San Antonio Potential
Biotech and the San Antonio Economy - Vista, Spring 2003 - Dallas Fed
Conclusion
The U.S. biotechnology industry is highly concentrated in a handful of large cities that have well-established and world-renowned medical institutions and scientists. A recent Brookings Institution study found that nine metropolitan areas account for three-fourths of the nation’s largest biotech firms and three-fourths of the biotech firms formed in the past decade. While San Antonio is not a large biotech center,the industry appears to be prospering there. The Brookings report classifies San Antonio as a median metropolitan area in terms of its share of the nation’s biotech industry.
San Antonio’s share of biotech employment is second in Texas, slightly behind Austin’s. By several measures, San Antonio has a significant amount of biotech research and development, and its pharmaceutical industry, while not as large as other areas, grew strongly from 1997 to 2000. After adjusting for size, San Antonio leads the Texas biotech metros in biotech patents classified by inventor residence. Measures of venture capital and NIH funding going to biotech in San Antonio are also relatively strong.
San Antonio faces several challenges. Relatively few Ph.D.’s are awarded in biological sciences,educational attainment is low, and the area lacks a nationally recognized top 20 medical school that would help attract the star scientists critical to industry growth. City officials, however,have recognized the importance of education to biotech and have begun several new initiatives with institutions such as the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Texas Health Science Center.
San Antonio seems willing to tax itself (or at least it’s visitors) to build facilities to attract professional sport teams. We’re in the same position to tax ourselves to invest in a different, economic future by voting yes to ballot items such school district tax increases and propositions 2 and 15. Too bad we can’t get the kind of voter turnout the Spurs get for winning a championship.
Technorati Tags: San Antonio, vote, biotechnology, economic development
Filed under: Economic development, San Antonio, biotechnology, vote
