San Antonio is gearing up for a bigger slice of the high-tech pie. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has rolled out the Economic Security Advisory Group, an 11-member panel tasked with helping the city compete for cutting-edge industries in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology and space manufacturing. Port San Antonio president and CEO Jim Perschbach will chair the committee, and Jones plans to head to Taiwan in mid-March with Councilwoman Misty Spears and several panel members as part of a global outreach push.
Panel mission and scope
The Economic Security Advisory Group is designed to scope out how San Antonio can become more competitive in AI, quantum tech, biotech and space manufacturing. The mayor said the group is expected to meet quarterly and weigh in on infrastructure upgrades and economic-agreement frameworks that could help shape a future city bond measure, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Who’s on it and why
Perschbach runs Port San Antonio, the organization that manages the Tech Port campus and a cluster of aerospace, cybersecurity and advanced-manufacturing firms, a resume that helps explain why he was tapped to lead the panel, as noted by Port San Antonio. Other members named by the mayor include Adam Hamilton, president and CEO of Southwest Research Institute, and Dr. Larry Schlesinger, president and CEO of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Those organizations anchor the region’s engineering, space and bioscience work, according to Southwest Research Institute and Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
San Antonio's pitch: military roots and workforce
Jones is leaning hard into the city’s Military City USA identity and its deep bench of advanced-manufacturing talent as selling points for high-tech employers. She said about 99,000 residents have advanced-manufacturing experience and pointed to what she described as the largest cybersecurity presence outside Washington, D.C. Laying out plans for both the panel and the Taiwan trip, she framed the international outreach in blunt terms: “You can’t talk about the future of advanced manufacturing without talking about Taiwan.” Those comments and the travel details were reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
How this could shape local planning
San Antonio has recently leaned on citizen advisory boards to sort and prioritize projects tied to bond propositions, and city materials show similar panels have been formed to oversee bond categories such as streets and drainage. That history means the new group could plug into the city’s existing planning and outreach process by feeding in recommendations on big-ticket investments. Any specific bond proposal or incentive package, however, would still need City Council approval and, when required, signoff from voters. City of San Antonio board materials describe how advisory panels operate in bond oversight, including their missions, meeting schedules and quarterly reporting requirements to council.
For now, the Economic Security Advisory Group gives Mayor Jones a formal way to line up the city’s research institutions, defense connections and industrial assets as she courts companies that build chips, therapeutics and satellites. The Taiwan visit and the panel’s first quarterly meetings will offer an early look at whether that strategy translates into concrete leads, partnerships and, ultimately, local jobs.
