Transforming Port San Antonio From the cover
Aerospace 1 Boeing 2 Knight Aerospace 3 StandardAero 4 Chromalloy Component Services Aviation 5 Atlantic 6 XYREC Engineering 7 Applied Research Associates, or ARA 8 Intertek Automotive Research Cybersecurity 9 Two Six Technologies 10 IP Secure 11 CyManII 12 Alamo Regional Security Operations Center, or ARSOC 13 IntelliGenesis 14 Leidos 15 Cyber Net Force Technologies, or CNF Technology 16 General Dynamics Information Technology, or GDIT 17 Booz Allen 18 Plus One Robotics 19 Accenture 20 CACI 21 Innovation Tower Government 22 Department of Defense Other 23 The San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology, or SAMSAT 24 Capital Factory, entrepreneurship hub 25 Alamo Colleges 26 Boeing Center at Tech Port
Port SA boundary Building
The big picture
Jim Perschbach, president and CEO of Port San Antonio, is working to redevelop the port’s Southwest San Antonio campus into a world-class space for aerospace, cybersecurity and defense companies. With an aim of transforming the former Kelly Air Force Base into a developed research campus that also lifts the fortune of the nearby residents, campus development projects include the Innovation Tower, a defense campus, a military campus, a child development center, a vertiport, grocers, retail and dining options. “The goal here is to raise the economic attainment of the community,” Perschbach said. “If your wages go up and your property value goes up, that leads to generational wealth and community wealth.” Joe Sanchez, creator and executive director of CyberTexas Foundation, said Perschbach has transformed Port SA into a major tech hub that will guarantee future jobs for residents. There are over 80 companies currently on campus. Industries include aeronautics, robotics, national defense and space exploration.
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SOURCE: PORT SAN ANTONIO/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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The outlook
The conditions
Perschbach’s vision for the campus is inspired by Walt Disney World’s EPCOT. The campus will showcase the past, present and future through its architectural design. “We’re trying to build a skeleton that is func- tional and operational and financially viable and can be maintained,” Perschbach said. Perschbach said diversity is the foundation of the project. “What we are trying to do at our core is attract a diversity of populations to this campus ... being able to also bring the people who like food, who like art, those different things, really becomes like a good theme park,” Perschbach said. Spears said the future design will revitalize the area. “They want to be able to have child care and really sustain themselves … with their own local restaurants and local businesses all throughout the port,” Spears said.
broken down streets and [buildings].” District 9 council member Misty Spears said the port’s desire to cultivate talent from the local community is crucial to the city long-term. “You’ll have people that care about San Antonio because they’re from here, and that’s a different kind of employee than someone who is a transplant,” Spears said.
Perschbach said the port’s current economic impact seems improbable because the campus mostly consists of buildings in need of repairs, with the aim of future revitalization. “I am blue in the face, telling people there’s $20 billion of economic impact [down here],” Perschbach said. “ … [But] there’s that cognitive dissonance, because you come down and you see
Commuting to Port San Antonio Workers from ZIP codes around the city, including North San Antonio, find employment at the tech industry hub.
Port San Antonio Campus
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600-800 1,000+ 800-1,000
400-600 200-400
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SOURCE: PORT SAN ANTONIO ANALYSIS BY ZENITH ECONOMICS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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