Saluting a star

San Antonio business marches onto Fortune’s list of most admired companies in the world

USAA makes Fortune's list of the world's most admired companies.

National business publication Fortune magazine is saluting one of San Antonio’s best-known employers.

Financial services provider USAA ranks 25th on Fortune’s2022 list of the world’s most admired companies. The ranking is based on the magazine’s poll of about 3,700 corporate executives, corporate directors, and business analysts.

USAA is the No. 1 Texas-based company on the list and the only San Antonio company in the ranking. USAA employs about 1,500 people in Alamo City.

The company does plenty to draw admiration. For instance, in October, USAA raised the minimum hourly pay for its employees from $16 to $21.

“USAA’s employees are the heart of our association, and providing a competitive pay and benefits package is one way we reward them for providing exceptional service to military members and their families,” Wayne Peacock, president and CEO of USAA, said in a news release announcing the pay raise. “Increasing our minimum pay and enhancing our already comprehensive benefits package helps ensure we’re being responsive to our employees’ needs and dynamically changing market conditions.”

Another example: USAA gives back to communities around the country. For instance, the company and its charitable foundation in 2020 committed $87 million to support pandemic relief, racial equity, and other pressing needs. Also in 2020, USAA made a three-year, $50 million commitment to helping close opportunity gaps in education, job training, employment, and income.

“Serving USAA members with exceptional service and commitment today, tomorrow, and long into our second century is a legacy we are determined and proud to carry forward,” Peacock says.

USAA is among 18 Texas-based companies appearing on Fortune’s new list of the world’s most admired companies. The others are:

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, No. 28.
Westlake-based Charles Schwab, No. 47.
Dallas-based AECOM, No. 55.
Dallas-based AT&T, No. 77.
Dallas-based CBRE Group, No. 103.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips, No. 117.
Round Rock-based Dell Technologies, No. 125.
Houston-based EOG Resources, No. 140.
Spring-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise, No. 164.
Arlington-based D.R. Horton, No. 168.
Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering Group, No. 179.
Houston-based KBR, No. 186.
Irving-based McKesson, No. 214.
Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, No. 237.
Houston-based Quanta Services, No. 253.
Austin-based Tesla, No. 294.
Houston-based Waste Management, No. 318.

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Hold Your Horses

San Antonio City Council considers plan to phase out horse-drawn carriages

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A scant majority of San Antonians like the idea of ending the practice.

In a special session on Thursday, October 31, the San Antonio City Council will deliberate on possibly phasing out horse-drawn carriages. A proposal called "A Just Transition from Horse Drawn Carriages" has led to a one-to-three-year plan for replacing the horses with electric carriages.

An early project proposal in November of 2022 — written by District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran — laid out concerns for the horses' wellbeing, quoting the Animal Welfare Institute. Concerns included exposure to traffic and pollution, long periods standing and walking on hard surfaces, and extreme weather, among other things. In addition to the effect on horses, the request also mentioned environmental effects from slowed traffic.

It proposed completely stopping any new use of horse drawn carriages and letting any existing permits expire. The request also mentioned pedicabs as an alternative alongside the electric carriages, but the pedicabs seem to have fallen away from the public discourse.

Following up on the proposal, a city survey that concluded in August of 2024 found that of 50,476 respondents, a scant majority (51.98 percent) said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." Other options like changing hours and location of horse-drawn carriage use were unpopular, and 29.01 percent said they wanted to continue with the current system of use.

A majority of respondents (53.83 percent) had never ridden in a horse drawn carriage at all, and an strong majority of those survey takers cited the treatment of the horse as the reason they hadn't tried it. Those who had ridden on the carriages mostly liked it for the "historical and cultural experience," with examples including feeling nostalgic and learning about San Antonio's history.

The survey did not disclose how many of the people who rode on the carriages were tourists, but tourists made up 21.66 percent of respondents.

In addition to the survey, council members also unanimously voted on August 19, 2024, to have a plan drafted by city staff that would phase out the horse-drawn carriages in one to three years.

The only item on the special session agenda (aside from approval of minutes) is a briefing and possible action on the proposal, meaning that a decision is not guaranteed.

More information about city council meetings is available at sa.gov.

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