As JCB builds a major new 720,000 sq ft factory in San Antonio…a US trade delegation wants other major manufacturers to follow suit

A US trade delegation led by Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, president and CEO of greater:SATX, the economic development organisation for San Antonio, Texas, will visit the UK as part of a major inward investment drive.

The week-long visit follows Wednesday’s announcement that the UK has signed its biggest US state-level trade pact with Texas.

Only recently JCB, one of the UK’s largest private companies, announced that it is to build a major manufacturing hub in San Antonio, joining 13 UK companies that have chosen the rapidly-growing Texas city as their US base.

JCB has experienced growth in the US in recent years and expects continued demand for its products in the future.

Other British companies already in San Antonio span sectors including pharmaceutical and electro-medical manufacturing, medicine, diagnostics, insurance, civil engineering, consulting and more.

The UK has been identified as the biggest inward investor in the region in recent years and next week’s trade delegation hopes to build on this strong foundation.

The greater:SATX team is particularly interested in strengthening business links with UK companies in the manufacturing sector, with the JCB factory project seen as a shining example.

Advanced Manufacturing Overview

Advanced Manufacturing, as defined by Manufacturing.gov, is use of innovative technologies to create existing products and the creation of new products.

Advanced manufacturing can include production activities that depend on information, automation, computation, software, sensing, and networking. In San Antonio this includes global brands in Automobiles, Semiconductors, Oil & Gas and Engineering, and even 21st century food enterprise, including a strong supply chain network within a variety of areas, from auto to airplanes, robotics and packaging.

The industry boasts high racial and gender diversity, with competitive earnings for San Antonians.

Fast Facts:

Over 60,000 employed in Manufacturing in diverse sub-industries.

San Antonio is an automotive Industry hotspot with Toyota and Navistar (a Traton company), with a growing supplier network throughout the area supporting those and Tesla in the Austin area.

Regional Sector GDP is $2.4 Billion with 7% growth over the past 5 years.

The sector is anticipated to grow by 22% in the next 5 years, and major infrastructural assets from Road (253 miles of Freeway), Rail (Union Pacific and BNSF) and Air (San Antonio International Airport) are all handling hundreds of millions of pounds of freight annually.

There are five mega sites of between 565 and 1,800 acres ready to host the next regionally transformative project.

For the San Antonio regional market (CoStar) 6,000,000 sq. ft. of new industrial were under construction in early 2024, with a total inventory of almost 177 million sq. ft. and average rents per sq. ft. at around $10.25.

For UK companies wishing to learn more about business opportunities in San Antonio, please visit the greater:SATX website for further information.