Texas McCombs Business Outlook Event in San Antonio To Focus on Defense

AUSTIN, Texas — Experts on national security will discuss pressing issues for the defense sector at the 2024 Business Outlook meeting Feb. 28 at the San Antonio Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Hosted by Dean Lillian Mills of The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, the event includes breakfast and networking. McCombs alumni and the San Antonio business community are invited.

Mills will moderate a panel composed of economic, academic, and industry leaders who will consider several key questions related to the business of defense, including where things are in the current economic cycle, prospects for Texas’ economy in 2024, and how businesses are preparing for industry fluctuations to gain a competitive edge.

The event’s panelists are retired Army Lt. Col. Paul Edgar, executive director of the Clements Center for National Security at UT Austin and holder of a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern languages and culture; Luis Torres, a senior business economist and researcher on issues affecting Texas, Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexico border; and retired Army Col. Dennis McGowan, chief of acquisition and contracting to U.S. Army North.

Following an event in Dallas on geopolitical risk and in Houston on the future of health care, the San Antonio event will be the last in a three-part series for this year’s annual McCombs Business Outlook, presented in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“We’re delighted to facilitate these vital conversations,” said Mills. “Our vision is to offer business communities in Texas a chance to glean lessons from 2023 and to gain inspiration and confidence to move forward.”

Registration is open and space is limited. For information about purchasing a table, contact alumni@mccombs.utexas.edu.