San Antonio: South Texas Powerhouse Helping Fuel Texas’ Economic Momentum
This article originally appeared in the July 2026 edition of Development Incentives Quarterly.
Authored by: Justin Heather
San Antonio is carving out a prominent role in Texas’ continued economic leadership, blending its military heritage, strategic location and robust incentives toolbox to attract high-value investment in advanced manufacturing. As the state celebrates another strong year in project wins (14 Governor’s Cups in a row), the Alamo City and Bexar County exemplify how targeted local tools – like tax abatements, Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZs), enterprise zones, and workforce partnerships – drive substantial investment.
Military City USA is making a run at Manufacturing City USA
In the past five years, San Antonio has seen substantial growth in the manufacturing sector. This growth is due in no small part to the partnership between the City of San Antonio and Bexar County and their consistent offering of economic development incentives to support economic growth of the manufacturing industry. A few examples demonstrate the importance of such incentives.
Between 2019 and 2021, Bexar County and San Antonio offered incentive packages for serial investments by Navistar, Inc. and Navistar Manufacturing San Antonio LLC. The more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing plant and support functions represent investments of over $275 million and the creation of around 650 new jobs in the region by Navistar. For the 2019 acquisition for construction of a manufacturing plant, the city and county offered a 10-year tax abatement on real and personal property, the creation of the Navistar TIRZ, various fee waivers, reimbursement for the agriculture exemption rollbacks, grants, and various public infrastructure improvements reimbursements. Bexar County and San Antonio provided additional incentives in 2021 for Navistar’s expanded footprint, bringing the company’s total tax relief to approximately $14.4 million.
JCB broke ground in 2024 on its new $500 million North American factory in San Antonio, which is expected to create over 1,500 new jobs in the first five years. In addition to incentives from the state, San Antonio and Bexar County also offered packages to induce JCB’s expansion. Bexar County’s package, valued around $12 million, includes a 10-year abatement of ad valorem taxes on real and personal property, reimbursement for the agriculture exemption rollback, a jobs grant, and up to $5 million for reimbursement of public infrastructure improvements. For its part, the city provided an estimated $10.4 million in tax abatement, a $2.35 million Economic Development Incentives Fund grant, and fee waivers valued at about $1.5 million. The city also designated the site a Texas Enterprise Zone (TEZ) project, which makes the company eligible for up to $3.75 million in sales and use tax refunds.
Toyota’s Continued Growth in the Alamo City
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc. has invested heavily in Bexar County over the last several years. In 2019, Toyota announced an investment of $409 million for an expansion of its existing south side plant creating 2,000 new full-time jobs. The city created the Toyota TIRZ, granted an eight-year abatement of ad valorem taxes on real and personal property, and provided grant funding for infrastructure improvements. Bexar County followed suit, providing a 10-year tax abatement on real property improvements and new personal property as well as job-related grant funds.
Just five years later, Toyota announce another half billion-dollar investment in further expansion of its plant operations with support from both Bexar County and the City of San Antonio. Both taxing jurisdictions offered long-term abatement of ad valorem taxes on real and personal property. The city and county also offered several grants for infrastructure, site work, job skills training and fee waivers.
Toyota’s Project Orca represents another opportunity for further expansion of San Antonio’s manufacturing industry. Project Orca represents a potential $2 billion further expansion of Toyota’s existing plant, which could add a full new vehicle assembly line and up to 2,000 high-paying jobs. While the company has not yet decided on the location for this investment, in mid-June, the city council unanimously approved approximately $122 million in incentives for Project Orca. The city’s package includes approximately $88 million in real and personal property tax abatement, $24.5 million for road improvements (with contributions from Bexar County and TxDOT), over $9 million in job training and upskilling grants under Chapter 380, and nomination as a TEZ “Triple Jumbo” project. Local utilities are offering over $20 million in rate reductions and fee waivers as well.
Bexar County also recently approved a new tax abatement and grant agreement providing a 10-year abatement of ad valorem taxes on real and personal property, as well as a skills development grant. The total incentives being offered by the county is estimated to be over $55 million. The state has recommended approval under its Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) program valued at approximately $37 million, but final state and school district approvals are still pending. In addition to the investment and job creation minimums, Toyota is required to hire half its workforce from Bexar County, reinvest 10% of the abatement in wraparound services for the community, and commit to meaningful workforce training and infrastructure improvements. Planners project a $3.2 billion economic impact from construction alone and $7.6 billion annually once the expanded plant became fully operational.
Conclusion
With Greater: SATX’s new MOMENTUM: 2030 plan emphasizing corporate headquarters recruitment, job acceleration and workforce development, and the clear commitment to support economic development by state and local officials, San Antonio is positioned for sustained momentum amid Texas’ broader economic boom. San Antonio’s central location, proximity to the supply chain, and great labor force make the community an excellent site location. The City of San Antonio and Bexar County’s commitment to consistently leverage economic development incentives, however, stand out as essential to the area’s continued growth, especially in advanced manufacturing where it is one of the stronger performers nationally.
