The San Antonio City Council's Economic and Workforce Development Committee met on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, from 2:05 PM to 3:47 PM, with Chair Viegran presiding. A quorum was present. The committee approved its minutes, advanced the citywide Economic Development Strategic Framework to an October 14, 2026 City Council B session, approved a draft master plan action item for a city-owned site, and received briefings on economic incentive guidelines and 2027 international delegation travel.
Economic Development Strategic Framework Update (Item 2): Staff (Brenda) presented the framework as a broader citywide strategy, not solely the Economic Development Department's plan, building on the 2022 review of incentives and the economic development corporation (referred to as TURS in the transcript). Chair Viegran noted that AI adoption for the city as a whole would require a future B session policy discussion and flagged continued opportunities related to Space Force. A council member requested the full strategic framework draft prior to the B session, citing key subcategories such as workforce development, inner-city development, and corridors and economic nodes. The committee voted to forward the framework to the October 14, 2026 City Council B session; the motion carried.
Draft Master Plan for City-Owned Site (Item 5): Staff reported three public input sessions and a draft master plan. Top community priorities included parks and recreational spaces, arts and culture, and affordable housing. Tabletop exercises with partner West East were held on August 6 and August 20, 2026. Site One leverages a key commercial corner for retail mixed-use development. Councilmember Galvan expressed excitement that the community is happy about the project and sees an opportunity to move forward, while requesting more information on property value, zoning, and eligibility (including for a church). Chair Viegran stated a public accountability component would help maintain community trust. The motion to advance the item with additional information carried; the transcript references an October 4, 2026 Council B session for this item.
Economic Incentive Guidelines Briefing: Staff noted most guideline terms remain the same. Current abatements total approximately five to six million dollars per year, equal to less than one percent of total city tax revenue collected annually. The QCEW and ACS wage comparators are not substantially different for the 2026 wage threshold. A joint city-county application process creates one streamlined application for companies seeking both city and county incentives. Only two data centers have previously received tax abatements. On the economic mobility fund, staff explained the prior policy's wraparound support served one company's employees, while council feedback favored a new policy version that could benefit the entire community. Chair Viegran asked staff to check whether economic mobility should be a formal city policy. A council member asked about workers who start in roles such as cleaning, may not meet QCEW wage data, yet are rapidly promoted within their industry; staff responded that a shared wage comparator simplifies the process because prepared information can be carried directly from municipal to state applications.
2027 International Delegations Briefing: Staff (Sherry) stated delegations are usually known only one to two months in advance, rarely a year out. Current activity includes requests from the Consulate of Ireland in Austin, outreach from UT San Antonio's International Trade Center, and a planning meeting that morning with Port San Antonio, UT San Antonio, Bexar County, and others. Staff identified the Canada delegation as the most important to prioritize, and noted that Mexican delegations visit frequently, citing her prior experience as Mexico liaison. Chair Viegran advised inviting delegations to San Antonio before city travel abroad to minimize expenses, emphasizing that relationship building cannot be done by phone or Zoom, and encouraged committee members to join sister city trips when the designated representative cannot attend. Staff noted the city cannot say yes to everyone, but prioritizes target markets and responds with different levels of yes.
The roll call lists Councilmember Galaban, while later discussion refers to Councilmember Galvan; both spellings appear in the transcript. The framework item cites October 14, 2026, and the site item cites October 4, 2026, for Council B sessions; both dates are reported as stated.
The time is now 2.05 p.m. on September 22nd, 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 Galaban. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Chair Viegran. Here. Chair, we have quorum. Great. The first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes? If not, can I get a motion and a second to approve the minutes? I've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion carries. All right. Madam Clerk, are there any citizens signed up to speak on the item for public comment? No, Chair, we have no public comment. Okay. All right. Um, so the first item is the economic development strategic framework update. Consents on the back. Okay. And I was just gonna introduce the item by saying that you did get this briefing or a the preliminary version of this briefing last month. Based on some of the questions we got during Brenda's uh budget work session, the economic development budget work session. We thought we'd give a little bit more detail, a little bit more context. We are another month into the process. So she's here to give a little bit more of that update now. All right, well, here are the update and then we can make the motion. So this is item number two. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chair, uh EWDC members. Again, Brenda Hicks Laurenson, economic development director. And as Alex mentioned, a lot of this is similar to what you've already seen. Just want to provide a little bit more context. So again, as we went into the strategic framework, we kept referencing what it is to level up here in the city of San Antonio. And throughout the stakeholder process, that really came down to increasing the competitiveness again with national and global peers, creating those new opportunities for employment at all levels. You'll hear a lot about economic mobility today, as well as an expanding the wealth assets and tax base of our residents and businesses. But truly, what does that mean? So to support that, you'll see again here the goals and those goal statements. This has not changed from when we presented last month. Uh and this is what I touched upon during that uh presentation on September 9th. So again, it's really around innovation in industry, that placemaking and real estate, as well as in talent and workforce. And then previously, capacity and resources was the fourth goal. Uh, we've removed that from being a goal to really that underlying you need to be able to have the capacity and resources to implement goals one, two, and three. Here, this hopefully it looks familiar.