2 min read January 2023 — San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg sat down with Invest: and discussed the latest developments in the city’s economic resilience strategies, including building a workforce development pipeline and bolstering the local transit and transportation infrastructure. “We are being bold about investment and doing what is necessary to achieve it,” he said.
What initiatives will be most effective in continuing to rebuild the economy?
Two in particular stand out. One is the Ready to Work job training program; it’s quite literally the largest workforce development initiative a local community has made in our country’s history. Voters in late 2020 approved a reallocation of an existing tax to go toward ensuring tens of thousands of San Antonio workers and heads of households are trained and skilled for jobs in the future. This directly addresses the talent gap and labor shortage the globe is experiencing. We want to turn what is a weakness across the board in the global economy into a strength for the City of San Antonio, and that is talent and the availability of skilled, educated labor. The second one would be the remake of the San Antonio International Airport. We are the seventh largest city in the United States and the fastest growing. Our Achilles heel in many circles over the last several decades has been the airport. We’re going to take that from a weakness to a strength in its makeover. We will be connected, and we will have one of the most convenient airports considering its geographic location.
What are some current development projects underway, and what do residents want to see addressed?
Generally, the $1.2 billion bond program approved by voters in May 2022 is significant in that it includes all of the basic infrastructure and its development that is necessary for a big city to thrive. In particular, we have the largest investments in our transportation infrastructure happening right now. We also have over $100 million going to a world-class greenway trail system that is already nearly 100 miles long in our city. Recreational facilities and mobility options are key there. I would also say that one of the areas we’re finally gaining traction on is in additional operational funding approved by voters in 2020 for our VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority. We are making significant advancements in launching an advanced rapid transit system. It’s underway in planning, and we are in the midst of finalizing the first steps of our East/West transit corridor, too. San Antonio, for the first time in our history, will finally turn the page and become a city with advanced rapid transit and mobility options.
What are some of the ways you are working to bridge the gap between the local government and residents?
San Antonio is fortunate in that we have always been a very collaborative community. There are a lot of reasons for that. Culturally, it’s an international city where people from all over the world have congregated for thousands of years. It’s a military community, as well, so we have always had an ethos of working together. That has been especially true in the past three years between the community and institutions. One of the ways we continue to enhance that is to ensure our planning is always done in coordination with the community and that the community is at the table during any major efforts.
What legislation are you watching or anticipating?
We’re excited about the generational investments the federal government has made directly into local communities like ours, where we are living through – thankfully – an era of renewed cooperation between the federal government and local communities, cities and counties. San Antonio has been at the table and has advocated for those investments, and we have been fortunate to have received a number of them, between the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, all of which have been and will continue to be huge for San Antonio going forward as we leverage funds for local initiatives. There are visionary investments being made in local communities in a lot of great arenas such as renewable energy. These broad scale, bipartisan pieces of legislation have made concrete investments in local communities, and those are the ones I’m most vocal about in having a long-term impact.
What are your top priorities over the next two to three years?
My top priorities are to continue to build upon a foundation of inclusive, long-term prosperity. San Antonio is one of the best places for long-term return on investment for families and businesses looking to establish roots. That’s because of the significant strategic moves we have made to build a strong, firm foundation for the future. In particular, I am looking forward to continuing to implement and accelerate the Ready to Work workforce development program, make strides in the airport strategic development plan, build an advanced rapid transit system and build a durable, resilient, inclusive economy for the future. We are being bold about investment and doing what is necessary to achieve it.
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