OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Economic and Workforce Development Committee Meeting - January 27, 2026

Council Committees — Tuesday, January 27, 2026
BodySan Antonio, Texas
SessionCouncil Committees
DateTuesday, January 27, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 57:09

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

All right.

0:05

The time is now 2.05 p.m.

0:07

on January 27, 2026, and the meeting of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee is now called to order.

0:13

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

0:16

Councilmember Castillo?

0:18

Councilmember Galois.

0:20

Councilmember Ms.

0:21

Gonzalez.

0:22

Councilmember Spears.

0:25

Chair Viegra?

0:26

Here.

0:27

We have a core.

0:29

All right.

0:30

Great.

0:31

The first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes.

0:34

Are there any corrections to the minutes?

0:37

All right.

0:38

If not, can I get a motion in a second to approve the minutes?

0:43

I've got a motion in a second.

0:44

All in favor say aye.

0:46

Aye.

0:47

Aye.

0:48

All opposed say no.

0:51

Motion carries.

0:53

All right.

0:53

We've got public comment.

0:55

Madam Clerk, are there any citizens signed up to speak on the item for any of the items for public comment?

1:02

There's no one wishing to speak.

1:04

Great.

1:05

Okay, so we have our remaining agenda items.

1:09

We have briefing and possible action.

1:11

Let's begin with uh item number two.

1:15

Uh, and that is the recommendation of the fiscal year 2026 growth stage grant program.

1:22

Is there a staff presentation?

1:24

Yes, there is.

1:25

All right.

1:25

The floor is yours.

1:27

Hello, everyone.

1:28

Uh, my name is Sarah Wappel.

1:30

I'm our business advancement coordinator with the um economic development department, and today I'll be presenting our recommendations for fiscal year's 2026 Grow Stage Grant programs.

1:42

So the state has authorized the City of San Antonio to administer loan and grant programs through the chapter 380 policy.

1:51

Through that, uh, we have our economic development incentive fund.

1:55

This is where we have appropriated um the city's general fund budget, uh, some a portion of the city's general fund budget to this fund to uh help with the assistance of those that catalyze um research and innovation.

2:09

Um this can be companies who uh have uh scalable increases in research and innovation uh for startups in our community in our city's targeted industries.

2:19

Um for this year's fiscal 2026 budget, the department recommended um a million dollars to continue our growth stage grant programs.

2:29

In February of 2023, we presented to the Small Business Advisory Committee as well as the Economic Workforce Development Committee on our recommendation for several uh pilot growth stage grant programs.

2:42

Um these were to support those companies who showed scalable increase or scale scalable um growth in their companies.

2:50

Um this could be through export uh oriented business or startups who had demonstrated growth in commercialization.

2:59

Um and the goal with these programs was to retain and grow headquarters here in San Antonio.

3:05

There's a couple of factors for this.

3:07

One um headquarters are uh important catalysts for retaining professional development here in San Antonio, and they also work to um continue to grow our innovation hubs here in the city.

3:19

And so the the goal for these grant programs was to create a continuous virtuous business cycle.

3:26

So this allowed for these companies to have access to capital that maybe previously wasn't uh there and experiment with different growth plans to um get to them to get them to that next stage of development.

3:39

Um this was also um something that we generated to promote those long-term relationships with businesses here in San Antonio.

3:47

So I'll start with our our second stage grant program.

3:50

Uh we have the survey data from uh from six months now that the program's um been in effect.

3:56

Um with that we awarded a total of 450,000 in funding to uh a total of nine grant uh grantees.

4:04

Um from the six-month survey data, we had four out of nine report revenue growth in those past six months since their execution, and uh a combined total of 7.06 million in cumulative cumulative revenue growth from those companies.

4:20

Um, and and these companies are those that demonstrated uh again that they were expert oriented, but had uh two years of revenue or employment growth in the past five years.

4:32

They also had submitted a written growth plan to show what the their business model and marketing plan would look like, um and they were also approved by uh this committee as well as city council.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development██████████████████████████████████34%
Workforce Development█████████████████████21%
Tourism█████████████████17%
Budget████████8%
Public Engagement█████5%
Procedural████4%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Community Engagement███3%
Arts And Culture███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Economic and Workforce Development Committee Meeting - January 27, 2026

The Economic and Workforce Development Committee of the San Antonio City Council met on January 27, 2026, at 2:05 PM. The committee approved the minutes, discussed and voted on the FY2026 Growth Stage Grant Program, received a briefing on Ready to Work target occupation updates, and established a work group to explore selling City-branded merchandise.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the previous meeting were approved unanimously by voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No citizens were signed up to speak, and no public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Item 2: Recommendation of Fiscal Year 2026 Growth Stage Grant Program

  • Sarah Wappel, Business Advancement Coordinator, presented the recommendation for a total program budget of $1 million, split evenly ($500,000 each) between the Second Stage Grant Program and the SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program.
  • Second Stage Grant Program: Proposed guideline changes include: reducing employee eligibility to 100 or fewer employees (full-time and part-time), increasing the wage requirement for new full-time employees from $17.15/hour to $20/hour to align with Ready to Work OJT program, and focusing on the city's five strategic industries (mobility, corporate services, bioscience, IT/security infrastructure). Maximum grant per award increased to $100,000.
  • SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program: Proposed changes include requiring an existing federal award within the last two years (to accommodate a federal pause in October 2025) and increasing the maximum phase two award to $100,000 based on company needs.
  • Staff reported that from the initial Second Stage pilot (nine grantees, $450,000), six-month survey data showed four out of nine reported revenue growth, with a combined cumulative revenue growth of $7.06 million. From the SBIR/STTR pilot (11 grantees, $581,000), eight out of 11 reported revenue growth, with $3.36 million in reported revenue growth.
  • Committee members raised questions and requested additional information:
    • Chair Viegra requested a memo explaining why five of nine Second Stage grantees did not report revenue growth (e.g., due to hiring, investment, or other factors).
    • Council Member Castillo asked whether any grantees left San Antonio (staff confirmed none have left) and requested data on local vs. remote employees.
    • Council Member Galvan asked for a breakdown of grantees by industry cluster and whether recapture provisions exist if a business leaves.
    • Council Member Mascarenas inquired about alignment with Ready to Work and requested a report on bioscience incentives.
  • Motion to approve the FY2026 Growth Stage Grant Program as presented passed unanimously.

Item 3: Update on Target Occupations for the Ready to Work Program

  • Joel Morgan, Assistant Director of Workforce Development, provided an update on the removal and focus of target occupations.
  • Occupations Removed: The Ready to Work Advisory Board approved removal of nine occupations in January 2026 (compliance officers, dietitians/nutritionists, MRI techs, medical dosimetrists, natural science managers, machinists, roofers, personal financial advisors, and securities/commodities financial service agents). Combined with 11 earlier removals and two prior removals, a total of 22 occupations have been removed since inception. The remaining catalog contains 62 active occupations.
  • High-Performing Occupations: Staff identified 20 occupations with job placement rates of 70% or higher within six months, including educators, manufacturing trades, construction, health care (paramedics, LVNs, RNs, rad techs). These will receive increased marketing and emphasis.
  • Committee members discussed:
    • Chair Viegra suggested exploring court reporters (due to county needs), military-to-civilian transition (e.g., medics), AI-related occupations, and digital navigators.
    • Council Member Galvan requested raw numbers of jobs created per occupation/sector.
    • Council Member Castillo asked about reasons for difficulty placing IT and health care graduates; staff cited possible saturation and need for employer-aligned training.
    • Council Member Mascarenas asked for participant counts by occupation and confirmed that currently enrolled participants are unaffected by removals.
  • This item was for briefing only; no action taken.

Item 4: Establish a Work Group to Explore Sales of City of San Antonio Branded Merchandise

  • Alex (staff) introduced the item, referencing a background memo and showing sample merchandise (coasters, T-shirts, ties, scarves). The goal is to explore selling branded items to promote San Antonio's global visibility and generate revenue, possibly through a virtual store or licensing arrangements.
  • Committee members expressed support and suggested potential participants: Office of Historic Preservation, World Heritage, Animal Care Services, Municipal Courts, Fire Department, Library, and Arts & Culture. Council Member Castillo volunteered to serve on the work group alongside Chair Viegra.
  • Discussion included whether to involve business/retail experts immediately or after initial city-department exploration. The consensus was to start with the internal group and later bring in retail expertise.
  • Motion to establish the work group passed unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: FY2026 Growth Stage Grant Program ($1 million total, $500,000 each for Second Stage and SBIR/STTR programs) with revised guidelines. Motion carried unanimously.
  • Established: Work group (Chair Viegra and Council Member Castillo) to explore City-branded merchandise sales, with a report back to the committee before full council consideration.
  • Requested Information: Staff to provide memos on: reasons for non-revenue growth among Second Stage grantees; breakdown of grantees by industry; local vs. remote employee data; participant counts by occupation; job numbers per occupation/sector; bioscience incentive report; and recapture provisions for businesses that leave.

Meeting Transcript

All right. The time is now 2.05 p.m. on January 27, 2026, and the meeting of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee is now called to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilmember Castillo? Councilmember Galois. Councilmember Ms. Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Chair Viegra? Here. We have a core. All right. Great. The first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes? All right. If not, can I get a motion in a second to approve the minutes? I've got a motion in a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion carries. All right. We've got public comment. Madam Clerk, are there any citizens signed up to speak on the item for any of the items for public comment? There's no one wishing to speak. Great. Okay, so we have our remaining agenda items. We have briefing and possible action. Let's begin with uh item number two. Uh, and that is the recommendation of the fiscal year 2026 growth stage grant program. Is there a staff presentation? Yes, there is. All right. The floor is yours. Hello, everyone. Uh, my name is Sarah Wappel. I'm our business advancement coordinator with the um economic development department, and today I'll be presenting our recommendations for fiscal year's 2026 Grow Stage Grant programs. So the state has authorized the City of San Antonio to administer loan and grant programs through the chapter 380 policy. Through that, uh, we have our economic development incentive fund. This is where we have appropriated um the city's general fund budget, uh, some a portion of the city's general fund budget to this fund to uh help with the assistance of those that catalyze um research and innovation. Um this can be companies who uh have uh scalable increases in research and innovation uh for startups in our community in our city's targeted industries. Um for this year's fiscal 2026 budget, the department recommended um a million dollars to continue our growth stage grant programs. In February of 2023, we presented to the Small Business Advisory Committee as well as the Economic Workforce Development Committee on our recommendation for several uh pilot growth stage grant programs. Um these were to support those companies who showed scalable increase or scale scalable um growth in their companies. Um this could be through export uh oriented business or startups who had demonstrated growth in commercialization. Um and the goal with these programs was to retain and grow headquarters here in San Antonio. There's a couple of factors for this.

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