Area journey and cyber warfare might have as soon as been confined to novels and film screens, however for state leaders, these ideas are actually much less science fiction and extra a rising trade.
Texas is investing in business house flight and cybersecurity — and San Antonio is attempting to extend native involvement and alternative in each sectors.
The Higher San Antonio Chamber of Commerce introduced plans to host a Texas Area Summit in 2026, bringing collectively the Texas Area Fee and firms from across the state to debate the house trade.
Later that day, house fee and state officers gathered on the Texas Affiliation of Enterprise’s occasion on the Boeing Heart, the place Port San Antonio President Jim Perschbach made a pitch to carry extra U.S. cybersecurity operations to the previous Kelly Area.
Bringing that authorities funding to San Antonio would draw extra employers and jobs to town, Perschbach stated.
“If we’ve got that work right here, it’s solidified in San Antonio, it’s a complete lot simpler for us to draw these employers,” he stated. “As we observe these employers, we drive up the revenue in San Antonio, we create job alternatives.”
The place will cybersecurity funding go?
Gov. Greg Abbott established Texas Cyber Command in San Antonio this yr, a $135 million effort to guard state sources from cyberattacks. The company is partnering with College of Texas-San Antonio and is at the moment housed in its downtown campus.
Abbott gave an replace on these efforts Tuesday on the Texas Affiliation of Enterprise occasion.
“We’re constructing out the services, and it’s going to be totally purposeful and operational in and across the downtown space,” he stated. “It’s going to be a outstanding asset for San Antonio, for the state of Texas, and a crucial device as we proceed to battle these ongoing battles at residence and overseas.”
Perschbach additionally renewed his pitch this week for a $1 billion campus for the U.S. Air Pressure’s cyber operations at Port San Antonio.
“We’re going to construct a campus for the USA Air Pressure to consolidate not simply the digital missions, however the missions which can be so necessary to our nationwide safety,” he stated. “We will construct that campus for over a billion {dollars}, lower than the USA authorities can construct it, however we are able to ship it in 4 to 6 years.”
Abbott dealt a blow to these efforts earlier this yr.
The Texas Legislature had put aside $50 million for that campus after the U.S. Air Pressure indicated some curiosity within the proposal, however Abbott vetoed the spending when the funds hit his desk this summer season.
The U.S. Air Pressure focuses on nationwide protection whereas Texas Cyber Command focuses on in-state cybersecurity, and Abbott referred to as the $50 million proposal duplicative of his cyber command efforts.
The governor didn’t deal with the query whereas in San Antonio on Tuesday.
Bringing the house trade to city
The Texas Area Summit received’t happen till September 2026, however native leaders are attempting to place San Antonio to make the most of statewide funding within the business house trade and jobs that might include it.
Business house giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin each have launch services in Texas, giving the state a bonus in a rising trade, stated Jeff Webster, the CEO and president of the Higher San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber is internet hosting the 2026 summit on the Henry B. Gonzalez Conference Heart and plans to make it an annual occasion, Webster stated. The occasion might carry 2,000 native and worldwide attendees and enhance conference and tourism spending.
Companies that attend the occasion would additionally get a firsthand take a look at San Antonio and town’s current infrastructure at locations like Brooks and Port San Antonio, Webster added.
“We’re going to offer individuals an opportunity to be taught the San Antonio story, the Texas story,” he stated. “That is completely one of many rising enterprise alternatives and financial improvement alternatives in our nice state.”
At Texas Dynamism, a speaker collection hosted by the Texas Affiliation of Enterprise on the Boeing Heart on Tuesday, Texas Area Fee Govt Director Norman Garza stated the company had been given $300 million for grants from the state legislature to spice up these business house efforts.
Garza stated the fee had obtained 280 functions for funding and given out 22 grants to this point. He added that not one of the grantees had been from San Antonio, however there have been loads of functions from the realm.
Garza famous San Antonio’s efforts to host the house summit in 2026 and stated a part of the house fee’s job was constructing connections between companies and businesses in locations like San Antonio.
“We wish to be sure that ecosystem stays and stays vibrant in Texas,” Garza stated.
