Your Chamber held its monthly Aerospace Committee meeting last Thursday at the Chamber’s Northside Business Center. The meeting featured discussions from Charles Woodin, CEO, Geekdom, and Walt Ugalde, Industry Outreach Executive, NASA, on the development of the Brownsville-Boca Chica region and the growing aerospace industry in South Texas, particularly highlighting connections to SpaceX. The committee then heard from the Chamber’s Vice President of Public Policy, Cacie Madrid, on the process of submitting legislative priorities as the Chamber begins to develop its State Legislative Agenda in preparation for the 88th Texas Legislative Session beginning in January. Additionally, the committee debuted its “AerospaceSA” initiative, a platform aimed at increasing the committee’s social media presence and uniting the aerospace industry in San Antonio, two committee priorities for 2022 from this year’s committee chair Frank Garcia, CEO, Land Aero.
While discussing the growing aerospace industry in Brownsville, the committee was fortunate to hear from Josh Mejia, President & CEO, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, and Fredrick Jenet, Executive Director, Expanding Frontiers, who have been collaborating with Geekdom and NASA on growing partnerships between South Texas and other regions of the state. After a recent trip to Brownsville-Boca Chica, Woodin expressed great interest in allocating Geekdom resources to recruit and assist startups from the Rio Grande Valley with the hopes of creating a “South Texas Triangle” to stimulate economic prosperity between San Antonio and southern partners. Mejia noted the Brownsville Metro area has seen an increase in start-up potential, largely due to SpaceX accelerating the need for aerospace companies in the region. However, the industry’s rapid growth has resulted in certain pain points, including finding enough qualified workers to fill jobs. In an effort to bridge this gap and provide industry talent, Jenet spoke to the innovative educational programs Expanding Frontiers has implemented, providing hands on training for students, veterans, and aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as hosting design competitions to spark innovation. The opportunity for industry collaboration between the Brownsville-Boca Chica region and San Antonio is evident and doing so will not only benefit the greater Texas ecosystem but create additional opportunities for those here in San Antonio.
If you are interested in the aerospace industry and want to keep up with the San Antonio ecosystem, follow AerospaceSA on LinkedIn!
We will be sharing relevant information pertaining to industry initiatives, posting newsletter articles, and highlighting job openings for members of the Chamber. With a deep history of Aerospace innovation, it’s time to highlight the great things happening in San Antonio!
For more information on the Aerospace Committee, click here.