Boeing is already a huge employer at Port San Antonio, and is in the middle of a major expansion of its sprawling facility in what used to be the largest hangar at Kelly Air Force Base, but Mayor Ron Nirenberg is hoping to attract more Boeing jobs to San Antonio, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Nirenberg today is flying to Seattle, presumably on a Boeing jet, to meet with corporate officials about a potential expansion of Boeing's growing footprint in the city.
The Mayor says Boeing is at the heart of San Antonio's major industrial strengths, from aviation to the military to high tech manufacturing and cybersecurity.
"Boeing is a very intriguing company in that respect, because all of those industries that you mentioned converge at Boeing."
The Mayor says San Antonio's manufacturing base has been growing at a time when basic manufacturing is on the decline in northern and eastern cities which were known for manufacturing in the last decade.
"Manufacturing in general in and in the aviation industry specifically has played a role in the employment of tens of thosuands of San Antonians," he said.
Manufacturing also is known for high pay, today's advanced or high tech manufacturing is a high skilled profession, and manufacturing is what economists call a 'value added' industry, because the manufactured products are generally exported to other cities or countries, bring the proceeds back to San Antonio
."Advanced manufacturing in general has become our number one industry," he said. "And aerospace, for more than a decade and a half, has been at the center of it," Nirenberg said.