On August 10 1998 a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III landed in San Antonio at the site of the former Kelly Air Force Base. For some this was a harsh reminder of the base closure just a few years prior but for many it was a sign of new opportunities.
As the anchor tenant for the newly re-purposed facility Boeing had drawn a line in the sand declaring its intent to defend the San Antonio community and inviting others to join in rebuilding a solid and dependable economy.
Today Boeing provides maintenance and support to some of the worlds finest military aircraft the KC-135 Stratotanker the KC-10 and the highly distinguished C-17 strategic airlifter. The facility may eventually see work on the state-of-the-art super-efficient 787 Dreamliner as well.
And of course this activity necessarily brings other vendors suppliers and partners to the area.
Kelly now known as Port San Antonio has since grown to include other aerospace giants such as Lockheed Martin Pratt & Whitney a world class railport and foreign trade zone. The facility according to a recent University of Texas San Antonio study contributed a $3.3 billion annual impact and helped employ over 22000 people.
Since that fateful 1995 vote to shut down military operations and due in large part to the commitment of Boeing to revitalize the facilities and reinvest in the community the United States Air Force will be returning to the site with approximately 2700 military employees in place by 2010.
To accommodate these eleven Air Force agencies construction contracts totaling more than $24 million have been recently awarded for renovations at Port San Antonio. In addition to the Port San Antonio expansion another $80 million in contracts have been awarded for work at Ft. Sam Houston and Randolph AFB.
The Air Force expansion at all three facilities together is expected to add an additional $2.9 billion in annual impacts to the existing economic base.
While the country is experiencing an economic downturn the Central Texas has much to be thankful for.
Although forecasts show that even Texas is not entirely immune to job loss and the credit crisis the San Antonio community can rest assured that the development and revitalization delivered by that Boeing C-17 back in 1998 will continue to have a positive impact for years to come.
