The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has named San Antonio as one of the top seven cities in the country for business development.
The Enterprising Cities study is based on business-friendly strategies and partnerships at multiple levels throughout the culture of the cities.
The U.S. Chamber award recognizes that San Antonio has done several things right over the past couple of decades, largely due to the coalescing efforts of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff credits former Mayor Henry Cisneros with changing the direction of city government in the 1980s to eventually create a culture of business.
“We’ve seen the City of San Antonio have a solid financial basis," Wolff said. "We’ve seen them take new leads particularly in the green industry, with what’s going on now with solar power. We’ve seen the outreach in (SA)2020."
Mayor Julián Castro said the Enterprising Cities recognition itself is important to attracting new investment because the global economy means capital is more mobile than at any time in history.
“And the fact is that this kind of analysis was done by the chamber previously at the statewide level, and this is the first time that they’re doing it at the city level. And I believe that’s reflective of the fact that more and more cities and regions are determining the destiny – the economic destiny – of communities,” Castro said.
In naming San Antonio as an Enterprising City, the chamber report cited the addition of 20,000 jobs in the past year, the city’s across-the-board AAA bond rating, infrastructure commitments, and the creation of an export boom that has brought San Antonio into the global economy.
