Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
What could have been an economic disaster for the city, the 1995 federal closure of Kelly Air Force Base, was turned into an economic boom—the creation of Port San Antonio.
Around 18,000 people work at the port today.
The local port is one of only two intermodal logistics facilities that provides air, ground, and rail transportation to businesses. But that's only part of its growth since the base closure. It's also home to major aerospace, cybersecurity, and applied technology companies, and the Department of War.
Acting Texas State Comptroller Kelly Hancock touted the local and state efforts and economic incentives for businesses that turned the base into a commercial success.
"You would never think that the closure of an air force base, would result in what we are looking at here," he said. "And that is kind of what happens in Texas. We find ways of turning lemonade out of the lemons we are given."
Hancock said the port and 31 other air, sea, and intermodal ports across Texas generated over $1 trillion in international trade in 2024.
Port San Antonio has a total economic output of $20 billion and directly and indirectly employed nearly 84,000.
Dan Gonzales, a vice president of business development for Standard Aero, took Hancock on a tour of the former Kelly engine overhaul facility that his company took commercial.
Gonzales was one of the former civilian workers at Kelly to make the transition from government employee to commercial employee.
He said many of StandardAero's 450 original employees were all Kelly workers. He said the company has seen its engine overhaul line really expand from the 1990s.
"Today, we five engine lines in this facility and we have over 950 employees," he said during a news conference.
Kelly said the overall state economy has not slowed as much as the rest of the nation due to the diversity of the Texas economy. He said revenue from state sales taxes figures continue to look good—a sign Texans are spending.
He said the state has not seen any economic slowdown due to tariffs or talk of tariffs.
