President POV
I recently attended a local event where the phrase "business community" was mentioned on several occasions. While I understand the sentiment, I can’t help but envision a broader, more inclusive picture. Businesses and job producers, collectively, aren’t a foreign or separate unit; they’re an integral part of our community. When I refer to our community, I speak of OneSATX—a unified force propelling us toward a shared, prosperous future.
OneSATX embodies our diverse and united community, encompassing everyone in the Greater San Antonio region. It brings together people of all ages, backgrounds, and professions—from lifelong residents to newcomers, students to retirees, entrepreneurs to artists. Whether you're an educator, healthcare worker, industry professional, or tech innovator, whether you live downtown or in the suburbs, we're all an integral part of OneSATX. This concept celebrates our differences while emphasizing our shared responsibility to build a more prosperous future. As OneSATX, we bring together our diverse skills and experiences to create a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to our collective success.
Our region's strength lies in its unity. You've likely heard me praise our unparalleled ability to collaborate. This solidarity is our foundation, but now, I encourage you—and every member of our community—to dream bigger, to reach higher, so that we may achieve even greater victories, together. Thinking big means embracing risk. Without it, we cannot hope to secure monumental wins. As our region faces a pivotal moment, the choices we make today are charting our course. When we’re operating as OneSATX, we’re making bold, strategic investments, laying the groundwork for transformative, generational change, together.
The University of Texas at San Antonio will integrate UT Health San Antonio, bringing together two respected institutions to form one academic powerhouse. As I wrote last month, the merger will have economic impacts for generations. It will elevate the region as a hub of academic excellence and innovation. San Antonio is the fastest-growing city in the state, in what is one of the most technologically advanced regions in the world. Our regional economic competitiveness is dependent on workforce readiness and education outcomes.
Our commitment to education is yielding results. Recent U.S. Census data reveals a steady climb in our region's educational attainment rate to 42%, a 6.4 percentage point increase since 2018. This upward trajectory means more of our citizens are pursuing higher education, enhancing their earning potential, and enriching their families' lives. Corporations are taking notice. As it stands, we are on track to respond to almost 80% more requests for information (RFIs) from businesses this year compared to 2023. This surge in interest is a testament to our collective work that is elevating our region.
Core to our strategy, we are also investing in our place. By strategically aligning resources to modernize infrastructure, like the San Antonio International Airport, revitalize the urban core, and enhance natural assets, we're crafting an environment that mirrors the limitless ambition of our community. A new baseball stadium and Spurs arena would invigorate our region's heart and catalyze economic growth downtown for locals and tourists alike. The ongoing development of our downtown district and the expansion of our green spaces, like Hemisfair and Arboretum San Antonio, are creating a community that is not just functional but truly livable.
Brooks stands as an example of development done right. This thriving campus on San Antonio's southside embodies the live-work-play concept, featuring residential properties, schools, hotels, and businesses employing thousands. Brooks has been a catalyst for economic transformation, driving up household incomes by 36%, reducing poverty, and increasing the high school graduation rate by 10% in the surrounding area.
Our strategy is clear: invest in our people and our place to drive job growth and economic mobility. We recognize that growth often requires taking risks and embracing change, but these are necessary steps to seize the opportunities that lie before us. This also requires leadership, buy-in, and, often, funding from our private employers and it’s incredible to see our largest organizations like H-E-B, USAA, Frost, Valero, and Toyota lean in. It also requires participation from eager San Antonians who choose to stay and build their futures here. Whether leading in the board room or building on the assembly line – we’re all one community. As San Antonians, we all benefit from these programs, and we are all informing outcomes.
Our vision may seem ambitious, but it's rooted in an unwavering belief in San Antonio's potential for greatness. By harnessing our collective strength and aligning our resources, we can overcome long-standing challenges and unlock the true potential of the Greater San Antonio region.
As OneSATX, we celebrate the rich diversity that has always been the cornerstone of our community, recognizing that our shared hopes and aspirations for a brighter future unite us in a common purpose. Looking ahead, I am filled with profound optimism and unwavering determination. While challenges may arise, I am confident that by working together as OneSATX, we will forge a future of unparalleled prosperity and opportunity for all.
Greater Together,
Jenna Saucedo-Herrera
Regional Updates
Investor Spotlight: Cambridge Development Group LLC
Cambridge Development Group is a real estate development company that entered the San Antonio market in 2018, initially to build a food manufacturing plant for a client. Since then, they have developed over one million square feet of industrial, manufacturing, and distribution space in San Antonio, as well as office buildings and an affordable housing project.
Learn more about how Cambridge plans to continue growing in the Greater San Antonio region in this month’s investor spotlight.
Regional Partner Highlight: Selma
The City of Selma was established in 1847 as a stagecoach stop to transport passengers and freight between South, Central, and East Texas. Today, it is one of America's fastest-growing small towns and supports their diverse population with a high quality of life and immense opportunities for continued economic and population growth.
The New Economic Development Model
Economic development organizations (EDOs) have evolved from merely attracting new companies to spearheading workforce development and community enrichment efforts that enhance both local businesses and residents. In this modern approach, EDOs view their regions as a product, investing in talent and infrastructure to stay competitive in a global marketplace. By aligning regional investments and forming strategic partnerships—locally, nationally, and internationally—EDOs can address critical gaps, such as workforce needs and connectivity.
Learn how this transformative model is shaping regions like San Antonio, driving major investments and creating new global opportunities, in an article penned by Jenna Saucedo-Herrera for Forbes.
In the News
San Antonio-Austin region poised to lead in manufacturing: The San Antonio metro area has bolstered its reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse in the last several years. The region’s growth is supported by an educated workforce, relatively cheap land and a business-friendly regulatory environment.
Texas Biomed secures record $146M NIH contract: The award positions the San Antonio institute to receive as much as $146 million in federal funding over a seven-year period and represents the largest in the Institute’s 83-year history.
VelocityTX angling to build East Side hub for military medical research with Defense Health Agency: The joint agency is studying the idea pitched by VelocityTX for the research center that would anchor a bigger development that could eventually create more than 2,000 jobs along Center Street about a block from its growing campus.
Airport lands $6.5M in grants for aircraft parking, runway upgrades: San Antonio International Airport landed $6.5 million in federal grants for runway and aircraft parking projects.
San Antonio drone maker Darkhive lands $21 million investment to fuel further growth: San Antonio tech startup Darkhive has landed a $21 million investment to continue growing its drone manufacturing business. Since launching in 2021, Darkhive has won more than $100 million in DoD small business contracts and has 36 employees.
Massive industrial development comes online in New Braunfels: Dallas developer CLX Ventures announced the completion of New Braunfels Commerce Center, a four-building, 651,010-square-foot spec industrial park in the booming San Antonio suburb.
San Antonio leads U.S. cities in population growth, adding 22,000 residents: San Antonio’s population increased more than any other large U.S. city last year, gaining 22,000 residents even as other cities saw their populations plateau or shrink. Three other Texas cities – Fort Worth, New Braunfels and Atascocita – ranked among the top 10 cities nationwide with the greatest population gains from 2022 to 2023.
San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute, UTSA devise helmet pads to reduce traumatic brain injury: San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the University of Texas at San Antonio will collaborate to create new innovative military helmet pads aimed to prevent traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Goodwill San Antonio buys downtown office tower: Goodwill San Antonio recently purchased the Rosa Verde Towers. The organization needed a larger footprint to match the growing demand of its numerous job training programs, from nursing assistant to pharmacy technicians to commercial driver's license training.
New San Antonio facility to convert food waste into renewable gas: San Antonio will be the second city where Synthica has built the state-of-the-art natural gas facility. Once completed, the anaerobic digester will convert as many as 250,000 tons of food waste into electricity or renewable natural gas.