InfuseSA in the Community: Port San Antonio
Are you familiar with Port San Antonio? Whether you are or you aren’t, we celebrate this opportunity to shine a spotlight on them because they are definitely a major player in San Antonio’s current development and future.
What is the Port? Believe it or not, it is a place, an organization and a vision! To fully appreciate it, you need to see if from every one of these angles.
The organization began with a mandate to redevelop our city’s former Kelly Air Force Base upon its closure. How to accomplish this mandate was a vast unknown. But the journey to today’s answer, the Port, was guided by an astoundingly creative Vision.
It was this strategic Vision that guided every decision related to the transition and that still undergirds each decision to this day.
While on the surface the Port is a public entity that is operationally self-sustaining, much like a private real estate development company that manages the use of around 1,900 acres, its vision is to create an ecosystem that has become the region’s single largest technology hub. It worked to entice companies to come to San Antonio, and then to see them be successful and further to showcase their value regionally, nationally and globally.
Companies with globally recognized names operate here: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Booz Allen and StandardAero, etc. It’s also home to major Department of Defense operations, including the national operations center for the Air Force’s cybersecurity, the Air Force Medical Operations Agency and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.
But true to their vision, they also make room to give local businesses which show promise, a place to pursue their own visions, such as Plus One Robotics, one of the most successful technology startups in San Antonio history, as well as locally-based aerospace Knight Aerospace, CNF Technologies and IPSecure! And these companies are developing new technologies in the world’s most advanced fields, such as, Aerospace, Defense, Cybersecurity, Robotics, Applied Technology, Space Technology , Global Logistics and Advanced Manufacturing.
This vision that translated into all of the above was even more encompassing. It was to be truly aspirational in another way. Its strategy was to show that not only are we a community that competes with the best and the brightest, but also continues to reinvest its revenues to create pathways to education and opportunity for people locally.
Its goal has been to develop current talent for the workforce and to invest in inspiring a new generation of students to pursue careers in these fascinating fields.
We spoke with Paco Felici, Chief of Staff. He described Port SA as being comprised of two key geographic components.
On the one hand are secure buildings and perimeters where the previously mentioned employers are operating. But just as important is the other set of spaces and buildings—and they reflect the genius and commitment to community that the Port is all about.
This part of the campus strives to invite everyone in. It strives to provide people from all backgrounds with opportunities to learn about and experience what is going on in the otherwise restricted parts of the property which today employ 18,000 women and men.
This occurs primarily in what is known as the Boeing Center at Tech Port. It is a state of the art innovation center that houses a 3,500 seat arena and an industry showcase called Area 21. Plus, it houses a technology area that can host electronic gaming, robotics, cybersecurity and drone tournaments, etc. The Boeing Center at Tech Port can be seen as the front door that inspires and prepares the next generation of San Antonio’s innovators. http://www.techportsa.com/
Of particular interest is Area 21.
It is operated by the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology. The goal of this part of the campus is to have over 150,000 K-12 students from across our community to come through this facility every year. The larger goal is to INSPIRE a percentage of these students to pursue careers in any of these future oriented fields – leading them to choose more aspirational pathways to education and eventual career and entrepreneurial opportunity.
This is a core part of Port SA’s vision: to cultivate talent and to provide opportunities for this talent to be developed. While the initial goal is to inspire and excite, Port SA is further committed to providing a “loop back” to itself, so that those who are inspired can reconnect with the campus via a public charter K-12 STEM/STEAM school, and a wide variety of programs and summer camps.
The expanded museum space within the Boeing Center at Tech Port and partners like the WEX Foundation, https://www.portsanantonio.us/KHF-LCATS, oversee many these avenues of follow up for all who are interested.
More impressive, the Port Board directed that all of the net proceeds from the Boeing Center be directed to the Port affiliated Kelly Heritage Foundation, a 501c3 non profit. This group uses all the funds to support innovative educational and workforce development programs for the region, thus fortifying the Port’s focus on investing in people.
Success builds on Success!
In the summer of 2022, the Port unveiled major upcoming projects to support industry expansions and job creation. Port SA continues to be a work-in-progress. And it continues to be a source of real PRIDE about what is happening right here in our very own home town. Hats off to their Board of Directors and President and CEO Jim Perschbach and all who are working on this great venture.