Local Developer Marty Wender Kicks Off New Rotary Year with Inspiring Talk on San Antonio’s Past, Present, and Future

Pictured above are Rotary Club of San Antonio Past Presidents Jay Stanley and Karla Reidel, luncheon speaker Marty Wender, and club President Kelley Frost.

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At our first meeting of the new Rotary year, the Rotary Club of San Antonio welcomed legendary San Antonio developer and civic leader Marty Wender.

Introduced by Past President Rhonda Calvert, who recalled Marty's early entrepreneurial spirit and creative energy—most memorably when the two helped throw a citywide “hot sauce party” to welcome visitors during San Antonio’s first Final Four—Wender was praised for his long-standing commitment to revitalizing and investing in the West Side and beyond. Projects like Westover Hills, the Wells Fargo Center, SeaWorld, and the Hyatt Hill Country have all borne his mark.

Wender delivered a rich, unscripted reflection on San Antonio’s economic transformation, grounded in personal stories, civic history, and hard-won insights from decades of leadership in the public and private sectors.

He walked members through how San Antonio became a hub for:

• Medical and biomedical research, thanks in part to the formation of the county’s teaching hospital and the eventual establishment of UT Health San Antonio.
• Military medicine and research, including Brooke Army Medical Center and the Tri-Service Medical Education and Training Campus at Fort Sam Houston.
• Tourism, tracing the impact of HemisFair ’68, the evolution of the River Walk, and major investments in the Alamo’s future.
• Manufacturing and automotive innovation, recounting how relationships with Japanese leadership helped bring Toyota to town.
• Cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, noting the NSA’s major presence and Microsoft’s status as Bexar County’s top taxpayer.

With wit and humility, Wender emphasized that San Antonio’s greatest strength is its people—its welcoming spirit, can-do attitude, and deep civic pride. He concluded by encouraging Rotarians to continue investing in the city’s future and supporting bold projects like the proposed entertainment district around the Spurs’ new arena.

In recognition of his visit, the club presented Marty with a piece of original art from Girls Inc. depicting Rotary’s Four-Way Test—an appropriate tribute to a man whose work has helped shape the city we love.

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