San Antonio’s business development organization is seeking a new funding agreement with the City of San Antonio despite falling short on its goals last year by more than $700 million and 5,600 jobs.
Leaders at Greater:SATX, a regional organization tasked with attracting companies and jobs to the area, said economic uncertainty made it hard to close deals with businesses in 2025.
When the city renewed a contract with Greater:SATX for 2025 the organization set goals of attracting $850 million in capital investment and 6,000 new jobs to San Antonio in 2025, but ended up bringing in $119 million and 321 jobs.
Greater:SATX says they still met internal goals for finding leads on new businesses in 2025, said CEO Sarah Carabias Rush, but results were “not what we were hoping for.”
“When we look at last year, there were a lot of uncertainties that really inhibited businesses’ ability to make decisions. They were unable to predict, for example, the cost of building a new facility,” she said. “They also were having a hard time projecting what it would cost to be able to build products in the manufacturing sector. In business, uncertainty equals no decision.”
In previous years, Greater:SATX has been able to bring in higher levels of investment to San Antonio. The organization said it attracted a yearly average of 3,000 jobs and $1.1 billion in investment to San Antonio between 2022 and 2024.
Earlier this week, Greater:SATX played a role in bringing a new Japanese plastics company Sanko to the South Side. The company announced it would hire up to 300 workers at its groundbreaking. In order to get tax incentives from the county, Sanko must hire at least 50 employees with salaries of $60,000.
The organization recently released a new five-year plan focused on bringing in more corporate headquarters, supporting worker training and education and bringing in higher paying jobs.
By 2030, the organization wants to help bring in 20,000 new jobs with an average annual salary of $100,000 and generate $5 billion in capital investment.
The organization is asking the City of San Antonio for up to $759,250 in 2026. That’s less than the $829,250 contract that was approved for 2025, according to city documents.
Greater:SATX receives 70% of its funding from the private sector through investors, private grants and marketing agreements. The other 30% comes from public grants and agreements with a combination of local governments and development corporations in nine counties around San Antonio.
Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, the director of San Antonio’s Economic Development Department, presented Greater:SATX’s proposed funding agreement to City Council on Thursday at a special session.
Greater:SATX’s last contract with the city began in 2021 and was renewed for one year in 2025. But it was more performance-based, Hicks-Sorensen said. A contract with more reliable income would allow Greater:SATX to build relationships with prospective employers over the long term.
The new funding agreement would include around $357,000 in payments made throughout the year and an additional $249,250 specifically for convincing foreign companies to invest in San Antonio. Greater:SATX would receive $500 payments each time it helps bring in a job with an annual wage above $100,000.
City council members did not vote on the new funding agreement, but several indicated support for Greater:SATX’s efforts.
“What we as a city invest in sends a signal about what’s important to us. To me, that’s why it’s important we invest in economic development. An investment in economic development is an investment in jobs,” said Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) during the special meeting.
During its last five-year plan, Greater:SATX added workforce development as one of its priorities. Carabias Rush has said Greater:SATX will continue supporting educational and training opportunities to help San Antonio’s workforce improve.
Council members supported those efforts, praising Greater:SATX for building partnerships between businesses and local schools and colleges.
Some of the city council’s more progressive members wanted to make sure education efforts were spread across the city and gave students diverse opportunities.
“We want to be sensitive to spoon-feeding schools the industries that we want them to have versus what school kids want to do. I think that’s a little bit of a delicate balance, right?” said Councilman Edward Mungia (D4).
