2 min read March 2023 — In an interview with Invest:, Jason Giulietti, president and CEO of Greater San Marcos Partnership, highlighted the region’s focus on innovation which has led to a high level of business investments and record growth. Giulietti also spoke about how The San Marcos Regional Airport is poised to complement developments around the San Antonio International Airport and connections to it, and about the Vision 2025 plan, a community consensus-driven strategy with a focus on economic development.
What are some of the key economic drivers for the region just north of San Antonio and south of Austin?
We are a region that makes products, meaning we are manufacturing driven. Our economy is driven by innovation, and we call ourselves the Texas Innovation Corridor. We are home to the fourth largest university in Texas with Texas State University. We have some amazing data around patent activity that demonstrates we are eleven times higher in patent utility filings than that of Texas and nine times that of the United States. We are attracting the next generation economy here to Central and South Texas. The business community is coming here to innovate and grow which continues to spawn this record level of patent activity.
In order to be insulated from a downturn, we have also focused on diversifying our economy. Innovation for us means more than just manufacturing and we have recruited a robotic farming company that has robots farming hydroponic greens. We’ve also brought the largest Buc-ee’s into this region and sizable investments into alternative energy sources.
An announcement we had last year is that the largest film studio production in the country is going to be built in San Marcos, and it is that diversification that will build out our various sectors and make us unique. Innovation has found its home here in our stretch of Texas.
What is the important role the San Marcos Regional Airport plays in the region?
The San Marcos Regional Airport will continue to be the reliever as the San Antonio International Airport continues its expansion project. What you will see here is that we have tremendous potential to absorb some of the overflow in terms of cargo. Also, the business investments in airports that are needed to move products may look toward us to execute that faster. We’re poised to complement developments around the San Antonio International Airport and connections to it. If you look at State Highway 130, it has the fastest speed limit for a highway in the country and that is a major transportation asset connecting people and products to the heart of Texas and beyond. Our regional airport is poised to be a catalyst in our constantly growing region.
What is the significance of the Vision 2025 plan, and how would you assess the progress that has been made?
That plan is a five-year strategy cycle and it is a community consensus-driven strategy, meaning it is the region’s strategy. More than 100 stakeholders throughout the community got together to discuss the plan and came up with about 60 items that would achieve success for the region. We have since achieved quite a bit and one of the highlights includes a unified regional approach to economic development. In that, one of the things we are going to be sharing is an expansion of the partnership from a two-county organization to a broader much larger organization and really taking things to the next level.
On a more granular level, we have built out unique tools, one of which has endless layers of mapping and a partnership between economic development and the environmental conservation community. Usually those do not go together and are at odds with each other. We came together and we have a robust work group of partners who have built a tool that looks at land assets and the factors that should be thought about before bringing investment to the community. That sets it up for success and the community can best embrace and support business investments.
The last part that we have really emphasized is making sure existing businesses get the same amount of attention as new exciting projects, so they do not get forgotten and the investment that has already been made by those businesses does not feel unappreciated.
What sets you apart from other similar organizations?
Something that we do differently is engaging and putting our private sector partners and investors on the field with us. They are experts with a treasure trove of information at their fingertips which only helps us as economic developers better inform companies when they come to explore our region. By bringing them into the process from the beginning, it accelerates the timeline these companies have and the trust you build with them. When you have trusting relationships, you can operate at light speed. They are there to engage as experts in the process, while recognizing we all win by attracting continued jobs and investments into our communities. When you build the relationship holistically, everyone wins. By being authentic and genuine, everyone can see the goal line and trust we will all do what it takes for the betterment of our communities.
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