DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S) IMPACTED: All
SUBJECT:
Briefing by: (A) Port San Antonio on the organization's history, accomplishments, and strategic plans; and (B) San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Committee on the status of the San Antonio Aerospace Industry Assessment.
SUMMARY:
Jim Perschbach, Interim President and CEO of the Port Authority of San Antonio, will provide a briefing on the efforts, accomplishments, and future strategy of the Port of San Antonio. Tyler Schroeder, Chair of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Committee, will provide a briefing on the aerospace industry in San Antonio, including a status of the Aerospace Assessment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (PORT SAN ANTONIO):
For 100 years, the land at Port San Antonio (Port) has been a place for the innovation and application of new technologies. Its future is sharply focused on continuing to attract, develop, and utilize the latest technologies across a spectrum of different industries. Today, the aerospace legacy continues to move forward due to the support services and innovations by companies such as Boeing, StandardAero, and a dozen other aviation firms. These services and innovations support military and, increasingly, commercial platforms at the Port campus. The Port's 1,900 acre platform is already home to 3,000 aerospace professionals, including technicians, mechanics, and engineers.
In recent years, in partnership with the City of San Antonio, the Port has worked to accommodate expansions near its aerospace customers to sharpen our community's global competitiveness. A pillar of this growth strategy is to provide value to aircraft operators.
ISSUE:
Aerospace work at Kelly Field has historically focused primarily on airframes, engine lines, and interior completion projects. The Port's strategy has been to help current and future customers expand these capabilities, including serving a larger array of engines and providing a diversity of new capabilities. Since announcing this strategy almost three years ago, the Port campus has seen significant growth in these areas. Similarly, Boeing has established a rapid-response center focused on providing an array of services within a short turnaround time that specifically support aircraft requiring maintenance and retrofits outside of their routine schedule.
As aerospace work has continued to grow at the Port, so have other important industry sectors. Of particular significance is the presence of the 24th Air Force / Cyber Command headquarters. As a result of this important critical mass in cyber expertise, several private sector firms have established operations at the Port to support both federal defense operations and, increasingly, the private sector. Other significant cyber operations include the 25th Air Force at JBSA-Lackland and national intelligence facilities elsewhere in the region.
Cybersecurity companies in recent months have established and are growing operations at the Port. These firms provide an array of services, including training, product testing, and development of solutions to harden the digital infrastructure of their clients.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (SAN ANTONIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AEROSPACE COMMITTEE):
San Antonio’s aerospace industry includes a range of businesses that provide MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) services, manufacture aircraft equipment and parts, install and refurbish luxury head-of-state aircraft interiors, design and manufacture customized modular and palletized systems for cargo transport aircraft, and produce and distribute transportation equipment and supplies.
Besides the many critical aerospace companies located at the Port of San Antonio, there are aerospace companies and opportunities at the San Antonio International Airport and other strategic areas of the city. The footprint of the local aerospace industry has grown significantly in the past 25 years. It is estimated that more than 13,000 San Antonio residents work in the combined aerospace related MRO, interiors, manufacturing, military, and air transportation services industry.
ISSUE:
The Aerospace Committee is determining how we identify, capture, capitalize, and foster growth of our current aerospace assets by diversifying the services provided in MRO. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Committee, chaired by Tyler Schroeder of Boeing, held a strategic planning session early last year, the purpose of which was threefold. First, to identify how the City and County can connect industry to community resources in workforce development, training, public transportation, and career pipelines to ensure the industry can capitalize of the investments made by the City and its community partners. Second, to provide a forum in which the aerospace industry can collectively advocate legislative initiatives. Third, to obtain a consensus on basic aerospace industry concerns.
To address these issues, the Aerospace Committee commissioned an Aerospace Assessment focused on the level setting of assets and workforce needs. The Assessment will also evaluate San Antonio’s existing and potential workforce, identify deficiencies and strengths that exist within workforce, and analyze comparisons with similar communities across the country.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
These briefings are for informational purposes only and no action is necessary.