The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council met on April 13 at San Antonio Water System (SAWS) to discuss Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) efforts underway in San Antonio and map out opportunities for growth and improvements. Council Chair Kevin Matula, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Zachry Group, welcomed council members and introduced Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, Director of Economic Development for the City of San Antonio, and Sarah Carabias-Rush, Chief Economic Development Officer with Greater:SATX, who participated in a fireside chat style discussion on BRE efforts.
During the discussion, there was mutual agreement among council members that San Antonio needs to improve the way it markets the city’s strengths and the vast opportunities that present themselves. Sarah shared that Greater:SATX is working on bringing additional investment opportunities in various ways, one of those being hosting a site selector guild in San Antonio to showcase its culture, workforce development strategies, community collaboration, and all other attributes that make San Antonio ripe for investment. Speaking to BRE specifically, Brenda shared the need to continue growing 2nd stage growth companies, small to mid-size businesses with 20-25 employees that are ready to expand yet need to do so in a strategic manner. To this point, Sarah stressed the importance local companies have on job creation and how companies within San Antonio are continuing to evolve and think innovatively to stay ahead of national trends. As economic development strategies and organizations become more and more data driven, it reaches a point where it’s not the number of BRE visits conducted with local companies, but the improvements that are implemented and outcomes achieved.
Following the BRE discussion, Kevin welcomed Senator Leticia Van De Putte to provide an update on the Chamber’s efforts in Austin during the 88th Texas Legislature. Senator Van De Putte gave a brief synopsis on current sentiments surrounding HB 2 that deals with property tax relief and HB 5 that aims to provide state and local economic development incentives, both of which are priorities of the Chamber.
To learn more about the Chamber’s Economic Development priorities and initiatives, please contact Jeff Fair.