San Antonio possesses significant strengths in advanced manufacturing, defense, cybersecurity, and biomedical innovation, yet many international companies have never heard of the city. That marketing gap is the focus of a recent episode of The Building Texas Show, titled The Hidden Giant: Why San Antonio Is The Best Kept Secret, where host Justin McKenzie speaks with Dr. Lina Rugova about elevating the city's global profile.
Rugova serves as Operations Chair and a founding member of the San Antonio Applied Innovation Council, founder and president of Emerge and Rise, and co-lead of Founder Institute San Antonio. In the conversation, she is direct about the challenge: "When we speak to international companies, they never even heard of San Antonio," she says. "The first option is always going to be Dallas, Houston, and Austin."
The Applied Innovation Council connects industry, public infrastructure, capital, and higher education around four focus areas: industrial and advanced manufacturing, defense and cybersecurity, biomedical and health innovation, and applied technology and talent. "Talent is everything in San Antonio," Rugova says. That philosophy shaped Texas Venture Fest San Antonio, which Rugova co-hosted on Oct. 1. The event was planned around arts and culture, media, tourism, hospitality, and innovation and technology, because the group identified two key issues: a lack of creative marketing for San Antonio and the need to retain local talent. The goal, she says, is to focus on opportunities ahead "instead of concentrating on challenges and issues all the time."
Rugova also describes collaboration with greater:SATX, the region's economic development organization, on an international soft-landing path. This initiative helps overseas companies settle in San Antonio, including through cultural integration, and gives local small businesses a way to partner with those companies on procurement and vendor opportunities. She sees a strong fit for European and Asian companies, describing San Antonio as having "a big city, small town mentality" that is more relationship-driven than transactional.
McKenzie notes that the talent is already present. Many students come from the Rio Grande Valley to attend UTSA, Trinity University, and the University of the Incarnate Word, and Alamo Colleges is "doing great stuff." He also points to the UT Health Science Center, data science at UTSA, cybersecurity education, and access to wet labs. The challenge, he says, is giving graduates a reason to stay or to return to raise a family in a city known for its outdoors and rivers.
Rugova speaks from experience. An immigrant from Kazakhstan who arrived in the Bronx at 16, she holds a DBA, founded Emerge and Rise for underserved entrepreneurs, and teaches at Palo Alto College. She moved from New York City in November 2019 after weighing Dallas, Austin, and Houston, and chose San Antonio as the better fit. Her advice for the city is to tell its own story. "We should never ever compare ourselves to other cities," she says. "We have our unique opportunity and uniqueness in our city that we should be showcasing."
The implications for the business community are significant. If San Antonio can successfully market its assets and retain its graduates, it could attract more international investment, create procurement opportunities for local small businesses, and strengthen its position in key industries like defense and biomedical innovation. The full conversation is available on The Building Texas Show.
