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San Antonio:
Growing International Investment

San Antonio (population 1 million) is home to the historic Alamo, the renowned Riverwalk entertainment district and the 1999 National Basketball Assn. champion Spurs. It's also one of the fastest-growing technology centers in Texas.

Mikron Technology, a European cellular phone manufacturer that supplies companies like Motorola, Alcatel and Ericsson, is building its first U.S. plant in San

Another newcomer is Amnitek, a joint venture among a Malaysian and two Singapore companies, to produce casings and other components for Dell Computers. This facility now employs 400 people.

"These are two key electronics manufacturers that have picked San Antonio in the last six months," says Mario Hernandez, president, San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. "That will help us in recruiting others."

In addition to telecom and computer manufacturing, San Antonio is seeing strong growth among its bioscience companies, as well as IT and e-commerce firms. Telecom Real Estate Services is building a 165,000-sq.-ft. (15,329-sq.-m.) switch hotel, and NextLink and COLO.com, are leasing a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,290-sq.-m.) facility designed specifically for telecom and Internet firms. Another IT asset is the Informational Warfare Center (IWC), which conducts computer security operations for the U.S. Air Force.

San Antonio's service sector is also thriving. Providian Financial Services has established a major customer service center with 230 employees and plans to hire another 400. Pacific Care has opened a 900-employee support center for its insurance and health-care customers. West Telemarketing recently announced an effort to double its work force and hire 3,000 new employees.

"We've been averaging more than 3 percent net new job growth in recent years, which puts us among the top 15 communities in the United States," Hernandez says. "Our economy is very healthy right now. Although we have low unemployment, our work force grows about 3 percent a year, so we're keeping up with the demand for both skilled and unskilled labor."

An important component of San Antonio's growth is the ongoing redevelopment of Kelly Air Force Base as KellyUSA. "It's become a hub for private commercial and aerospace-related companies," Hernandez says. Boeing, which has 2,000 employees at the base, is expanding its aircraft modification and maintenance services and adding 1,000 new jobs. AAR Corp. plans to add 200 workers in the next 18 months for aircraft component manufacturing, maintenance and repair.

Lockheed Martin is a recent arrival with 1,200 employees at KellyUSA. "We have long said that these facilities are world-class and will provide the environment we need to stabilize and grow our business," says Geary Wallace, vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Martin Kelly Aviation Center.

Altogether, the Greater Kelly Development Authority has redeveloped about 5 million sq. ft. (464,515 sq. m.) of space at the base in the past four years, but there are still another 3 million sq. ft. (278,709 sq. m.) in warehouse space and 2,000 available acres (810 hectares) of land.