San Antonio Economic and Workforce Development Committee Meeting - October 27, 2026

The Economic and Workforce Development Committee met on October 27, 2026, from 2:03 p.m. to 3:08 p.m. to consider the Launch SA contract renewal and receive a return-on-investment study of economic development incentives. Committee Chair Viegeran presided, with members Castillo, Galvan, Mesa Gonzalez, and Spears present. No agenda or minutes were available; this summary is based on the meeting transcript. Speakers were allowed two rounds of comments per item: five minutes in the first round and three minutes in the second.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of minutes: The committee unanimously approved the minutes of the previous meeting by voice vote, with a motion, second, and all ayes.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public signed up to speak, and no public comment was heard.

Discussion: Launch SA Program Administration and Contract Renewal

• Charles Wooden, CEO of Geekdom, introduced the presentation, describing Geekdom's three focus areas when it applied for the Launch SA RFP: accessibility, valuable resources, and one-on-one consulting/advising.
• Matt Espinosa, Director of LaunchSA, presented the impact of the three-year contract between the City of San Antonio and Geekdom, which began in 2023 and focused on relaunching Launch SA. Highlights included over 1,000 people served through one-on-one advising sessions, over 2,500 assistance request form submissions, a Launch SA Link partner network of 68 partners, more than 700 hours of partner collaboration, over 500 events with more than 10,000 attendees, and a library roadshow with events in all 10 council districts.
• Launch SA also ran Waypoint, an eight-week early entrepreneurship program for businesses from zero to six months old, and small business peer groups of 6 to 10 business owners, including at Sip and Sit coffee shop. Planned initiatives included a veteran entrepreneurship cohort and digital presence/AI education workshops.
• Alfred Brewer, Assistant Director for Economic Development, recommended exercising a one-year extension of the agreement with three additional one-year renewal options, funded by $602,280 from the Economic Development Incentive Fund, matched 100% by Geekdom, and moving the item to full City Council.
• Councilmember Spears asked for outcome data, district breakdowns, and program metrics. Matt Espinosa said assistance requests split roughly 50-50 between pre-startup businesses and existing businesses; the roadshow reached each district. Alfred Brewer stated that about 16 participants had completed the two Waypoint cohorts to date, and the committee would receive additional data. The transcript also includes Matt Espinosa saying "about 30" business owners went through the Waypoint program, a figure that is not reconciled with the later 16-participant count.
• Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez asked about post-startup support, physical space needs, district/industry breakdowns, and collaboration with Supply SA. Matt Espinosa said the peer group was open to businesses past one year, common industries included food and beverage, retail, and business services, and Supply SA was a Launch SA Link partner.
• Councilmember Castillo asked about district-specific data, peer group trends, metric tracking, the Waypoint curriculum, and alignment with the city's strategic framework. Alfred Brewer said Launch SA plays a key role as connector/infrastructure in the small business ecosystem.
• Chair Viegeran requested future reporting with growth goals, including increasing advising by 2-3%, raising partner/mentorship activity from a cited 747 figure toward 800, hosting at least four regional events plus one downtown, and strengthening work with legacy/family-owned businesses and veterans.
• The committee voted unanimously to move the Launch SA agreement to full City Council.

Discussion: Economic Development Return on Investment Study

• Dr. Steve Niven presented the third return-on-investment study of City of San Antonio incentive programs, covering all monitored active projects through December 31, 2025, excluding terminated/recaptured projects and pre-2010 projects.
• Methodology: costs included Economic Development Department staff time on incentive programs; revenues included real and personal property tax, sales tax from created jobs, and CPS Energy revenue. The analysis period ran from 2010 through 2051, using the incentive term doubled and flatlined beyond actual project lives.
• Results: $33.6 million in program administration costs and almost $11 million in incentives granted produced $316.4 million in total revenue to the city, $172 million in net revenue, and $3.7 billion in total private sector investment. ROI figures were $33.66 in private sector investment per dollar of incentives, $9.42 in revenue per dollar of program spending, $2.86 in revenue per dollar of incentives, and $2.19 in revenue per dollar spent on both programs and incentives.
• Compared with the 2022 study, revenue per program dollar rose slightly from $9.39 to $9.42; revenue per incentive dollar fell from $3.73 to $2.86; and combined ROI fell from $2.67 to $2.19. Dr. Niven attributed the changes to a different project mix and noted the original Toyota project was not included; staff added that the most recently approved Toyota agreement, with $3.6 billion projected investment, was also not included.
• Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez asked how the data should guide future investments; Anna Bradshaw noted the current incentive policy proposal lowers the minimum capital investment from $10 million to $5 million to encourage capital investment.
• Councilmember Castillo asked about CPS Energy revenue methodology, the E16 rate, staff cost assumptions, and excluded infrastructure/public safety costs. Staff said they would follow up on whether any analyzed projects received E16 incentives and that staff costs were applied proportionally based on time.
• Councilmember Spears asked about jobs, which projects performed well, and whether peer-city benchmarks existed. Dr. Niven said the study was unique and no clear benchmark was available; Anna Bradshaw said project-level analysis occurs during incentive consideration, while this study is an aggregate indicator.
• Chair Viegeran characterized the ROI as positive but noted lower returns than 2022 because there was no Toyota-scale project; she requested district-specific details, connection to zoning, and ways to highlight infrastructure and community benefits from development.
• The item was for briefing only; no action was taken.

Key Outcomes

• Approved previous meeting minutes unanimously.
• Unanimously recommended moving the Launch SA agreement renewal and $602,280 funding to full City Council.
• Received the Economic Development Return on Investment Study as informational; no vote was held.
• Staff committed to provide additional data on Waypoint participation, district and industry breakdowns, peer group metrics, and E16/CPS Energy follow-up.
• The next committee meeting was announced for November 23.