Your San Antonio Chamber of Commerce was honored to be invited to participate in several meetings with counterparts from the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce on their recent trip to the Alamo Region. Hope Andrade, 2021 San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Board Chair, and Richard Perez, San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, President and CEO, attended a panel on Monday where they discussed the Chamber's role in leading the business community and the vital role the organization plays in marshaling resources and reinvigorating connections for economic success in our region, as a tradition and especially throughout the pandemic.
They also noted the value of the the Tampa Bay and San Antonio Chambers' similar goals to align civic, business, and elected officials to have a greater impact on the region’s success and in resolving challenges as well as the deep-rooted partnerships established over the years to assist growing and retaining military missions in San Antonio and the role the Chamber plays in that space.
The following day, Lori Stinson, San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Military Affairs and Leadership Development, sat on a panel with the City of San Antonio’s Office of Military and Veteran Affairs Director Juan Ayala to share insights into regional efforts to support military missions and the quality of life of service members and their families. Both Lori and Juan serve at the state level with Committees to Support the Military, Lori as Vice-Chair for the Texas Governor’s Committee to Support the Military, and Juan as the President of the Texas Mayors of Military Communities. The focus of the panel was on military family readiness and areas that support military spouse employment, education, housing, childcare, and advocacy items that add military value and prevent encroachment for our area military installations. Both leaders provided details on recent Texas legislative military wins and goals for the upcoming SA to DC fly-in this coming January.
Tampa Bay’s leadership and recognition in the last few years in military spouse hiring and military mission support mirrors many of San Antonio’s accomplishments years earlier, including becoming the nation’s first Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone, being named a Great American Defense Community by the Association of Defense Communities, and securing vital legislation and improved policies at both the state and federal level to ensure funding for important infrastructure projects. San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Senior Enlisted Advisory Committee Chair Grant Hegner (Booz Allen Hamilton) attended and personally offered his perspective in leading our local San Antonio Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone while encouraging Chamber of Commerce businesses to hire military spouses in the Alamo Region.
“Speaking the same language of support, sharing the same passion to create partnerships and opportunities, and creating trusted networks across the borders of the installations, from state to state, is where the power of the Chamber of Commerce can be seen at its best. As military service members and their families transition, we aim to create a soft landing spot for them with a ready-made community of support for their missions, spouses, and children and to make them feel a part of our communities quickly. Connecting with Tampa Bay on these efforts creates a lifeline where those who move from MacDill Air Force Base to Joint Base San Antonio and vice versa can be assured of a business community that welcomes them with open arms,” said Lori Stinson. “There is plenty of work to be done and leveraging relationships with sister chambers from throughout the country ensures we are carrying the same message – our military missions are important and we’ll do whatever we can to make sure they remain secure in our cities.”
“The Tampa Bay Chamber’s Benchmarking visit to San Antonio was inspiring and as a catalytic leader, we are eager to implement lessons learned and best practices shared by our peers in San Antonio. We appreciated the support of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and their ability to connect us with community leaders who are working on housing, workforce development, and military quality of life initiatives. We were so impressed with the community’s focus on these areas and the partnerships that drive sustainable communities,” relayed Katie Lopez, Director of Military and Workforce Development, Tampa Bay Chamber.
Chambers of Commerce provide invaluable opportunities to create unique collaborations and partnerships through networking events and resource-sharing round tables for member investors. We seek to further the collective business interests while advancing the economic well-being of our community, region, state, and nation. Today, there are 4,000 chambers and volunteer organizations in the U.S. advocating for a variety of issues, including tax policies, legal reform, and economic reform. While the guiding principles for each chamber of commerce vary, many of our common goals center around economic development, prosperity, and employer community. For more information on the benefits of joining the largest and oldest Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio, contact Joe Kampa, Vice President of Membership, at jkampa@sachamber.org.