Councilwoman Rebecca J. Viagran Completes Her Tenure As Chair Of Economic Workforce Development Committee In City Of San Antonio

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

June 1, 2021

SAN ANTONIO (June 1, 2021) — Today, Councilwoman Rebecca J. Viagran closed out her final meeting as Chair of the Economic Workforce Development Committee (EWDC). During her four years as Chair, she lead on inclusive growth strategies and the Legacy Business Program. She also helped oversee items related to the vitality of our local economy, including the creation and retention of jobs, attraction of new businesses and private investments, incentive policies and growth of targeted industries. In addition, she helped in the review of all aspects of the City’s investments in workforce development and training with the creation of the SA Ready to Work program.

“Today is bittersweet – while I am sad to close out this tenure as Chair of EWDC, I am excited for the future and growth this committee will bring to San Antonio’s economy moving forward. We have been working hard to ensure that this committee has made a positive impact – working to empower, grow, advance, and diversify all parts of our community.

Four years ago, we helped lead the focus on an inclusive growth strategy; with the intention that opportunities would arise throughout the city and in areas of need – not just in one part of the city. We continued to fine-tune our Small Business Economic Development Advocacy Program (SBEDA) and helped connect local small, minority, veteran and women-owned business enterprises to resources and contracting opportunities.

During this tenure, we have diversified our economy by creating ties internationally and bringing them to San Antonio. We have advanced San Antonio by promoting the creation of jobs and investment and have implemented the SA Ready to Work program to help bring new opportunities to 40,000 displaced workers in the post Covid-19 pandemic. We collaboratively worked as a community to bring our Economic Transition Team together during a global pandemic by taking the “Greater. Safer. Together.” pledge, investing in micro businesses and pivoting when we needed to redistribute funds. We also implemented a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) program to bring relief to small businesses for Covid-19 relief.

Taking the lead on the City’s Fee Waiver Program was an honor - it encourages affordable housing and historic preservation, supports our legacy businesses and existing homeowners, and promotes the expansion of small and minority businesses in San Antonio.

It is exciting to see the work we have done throughout San Antonio and in our community, especially in the Southside which has gained many large corporations the past 8 years to include recommitment by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, TJX Companies Inc., Cuisine Solutions, Amazon, Okin BPS, Navistar, and Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. - with many more on the way.

A big thank you to Rene Dominguez, Carlos Contreras, Sheryl Sculley, Erik Walsh, Mayor Ron Nirenberg, former Mayor Ivy Taylor, former Mayor Julian Castro, and Assistant City Manager Alex Lopez for their continued support throughout my tenure. I wish much success to the EWDC committee and continued accomplishments in a future that creates opportunities for continued economic mobility for all San Antonians.”

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.