President POV
For over 300 years, the San Antonio, Texas region’s dynamic crossroads of commerce, culture, and military innovation has cultivated a strong community and diverse economy. Our regional economic development strategy of investing in our people and our place to drive even greater job growth for the San Antonio region has grown close to 12,000 new direct jobs and approximately $5 billion in capital investment since 2021. As we continue our journey to a greater global economy, our region is aligned in elevating and amplifying our San Antonio story globally.
This year, we have already sealed six deals, across life sciences, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing target sectors. Most prominently, the majority of these projects represent foreign direct investment including Eiken Chemical Co., a Japanese clinical diagnostics and equipment manufacturer, KV Impact, a cybersecurity consulting firm that relocated from New Zealand, and RedAlpha, a Singapore-based cybersecurity talent development company that will locate its headquarters in downtown San Antonio. These initial wins are evidence of what will be an impactful year for the San Antonio region’s job growth.
To support the continued growth of our life sciences, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing sectors, we must have the workforce to support new and established businesses in the region. The SATX region has made great strides in educational attainment. The data in our recently released Greater Workforce Outlook shows that our region is becoming more educated and better skilled. We are proud to share that in the five-year period spanning 2018-2022, the SATX region has seen a 6.3% growth in residents with an associate’s degree or higher—that's the largest growth percentage among our peer markets.
The Greater Workforce Outlook also includes data on the region’s largest industries, identifying opportunities to expand programs that drive industry awareness and workplace readiness for San Antonians in our in-demand careers. In 2022, we deployed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) framework and have since become a national leader in its implementation. We will continue to support programs that create career pathways for the region’s youth. As you will read in this newsletter, our workforce development team has had a busy start to the year supporting and coordinating programs that increase career path awareness and prepare high school students for internship and job interviews.
We invite you to join us as we work together to create a more prosperous SATX, while investing in the region’s future generations.
Greater together,
Jenna Saucedo-Herrera
Investor Spotlight: Irys Technologies, Inc.
greater:SATX sat down with Beto Altamirano, CEO & Co-founder at Irys Technologies, Inc, to find out more about this organization helping to drive the tech industry in our San Antonio region.
Irys began its journey in 2017, emerging from Geekdom in downtown San Antonio with an initial triumph in modernizing the city's 311 digital platform, leading to the launch of the 311SA app. Their roots in innovation and community engagement led them to relocate their headquarters to the West Side of San Antonio, where they have been active in promoting STEM education and community development.
Regional Partner Highlight: Hondo
The seat of Medina County, Hondo is a vibrant and diverse city of 8,800 that sits on Highway 90 just 33 miles from downtown San Antonio. We are a unique combination in Hondo: A small town blending an abundance of charm, affordable available land and dynamic opportunity. The name “Hondo” means “deep” in Spanish, which is a very appropriate, I think. Our roots are in fact quite deep, intertwined with early indigenous peoples and with Spanish explorers. Deep is also a good description of our resources, both human and natural.
greater: SATX visited with Doug Dowler, Executive Director of Economic Development for the City of Hondo.
Building SATX’s Future Workforce
Having a robust talent pipeline to ensure the region has the workforce needed to support employers starts in the classroom. For our team working on SA WORX programs, that means there is much work to be done, and it has been a busy start to the year for them. In the first two months of 2024, they have supported several programs intended to spark career interest in younger students and prepare older students for the jobs they will eventually hold.
In the News
Condor airline’s SA expansion is a high stakes bet on Texas: Condor has launched its push to fill seats on the airline’s new nonstop flights between San Antonio and Frankfurt. And while the German-based carrier is hopeful that expansion will be a financial success, the Alamo City has plenty riding on this venture as well.
Toyota taps first female president to lead SA production facility: Toyota Motor North America is making multiple executive changes, including a pair directly impacting the leadership of the automaker’s San Antonio manufacturing facilities. The changes are tied to the company’s push to drive growth, advance vehicle electrification efforts and address future mobility.
San Antonio-New Braunfels region leads Texas job growth, fuels national economy: In 2023, Texas added more than 369,000 jobs, of which more than 36,000 jobs were added to the San Antonio-New Braunfels region.
Deep sea to deep space: SwRI posts banner 2023 across wide scientific spectrum: Southwest Research Institute — the San Antonio-based nonprofit that touts its work as ranging “from deep sea to deep space” — built on its wide portfolio to generate a record high $844 million in revenue in 2023.
H-E-B and Valero to put big money behind Texas Biomed expansion and education plans: The Texas Biomedical Research Institute is getting a big lift from a pair of San Antonio-based companies as it pursues campus expansion plans and educational initiatives. Texas Biomed officials said H-E-B LP will contribute $2 million to the institute to back its planned $122 million Global Center for Bioscience, a development that will include a new Center for Science Education.
UTSA to share in new $55M research faculty recruitment fund: The longer-term payoff from the program could include increased federal and philanthropic support as well. The University of Texas at San Antonio will share in a new state funding pool that will funnel $55 million into the University of Texas System’s four emerging research institutions.
Pearl builder plans to invite investors to help fund future development: For the first time, ownership in a piece of the Pearl will be possible in the coming years. Silver Ventures, the parent company behind the successful mixed-use development, has plans to invite investors to its future real estate projects, a move that its leaders say will keep those projects going at full speed.
Frost Bank launches marketing campaign to bolster statewide expansion: Frost Bank is rolling out a media campaign to help meet its goals for a bigger slice of the Texas market. The campaign, which includes new advertising media and an updated website that features the tagline "Exactly What You Unexpected," focuses on Frost's uniqueness as a brand.
San Antonio's downtown office market is outperforming every other major Texas city: Despite the overarching concerns about the downtown office market in San Antonio, the city's central business district is stronger than some of its counterparts. A December report from Moody's Investors Service indicated that San Antonio's CBD office sector is outperforming Austin, Dallas and Houston.
Plan to spend $9M for trail connector at Brooks approved: Transportation planners have approved spending over $9 million for an east-west pedestrian connector via the Brooks campus. The 8-mile loop will provide a route for pedestrians and cyclists to safely travel through the area and more easily access the San Antonio missions, Greenline Park at Brooks, the Salado Creek Greenway and the planned Arboretum San Antonio.
Palo Alto College receives approval for 'first public nursing program on the South Side': A new nursing program is coming to the far South Side with the hopes of breaking down barriers for aspiring medical professionals in a community with limited access to health care. The Texas Board of Nursing has approved Palo Alto College’s new associate degree program, marking the “first public nursing program on the South Side of San Antonio.” The program will accept applications in the spring with plans to enroll its first cohort of 30 students next.
Toyota leads global sales in 2023, while still trailing Ford in U.S. market for January: Toyota’s North American sales in January were up nearly 26% from the same month last year, helped in part by San Antonio-built hybrid Tundra pickup trucks, whose sales more than doubled year over year.
VIA installs new technology system to help blind, low-vision riders: VIA Metropolitan Transit has started installing an innovative system that will help people who are blind or have low vision more easily navigate the public transportation system in the San Antonio area. NaviLens is wayfinding and information technology that helps blind and low-vision riders navigate to a bus stop, access real-time bus arrival information, and receive directions to the bus when it arrives at the bus stop with the use of their smartphone and the NaviLens apps. The technology is available in 34 different languages.
Local general contractor Joeris continues high-level leadership appointments: The firm is configuring its leadership for continued growth. Joeris General Contractors has made a series of executive appointments and formed a new board of directors as it configures its leadership for continued growth. The contractor, which is headquartered on San Antonio's North Side near the airport, announced that Burton Hackney will be the new company president after a nine-year tenure as vice president of Central Texas.
Alamo Colleges aims at ‘moonshot’ goal of 15,000 workforce program students: Alamo Colleges District aims to nearly double the number of students in its workforce programs from 8,000 to 15,000 over the next five years, part of an expanded commitment to workforce development.
FAA awards San Antonio airport and Port SA millions for new terminals: The $18 million grant will go toward the planned new air service terminal set to open in 2028 and is being funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s airport terminal program. The estimated cost of the terminal is $1.4 billion.
UTSA has big plans for downtown and the Institute of Texan Cultures: By 2028, UTSA wants to have 10,000 students studying and living on 32 acres of its downtown campus. Microtransit, student housing and mixed-use development will transform the area and economy.