cibolo, Converse, Medina County, New Braunfels, and of course, San Antonio. We expect several more communities to join us as the year goes on, and look forward to growing our relationships with economic development partners all the way north to Austin and south to the Mexican border.
If you’ll indulge me a bit longer, I’ll finish my first POV of the year by borrowing the tagline from our capital campaign. It sums up perfectly my call to action: Play Together. Play to Win. We’re ALL IN SATX—are you?