Your Chamber held its monthly Aerospace Committee meeting in conjunction with the Rotary Club of San Antonio on Wednesday, May 18th. During the meeting, Rotary Club President Dr. Brent Fessler, Principal, Integreaters, moderated a panel comprised of industry professionals to discuss the current aerospace environment and the future of the aerospace industry in San Antonio. Panelists included:
- Luke Perkins, Director of Engineering and Innovation, Knight Aerospace
- Stan Younger, Dean of Aeronautics, Hallmark University
- Josh Smith, Senior Captain, Valero Energy Corporation
During the conversation, each panelist shared their organization’s history in the aeronautical space as well as the culture within the organization that makes them successful in pioneering the aerospace industry in San Antonio.
Luke Perkins gave insight to Knight Aerospace’s youth in the industry, originally founded in 1992 and remaining a small business with fewer than 50 employees for a majority of the last 30 years. Knight Aerospace found a niche in developing modular and palletized systems that can be installed amongst different kinds of cargo aircrafts, allowing the purpose of the aircraft to fluctuate instantaneously depending on the current mission at hand. Perkins also elaborated on Knight Aerospace’s culture of innovation and desire to work towards the next frontier, a contributing factor to their recent exponential growth – the company expecting to double in size by the end of the year.
Stan Younger spoke to Hallmark University’s deep ties with the aerospace industry. Originally founded in 1969 as “Hallmark Aero-Tech” and operating out of San Antonio’s historic Stinson Municipal Airport, Hallmark University was San Antonio’s first school for aviation technicians and to this day remains Texas’ largest aviation technician school. Younger attributes much of Hallmark’s success to its mission statement focused on
changing individual lives, a mantra that allows Hallmark to be steadfast in granting people educational opportunities while growing the aerospace industry.
Josh Smith discussed the collaboration between Valero and the aerospace industry since Valero’s inception in 1980. He acknowledged the strength of the aerospace industry in San Antonio and the energy requirement needed to operate in the field, an influential aspect to the strong relationship between Valero and the industry. Smith accredits much of the collaboration to Valero’s culture of love and diligent work ethic to better the community.
One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation, initiated by Younger but unanimously consented upon, was the need to grow the aerospace industry in San Antonio across the board, from education and workforce development to funding and innovation.
For more information on the Aerospace Committee, click here.