Economic development in the communities surrounding the former Kelly AFB was the topic of the third and final roundtable discussion sponsored by the Kelly Area Collaboration, or KAC.
The purpose of the roundtables was to come up with a plan for the community and address concerns on issues of health, environment and economics. The KAC is an initiative organized by a collection of federal agencies called the Interagency Working Group of Environmental Justice. It includes federal, state and local public agencies and community groups.
Residents, business leaders and city officials met March 3 at Dwight Middle School to tackle such issues as job training, the lack of economic opportunities and ways to open communication between businesses and residents — especially businesses at Port San Antonio, formerly Kelly USA.
Representatives from the Southwest Workers' Union have attended all three roundtables. Lara Cushing, the environmental justice coordinator for the grassroots organization, said the community turnout was excellent.
"It was really positive — just the fact that the community came out and they had a lot of great ideas that were put out there as really community-driven, and they said this is what we want to see in our neighborhood," she said.
About 50 people attended the meeting, according to organizers.
Residents said they would like to see an increase in non-industrial businesses, social services, grocery stores, drug stores and health clinics, along with green space, Cushing said.
Jeff Labez-Hough represented the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. He worked on similar discussions about the Kelly area in the early 1990s and said the detailed dialogue he heard at the meeting impressed him.
"This kind of collaborative was not occurring in the '90s," Labez-Hough said. "And Bruce (Miller, the chief executive officer of Port San Antonio) has the approach that says, 'I want as much help as I can get' (in developing the area), and that's a very positive step that he's taken."
Educating tenants on what businesses and services are located near the port is one problem the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce may be able to help with in the future, Labez-Hough said. The chamber could think about creating graphics or publications to send to current and new businesses in the area, he said.
"No one knows what's right outside of the fence," he added.
Barbara Ankamah with the city's economic development department answered workforce development questions. Residents expressed concern over the lack of training for adults who want to move into more technologically advanced jobs.
Ankamah told them about the information technology training provided through a city partnership with the Alamo Community College District at the Advanced Technology Center at Port San Antonio.
"Whether going into the IT industry or health, they have a training module in place to help get better training to compete in the workforce," she said.
Ankamah added that she was pleased with how informed and concerned the residents appeared.
"I got the feeling that the majority seemed very aware of what was out there," she said. "They are very entrenched and very involved. I just think it was a really good thing to see so many people there. People really want to provide input to see the initiatives (be) successful."
But Cushing said she was disappointed that more representatives from businesses at the port did not attend the roundtable.
Stephanie Ramsey, vice president of marketing at Port San Antonio, said the authority wants to cooperate with the community.
"We certainly understand people are looking for help in putting together their projects and things they think need to get done," Ramsey said. "Certainly the members put forth suggestions and recommendations on what they would like to see Port San Antonio do in the community — largely things that would involve contributions by the port to specific endeavors, in some cases to donate (green) space or building space."
With all of the roundtables completed, KAC members will compile the requests and recommendations for a final report, which will be distributed at an implementation meeting. That meeting likely will be held in a couple of months, but no date has been set, organizers said.
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