In April 2022, food scientist Lashawndra Lawrence was contacted by Twang Partners, LLC, the San Antonio-based manufacturer of flavored salt, sugar, and spices. The company wanted to interview Lawrence for a job and, even in this era of remote work and video conferencing, the firm was adamant that she fly in from Atlanta and do the interview in person.
She says part of Twang’s reasoning for wanting her to come was for both the prospective employer and employee to be sure they were a good fit for each other. But looking back, Lawrence suspects another reason might have been that the company wanted to show off their hometown, which she had never before visited.
“They graciously arranged for me to stay at the hotel over the weekend after my interview,” says Lawrence. “And that’s when I fell in love with San Antonio.”
Lawrence spent the weekend taking a bicycle tour of the San Antonio’s murals and sampling some of its diverse ethnic cuisine. She made quick friends with her tour guide and bartenders and other people she bumped into. One morning at breakfast, she went to pay when she discovered a local woman who she had been talking to had already taken care of the bill.
Lawrence took the job at Twang and moved to San Antonio. When she arrived, she soon realized that there was even more to the Greater San Antonio region when it comes to career opportunity, quality of life, and cultural resonance for professionals in a wide range of industries.
First San Antonio is affordable, offering a lower cost of living on things like utilities, taxes, and prices of services and goods than most other cities in Texas and across the country. In fact, the metro area was recently ranked #4 in the U.S. Cost of Living Index.
But in San Antonio, lower cost doesn’t mean sacrificing quality of life. The city features 15,000 acres of public parks and 150 miles of trails. And if food is your thing — like it is for Lawrence — San Antonio has been designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and is home to one of only four worldwide campuses of the Culinary Institute of America. And you won’t find a better breakfast taco anywhere.
The same things that have made San Antonio one of the fastest-growing cities in which to live and work have also made it a vibrant ecosystem for starting and growing businesses.
Beto Altamirano is an entrepreneur who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and spent summers in San Antonio. After spending time in cities all over the world — including Barcelona, Amsterdam, Washington, D.C., and Cambridge, where he obtained a graduate degree in public administration from Harvard — there was no question where he wanted to root his tech start-up Irys.
“There’s a lot of momentum and growth in San Antonio,” says Altamirano. “There’s so much going on in biotech, politics, cybersecurity, construction, and healthcare, with so much room for growth and improvement. Plus, San Antonio offers a unique opportunity: The city makes you fall in love with the idea that you can help shape its future.”
Altamirano’s Irys is a company that develops apps for governments, corporations, and civic organizations to better connect with the public. For instance, users can report graffiti or potholes to the appropriate authorities as they see them through the Irys mobile platform. He says that the intimate community feel of San Antonio has been ideal for leveraging relationships with local companies and government officials.
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San Antonio might well make a good model for other cities looking to build a flourishing place to live and work in the 21st century and beyond — but the one thing that truly makes this city unique is its people.
Just a year after she interviewed and subsequently accepted the job at Twang, Lawrence decided to put down roots and buy a house on the Northwest side of San Antonio. Part of the reason was that she loves her job and her co-workers, who exemplify the laid-back, yet driven community feel of the city at large. But she also feels like this is a place where she belongs.
San Antonio: A Vibrant City for Work and Play
The culture here is so rich and the people are so warm and welcoming,” says Lawrence. “It feels like San Antonio has a soul.”
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Discovering a Superior Quality of Life
You’d think that as a food scientist, I’d get sick of food — but I can’t get enough of it,” says Lawrence. “And San Antonio’s food scene blew my mind. There are so many new restaurants, and it’s such a melting pot of diverse cuisines and cultures.”
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And of course, the bonanza of ethnic food is accompanied by a continual celebration of the cultures represented in San Antonio. The city is teeming with art, history, music, and celebrations. Like the annual citywide Fiesta, a 10-day party in honor of the heroes of the Alamo and San Jacinto.
“I had no idea about Fiesta until I moved down here,” says Lawrence. “It was a blast.”
Entrepreneurial Spirit Thrives in
San Antonio
If you want to mobilize your connections and build a company, it’s not hard,” says Altamirano. “This is a big city with a small-town vibe. If you’re interested in starting a company, especially a tech company, you’re always just one-degree of separation from local leaders.”
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Irys employs more than 70 people. Altamirano says that the local education infrastructure from early childhood through higher ed — including universities, two-year colleges, and tech schools — produces a rich pool of STEM-skilled professionals. And the region’s built-in diversity provides a wide array of experiences and viewpoints that any emerging company would treasure.
He also says San Antonio’s wealth of culture, temperate weather, and relative ease of living (the average commute is only 24 minutes) will attract and retain talent from all parts of the globe.
“It’s a place where people from diverse cultures have come together to collaborate, thrive, and drive our city forward,” says Altamirano. “The rest of the country could learn from how we’ve made it work. This is the city of the future.”
People Power
I’m all in on San Antonio,” Lawrence says. “I see so many different people converging here. Everyone is so warm and friendly. It just feels like home.”
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For more information about San Antonio as a place where Life Works Greater℠, visit https://greatersatx.com/life-works-greater/.
Lashawndra Lawrence
Beto Altamirano
In San Antonio, young professionals have the opportunities to make more of their careers.
In San Antonio, young professionals have opportunities to make more of their careers.