SAN ANTONIO – Port San Antonio is one of the technology hubs of the Alamo City and it already contributes more than $5 billion to the Texas economy, while creating tens of thousands of jobs.
More and more businesses are choosing to come to Port SA and the Alamo City -- the latest is XYREC Inc.
“This system is a laser with a big robot and it removes paint from the aircraft,” Peter Boeijink, president and CEO of XYREC Inc. said.
The laser is integral for the industry and it is revolutionary in its efficiency and safety.
"The business value of removing paint by the system is high. It’s faster than anything else in the world. Secondly, it’s environmentally friendly. I mean, we’re not using 4,000 gallons of water. We’re not using 300 gallons of chemicals that you have to clean up again. And it’s very healthy for workers; there is no unhealthy work situation anymore,” Boeijink said.
XYREC chose San Antonio and Port SA because of the company’s partnership with the Southwest Research Institute and Port SA’s growing tech field.
“It’s ground changing for aircraft maintenance. It’s not just the environmental and the occupational safety benefits. It’s the time benefits. There’s 60% less time to strip an aircraft than traditional methods. And with this technology, once you’ve figured out how to do it on airplanes, you can do it on anything,” Port SA president and CEO Jim Perschbach said.
The partnership is a big step for the port.
“It means that we are leading the way about incorporating new technologies into the mature industries that we do so well. And what this is, the type of stuff is it creates, those economic opportunities that bring jobs back to San Antonio that create opportunities and show we’re on the right track by investing in,” Perschbach said.
And there are big plans for the future of Port SA.
“We’ve got some exciting announcements that we can’t quite talk about yet. But using these back areas, these hidden areas, you’re going to see an awful lot of this type of groundbreaking research going on,” Perschbach said.