Continued implementation of the strategic framework developed by the Board in 2017 has created thousands of new jobs in key advanced technologies.
The Port and its customers have significant expansion plans ahead.
12-02-2020
SAN ANTONIO — At its most recent meeting, the Port San Antonio Board of Directors unanimously re-elected all four of its officers. Additionally, the Board extended officer terms from one to two calendar years. The upcoming term will begin Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022.
The board is comprised of 11 members appointed by each City of San Antonio councilmember, including the Mayor. They serve on a voluntary basis and provide extensive private- and public-sector expertise as the Port advances its mission.
The Port and the more than 80 private- and public-sector employers on the campus are driving the region’s economic growth by providing strategic operational spaces and connecting with global sectors. Advanced industries that include aerospace, cybersecurity, defense, applied technology and advanced manufacturing are rapidly expanding at the Port as they create and deploy innovations that have applications worldwide. In 2019, the San Antonio Business Journal named the Port the region’s Business of the Year, the organization is increasingly regarded as a national model in strategic economic development.
“My fellow officers and I are honored to have earned the confidence of our colleagues and look forward to continue our work during this transformative period in our history,” said Board Chair Chris Alderete. “This is an exciting time for our organization as we keep advancing our mission to create life-changing opportunities for people across our entire community: opportunities in careers, in education and in entrepreneurship.”
As a result of the Tech Port strategic framework launched by the Board of Directors in 2017—which emphasizes growing connections between people, educators, industry and global markets—employers based at the Port added over 4,000 new jobs in those key sectors since that time. Today, the campus is home to over 14,000 jobs with opportunities to add thousands more. Businesses at the Port range from small locally-based startups to major operations by the Department of Defense and leading private-sector technology firms.
Accelerating this momentum, the Board has recently evaluated and approved numerous strategic projects.
Among them are a comprehensive innovation center approved by the Board last summer, with expected completion in early 2022. The 130,000-square-foot facility will be like no other in the country—providing a 2,500-seat technology arena, expansion space for the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT), a collaborative maker space / R&D lab, and an industry showroom to showcase San Antonio-based innovations to buyers around the world.
The upcoming innovation center will launch in 2022.
Cybersecurity simulator at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology’s current location at the Port in early 2020. The innovation center will allow for the expansion of this and other tech exhibits for educational, training and demonstration purposes.
As a result of growing demand for state-of-the-art secured office space for cybersecurity and defense operators, a new 174,000-square-foot facility—known as Project Tech Building 2—will be completed in early 2021, with 50 percent of its space already pre-leased.
Project Tech Building 2 is wrapping-up completion and beginning in 2021 will support additional cybersecurity and defense operations. Half of the 174,000-square-foot space has been preleased.
Compass Rose Ingenuity K-12 campus, which began enrolling students in the summer of 2020.
In recent months, the organization has placed a strong emphasis on building connections between educators and talent. In the summer of 2020, the new Compass Rose Ingenuity school opened the first phase of its new K-12 facilities at the Port. In August, the Board approved a $500,000 annual sponsorship of the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology, which, among other endeavors, allowed the museum to launch a new urgently needed training facility to work alongside numerous educational partners to provide pathways for adults to pursue new careers in IT, cybersecurity and other in-demand jobs.
All the while, organizations have established and expanded operations and added jobs at the Port as they announced the development of new technologies in their respective fields.
Chris Alderete has been re-elected to a third consecutive term as the Board Chair.
An appointee of City Council District 7, she has been a member of the board since 2008.
Alderete began her 35-year health care career at Christus Santa Rosa and obtained her certification from the Texas Home and Community Support Service Agency (HCSSA) as a Home Health Care Administrator.
Alderete’s past service on other public boards include chairing the 2000 Census Complete Count Committee and the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women on behalf of then San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza. In 2012 she co-chaired the San Antonio Bond Committee on Streets, Bridges and Sidewalks and in 2017 served on the city’s Drainage and Flood Control Bond Committee.
As former President of the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame, Alderete also has wide-ranging experience on numerous non-profit boards. These include SAMM Ministries; OASIS—a national organization that promotes successful aging through lifelong learning, health programs and volunteering; Las Misiones—the organization that helps restore San Antonio’s historic missions, which have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site; and others.
Alderete is the owner The Rose Boutique Florist—a small local business providing uniquely-designed floral arrangements for all occasions.
Alex Nava has been re-elected as Board Vice-Chair.
He is appointed by the Mayor and has been a board member since 2006. He previously served as Chair in 2014 and Vice-Chair from 2012 to 2013 and again since 2019.
Nava is a trial attorney focused on representing individuals and companies in first and third-party insurance matters, employment disputes, construction disputes, and tort and business disputes and litigation. He began his practice at Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc. and is now a partner with A Nava & Glander Law Firm.
Nava’s has also served on the boards of the Historic Design Review Commission from 2006 to 2009; Alamo Workforce Solutions from 2012 to 2015; and United Communities of San Antonio from 2009 to 2019. In 2011, then-Mayor Julián Castro appointed Nava to serve as a co-chair of the Parks Committee for the City of San Antonio’s 2012–2017 Bond Program. In addition, Nava is or has been in the past a member of the following organizations: William S. Sessions American Inn of Court; State Bar of Texas; San Antonio Bar Association; San Antonio Young Lawyers Association; the Federal Bar Association; and as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Nava attended grade school at Holy Spirit Catholic School and graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1995. After high school, Nava played baseball for and received a B.A. in English and History from West Texas A&M University, in Canyon, Texas in 1999. In 2004, Nava received a J.D. from St. Mary’s School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas. Nava is licensed to practice law in Texas state courts, and in the federal courts of the Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Margaret Wilson-Anaglia has been re-elected as Board Secretary.
She is appointed by District 2 Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan and has been a board member since 2018.
Wilson-Anaglia is the President & CEO of Al’s Gourmet Nuts—a locally-based food artisan company she founded in 2000, which distributes throughout the U.S., including for corporate promotions, fundraising and special events. In addition, she has over 30 years of public and private sector entrepreneurial experience. Prior to embarking on her journey with Al’s Gourmet Nuts, she was a Manager in the City of San Antonio’s Economic Development Department.
Wilson-Anaglia has served on the Bexar County SMWBE Advisory Committee, Brooks Development Advisory Board, City of San Antonio Charter Review Committee and various parent-teacher association boards.
During her career and public service, she has received numerous distinctions, including the 20 x 20 Award by ACCION Texas; the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for Innovation by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO); a PTA Honorary Life Membership Award; and the Women’s Leadership Award / Family Business by the San Antonio Business Journal.
Wilson-Anaglia was also honored by the San Antonio Women’s Chamber of Commerce as one of the organization’s Constellation of Stars Awards honorees in 2019.
Wilson-Anaglia holds a Master of Arts degree from Trinity University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of the Incarnate Word.
Bill Mock has been re-elected as Board Treasurer.
An appointee of City Council District 9, Mock has been a member of the Board since 2016.
He has held key leadership positions over a career spanning the military and public sectors.
In 2015 he retired from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. During his 21-year tenure with the organization, he held the positions of Executive Vice President, Director of Military Affairs, Vice President of Small Business/Area Business Councils, Vice President of Economic Development and Vice President of Membership. He led important civic and business initiatives on behalf of the chamber, including the creation of BioMed SA and Pathways to a Great City. He also played a key role in efforts that brought the 24th Air Force to San Antonio (now consolidated as the 16th Air Force / Air Forces Cyber).
Prior to his career with the Chamber, Mock served in the U.S. Air Force for 30 years, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He maintains organizational ties with the Department of Defense, including a two-year tour as the Honorary Commander of the 67th Cyber Wing, a five year tour as a member of the Air Force Space Command's Commanders Advisory Group at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado—then the parent command of 24th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Mock also served a four-year tour as Honorary Commander of 25th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
Mock currently serves as a member of the Air Combat Command Commanders Advisory Group at Langley Air Force Base Virginia—parent command of the newly established 16th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
