Jobs and economic competitiveness
Business attraction and retention
Employers want and need to be where they have access to a talented and well-educated workforce—the kind that gravitates to exciting, great places to live and work. And new, entrepreneurial companies need to be nurtured and supported.
San Antonio needs to continue to be an attractive place to do business to ensure that we can successfully attract new employers and retain and expand existing businesses. And, we must ensure that San Antonio is an attractive place for direct foreign investment and an ideal location for exporting goods and services. To do this, San Antonio needs to elevate our role in the regional, national and international economy and better coordinate efforts with regional partners to attract attention to the city.
As a major gateway city, San Antonio plays an important role facilitating trade between Mexico and South Central Texas. We have the required assets to increase export and trade activities on both a national and international scale. The 2015 Trade & Investment Strategy identifies ways of connecting San Antonio with economic opportunities around the world.
Our Business Incubation
Our entrepreneurial spirit is growing with the help of support organizations that provide both technical assistance and networking support: Café Commerce teaches young professionals to “think like an entrepreneur” and serves as a central repository for support services offered by a variety of public and private providers. The Texas Technology Transfer Development Center (T3DC) helps coordinate and mobilize risk capital and matches it with a programmatic process for helping entrepreneurs become investment quality ventures—accelerating innovation-led economic development. UTSA’s Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) creates a pipeline for UTSA faculty, students and the surrounding business community to develop new technology ventures. Geekdom is a technology incubator and co-working space that provides programming and mentorship for a growing downtown tech-ecosystem. TechBloc is an advocacy group for the tech industry, focused on making San Antonio an even more desirable place for tech workers and businesses. The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with 2,800 employees, is a major anchor of research and development for industrial and government clients. The independent, nonprofit organization focuses on the creation and transfer of technology in engineering and physical sciences.
