(Jan. 17, 2018) – Through business advising to more than 34,000 business and community clients, the UTSA Institute for Economic Development generated $1.9 billion in direct economic impact nationwide, according to its newly released 2017 annual report. Comprised of nine centers, the Institute is the most comprehensive business development toolkit strengthening economies locally, nationally and internationally.
During the 2017 fiscal year, the Institute:
The UTSA Institute leads the expansion of the Small Business Network of the Americas. The international initiative has guided 22 western countries to adopt the UTSA Small Business Development Center methodology, which has evolved over 35 years at 1,100 universities and colleges across the nation. Today, 279 centers operate in Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean. They have collectively advanced more than 65,000 entrepreneurial projects. Chile and Colombia lead the adaptation process with 51 and 117 Centers, respectively.
UTSA alumni are also tapping into the Institute’s services.
Bianca Cerqueira ’12 and Lauren Cornell ’12 are battling breast cancer with their start-up, NovoThelium. Together, they are developing a bioengineered human scaffold that allows mastectomy patients to regenerate nipples from their own cells. The UTSA alumnae worked with the SBDC Technology Commercialization Center (TCC) to prepare for rigorous business competitions, earning first place in multiple state challenges and a top 10 national finalist spot in the SBA InnovateHER Challenge.
The TCC is also helping alumni Kristen Hamalainen ’16, Sanjiv Patel ’16 and Kreg Zimmern ’16 grow InfraVein Corp, a medical device company that provides solutions for venipuncture procedures including an infrared medical camera to help medical professionals with venous access. The SBDC TCC is assisting InfraVein with a Department of Defense SBIR proposal.
In the federal arena, Alamo City Engineering Services Inc. worked with the SBDC Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) to expand its footprint in federal and state markets. In 2017, ACES received a four-year defense industry contract supporting the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command valued at $27 million. PTAC also partnered with the UTSA Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security to provide a cybersecurity training academy that addresses cybersecurity requirements for small businesses conducting work for the DoD.
“The efforts of PTAC have assisted Alamo City Engineering Services in our expansion into the government markets, which include federal, state and local governments, as well as educational institutions,” said Craig Stephens, President, Alamo City Engineering Services Inc.
Legacy clients like Dixie Flag and Banner Co have worked with the UTSA Small Business Development Center for more than 20 years to grow and expand. The company has also engaged in SASBDC’s Building Business Excellence course, which helps established small and mid-sized businesses grow. Dixie Flag and Banner Co has provided flags for the San Antonio Spurs, the Valero Alamo Bowl, five U.S. Presidential Inaugurations and has grown to 38 employees with annual sales exceeding $3 million.
“As we have faced challenges over the years, the SBDC has been there providing amazing service to our small business. The SBDC is a San Antonio treasure,” said Henry 'Pete' Van de Putte, CEO, Dixie Flag & Banner Co.
The Institute’s Center for Community and Business Research generated multiple economic impact studies for the City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Fiesta Commission and the Valero Texas Open Golf Tournament. The South Texas Energy and Economic Roundtable also commissioned CCBR for an updated analysis of the Eagle Ford Shale (EFS). CCBR is currently conducting a comparative study for the Argentinian Petroleum and Gas Institute on the unconventional oil and gas operations of the Vaca Muerta Shale in Neuquén Province and the EFS in South Texas.
In exporting and manufacturing, the Minority Business Development Center San Antonio added two specialty centers including the Export Center and the Advanced Manufacturing Center, which works in partnership with the Institute’s Southwest Trade Adjustments and Assistance Center (SWTAAC), providing business consulting and matching funds to help manufacturers compete in a global marketplace.
The Institute is committed to creating jobs, growing businesses and fostering economic and community development. With an emphasis on scale-up growth industry clusters and technology commercialization, the Institute’s core strengths include business start-up, manufacturing competitiveness, high-growth minority businesses, international trade and investment, government contracting and corporate supply chains, rural development, applied economics and development policy research, and shale energy economic research.
The Institute is an integral part of UTSA’s experiential learning mission and hosts an average of 40 undergraduates, graduate students and alumni each year. These workforce-ready professionals have gone on to secure employment with J.P. Morgan Chase, Marathon Oil, the U.S. Air Force, the Asociacion de Empresarios Mexicanos (AEM), Proctor & Gamble, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other top companies.
"Our motto, 'Building the economy one business at a time,' guides the quality and effectiveness of the Institute’s services, yet is scaled massively to strengthen Texas here at home and build key market connections with our partners internationally," said UTSA Sr. Associate Vice President for Economic Development Robert McKinley.
UTSA is ranked among the nation’s top four young universities, according to Times Higher Education.
Learn more about UTSA Institute for Economic Development.
Read the 2017 Institute for Economic Development Annual Report.
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Join the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
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