In a shrewd move to drive economic upshift in San Antonio, Jenna Saucedo-Herrera lays the cards on the table, showcasing the city's innovative strategy on workforce development - a key winning play that attracted JCB, a leading heavy equipment manufacturer from Great Britain, to plant its roots there. The president and CEO of Greater:SATX, opened up on the bigcitysmalltown podcast, revealing that the shift towards prioritizing workforce development was fuelled by a frank conversation with a Toyota exec. "They are the reason that we have transformed our economic development strategy to lead with workforce development," Saucedo-Herrera admitted, as to San Antonio Report. Leading local companies, including Toyota, USAA, H-E-B, got on board after a "mind shift."
This strategic pivot didn't boil down to offering more incentives, contrary to the usual playbook. "We did not win on incentives. We won on our workforce," she insisted on the podcast. Though calling the effort far from complete, Saucedo-Herrera’s mantra was persistence: "We’ve got to stay the course here." The city's economic horizon isn't just local, stretching well beyond Bexar County to the budding "megaregion" that includes Austin and Mexico. A top tip was also shared for those vested in keeping the San Antonio Spurs home-grown: bend over backwards to grant whatever Peter Holt demands since "they are our future, they are our past, they are who we are in San Antonio."
On the tech front, Emily Royall, San Antonio's Smart Cities Administrator, cast a spotlight on the role of the city's small yet formidable Smart Cities team. With their sights set on magnifying public services through innovation, data, and technology, Royall discussed the Smart Cities Roadmap born from San Antonio's local input. Since her chat aired last summer, the initiative has scored two prestigious national awards - the IDC North American Awards and the Tech Connect Smart 20 Award, as detailed by her in the San Antonio Report interview.
The roadmap delineates five key resident priorities, which opens doors for federal grants to bankroll innovation and solve immediate challenges. "To be competitive, you have to show community buy-in," Royall emphasized. It's a crowded market out there with "smart cities" turning into a booming industry, and many companies shilling their wares. However, not all that glitters is gold – or of interest – to San Antonio locals. The roadmap then acts as a beacon, guiding vendors and tech companies on where the real needs of the community lie. "So this road map is an important signal to vendors and to tech companies as to what really matters to San Antonio," she said. Collecting the momentum, the city of San Antonio stems firm in its bid to innovate how it develops its workforce and improves city services.
