Gina Ortiz Jones, Mayor, San Antonio

In an interview with Invest:, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones outlined her dual priorities of reducing poverty and boosting economic competitiveness. She emphasized targeted infrastructure investment and workforce development, particularly early childhood education, as key to long-term resilience. “What’s important when we look at our city is understanding our challenges and opportunities, but also understanding where we want to go,” Jones said.

What are your priorities for building long-term economic resilience and inclusive growth in San Antonio?

What’s important when we look at our city is understanding our challenges and opportunities, but also understanding where we want to go. When I assigned the council members to their committees, I said that everybody’s work, regardless of what your actual committee is, needs to do two things at the same time: We need to reduce poverty and focus on economic competitiveness — two goals that are deeply connected.

With everything that we’re doing, whether it be investments through our annual budget or thinking about our long-term revitalization efforts — and obviously there’s a lot of discussion around what’s happening downtown — we need to look at those things in the context of, certainly, the dollars and cents, but also, how does that help us meet our long-term objectives, in terms of reducing poverty and strengthening and making ourselves as economically competitive as possible?

This is a challenging time. We’re entering a challenging fiscal environment that requires due diligence, not only with our annual budget but also with major investments.

What are some of the basic needs that remain a focus under your administration?

My priorities have been in those two areas, reducing poverty and increasing competitiveness, and making sure that we’re doing the basics that people in our community care about, like infrastructure projects. Recent flood-related incidents have shown that infrastructure must be addressed holistically.

Infrastructure projects are a public safety issue, but they’re also an economic issue. If people are challenged to get to small businesses and support them because of delayed infrastructure projects, that affects the entire community. I’m focused on solving short-term problems but also understanding how we can have a long-term view to address bigger infrastructure projects and issues facing our community farther down the road. 

How do you ensure large-scale developments deliver long-term value and equitable growth?

As leaders, when we face challenges and opportunities, we owe the public due diligence. That means doing our homework. The dollars and cents have to make sense, especially with big investments.

We have a rare chance to revitalize our downtown. But it’s important to look at history, to see how similar projects played out before. We need to learn from that and apply those lessons now, so we can achieve our two big goals: reducing poverty and increasing competitiveness.

How is San Antonio preparing for the impact of recent federal policy changes? 

All of our work is within the context of significant federal changes that will impact our most vulnerable residents. That includes cuts to Medicare, Social Security, CHIP, and SNAP — all things that many in our community rely on.

While we are focused on competitiveness and attracting good businesses here, we also have to make sure we are not losing sight of those who are most affected. We just passed the FY2026 budget, but the real impacts will come in 2027, and I’m already working with Council to find ways to address our expected deficit in the coming years so our communities will have the support they need when those federal cuts happen. Recently, I hosted a delegation from Taiwan — TEEMA, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association. They’re a large trade association representing many companies, and they’re looking for a partner. They weren’t originally going to come to San Antonio, but I was thankful I was able to recruit them to come here and highlight the unique defense-civil ecosystem we have. San Antonio is Military City USA. We’ve got a large military presence, but also key players in the research, education, and small-business ecosystem. That separates us from other cities.

Of course, we also have some natural advantages, like owning our own power utility. These are the things we want to highlight as we continue to differentiate ourselves from other cities and build the case for why San Antonio is the best place for companies to invest.

Which sectors offer the most promise for future investment?

I’m especially excited about aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing. San Antonio is the 21st-largest manufacturing-exporting region in the country. But as we face changes at the federal level, we have to be strategic to maintain that edge. The Taiwanese delegation I mentioned focused on electric vehicles and UAVs — uncrewed aerial vehicles, or drones. They were looking for manufacturing partners, and I believe we can be that partner.

Another big opportunity is space manufacturing. I served as Under Secretary of the Air Force, so I understand how important it is that we contribute to the defense industrial base. Some technologies have purely commercial uses, but many have both commercial and defense applications, especially in the space industry.

We also have the second-largest cybersecurity presence in the country, after D.C. There are clear intersections between cybersecurity, space, and advanced manufacturing. These are areas where San Antonio is well-positioned to lead.

How are you preparing the local workforce for these opportunities?

I think about talent management in several ways. As Military City USA, some people think that just means we host a lot of military people here. That’s true, but the other piece is that most people who serve in the military come from a small number of communities.

The No. 1 indicator of whether someone will serve in the military is if they know somebody who has served. Communities like Bexar County and San Antonio are important because we contribute a lot to that pipeline. 

In San Antonio, we have to think holistically about early childhood education and how we can raise academically prepared and healthy kids. If we don’t, it becomes a national security issue. And it’s also an economic issue. If you’re not academically prepared or healthy enough to serve in the military, you might not be prepared or healthy enough for the opportunities in our community.

What specific steps are you taking to strengthen the talent pipeline?

One of my key priorities is making sure we fully meet the need for pre-K in our community. We know that it has the highest rate of return when investing in people. People have said education isn’t a city issue, but actually, it is. You either pay for pre-K, or you have to pay for programs like Ready to Work, which are upskilling programs. The dollar always goes furthest when invested early, while people are young. If you set them up for success, we can improve our educational attainment and economic security.

I also set up a City Council committee focused on educational opportunities. Because our community is so economically segregated, you can go zip code by zip code. I asked that committee to start in areas where you traditionally see lower educational attainment and lower pre-K enrollment. There’s a connection between those two things. We need to start in the locations where we’re having these challenges and understand how we can help ourselves at the most granular level.

We don’t have endless resources, but we know what the return on investment is. We also know the cost of not having enough talent in our community. That’s why I’m looking at ways we can strengthen Pre-K 4 SA, invest in education, and ensure our children and workers are set up for success.

Looking ahead, what are your top priorities for the next two to three years?

It’s an exciting time to be in the second-largest city in the state. We have to ensure we’re moving forward with everyone in our community in mind. That means continuing to invest in infrastructure, in people, and in strategic partnerships that drive long-term value. We need to be smart about how we spend, and always clear about the outcomes we’re aiming for. Our goal is not just growth, but growth that benefits everyone.