Leadership
David E. Marquez
Executive Director of Economic and Community Development
David Marquez directs the County’s efforts to develop and improve the local economy, and to improve the life circumstances for Bexar County residents.
This is primarily achieved through business attraction and retention programs, tax incentive programs, and other economic development initiatives. In this role, his areas of responsibility also include the Utility Assistance program, Pauper Burial program, Guardianship Program, and other initiatives providing services to the County’s constituents.
This year Mr. Marquez was also tasked with administering the County’s $79.6 million dollar Coronavirus Relief Fund provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. When combined with additional Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Community Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) funds, more than $60 million dollars flowed directly through the Economic and Community Department to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the residents and businesses of Bexar County.
Since 2000, Mr. Marquez has concurrently been the County’s manager for the negotiation, construction, and on-going operations of the AT&T Center, home to the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs, and to the annual San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo. The project includes several other planning and development components for the area in and immediately surrounding the Arena site. Mr. Marquez also managed the county’s preparations for the year 2000.
He began his career with the County as a Lead Budget and Management Analyst, where he led several performance review projects designed for quality and productivity improvement. Since 1999, Mr. Marquez has served as an adjunct business professor for the University of the Incarnate Word teaching courses in management, strategic planning, and analysis.
Prior to his County employment, Mr. Marquez worked at the San Antonio Air Logistics Center, beginning in 1986 as a machine tool operator apprentice. Moving from the blue-collar shops into project duties, he served as a project leader for several total quality improvement and strategic planning efforts. Concurrently, he served as local area network manager.
He holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree from Southwest Texas State University (1996), and a Master of Urban Administration degree from Trinity University (1998). David resides in his native San Antonio with his wife Patricia and their two grown children. David plays the guitar and is a vocalist in the praise and worship team for Calvary Chapel of San Antonio.
Robert H. Reyna, MBA
Community DEVELOPMENT PRogram DIRECTOR
Robert H. Reyna serves as Community Development Director for the Bexar County Economic and Community Development Department (ECD). In this capacity, he oversees a multi-million dollar grant portfolio comprised of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES), American Rescue Plan (ARP), and General Administration funds.
Mr. Reyna possesses broad technical expertise in the areas of economic and community development, regulatory compliance, and grant administration. His experience includes designing and implementing community development programs that provide decent housing, suitable living environments, and expanded economic opportunities for residents of Bexar County.
Mr. Reyna holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degree from St. Mary’s University and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree from the University of the Incarnate Word.
Deborah carter
Economic Development Director
Deborah Carter joined Bexar County as the Director of Economic Development in September 2018. As director, she leads economic development strategies to recruit targeted industries to Bexar County, workforce development initiatives to grow a job-ready talent pipeline, and community development programs to improve vital infrastructure.
Under Deborah’s leadership, Bexar County Economic & Community Development administered $13 million in Corona Virus Relief Funds (CRF) to help residents through the unprecedented challenges brought by COVID-19. CRF programs include Small Business, Restaurant & Bar Grants, Job Training & Employment Assistance, Rental Assistance, and Relocation Assistance.
Other high-impact projects include recruiting Navistar to Bexar County, which created 600 new jobs as well as a future supplier park; and the revival of Bexar County’s TechFuel Pitch Competition, a cash prize competition for local tech-based startups to accelerate business growth.
As champion of local business and career development, Deborah was named one of the San Antonio Business Journal’s Women in Leadership honorees for 2018. Deborah was instrumental in launching the Rackspace Open Cloud Academy, which offers boot camp style IT training to help fill talent gaps at Rackspace and other tech companies.
Deborah is a founding member of TechBloc, a local grassroots group that pushes for local policies to attract and retain knowledge workers, where she helped shepherd CAST Tech High School, the city’s first applied science and technology charter, from drawing board to reality. San Antonio Business Journal named Deborah “Tech Titan for 2015”.
The White House invited Deborah to President Obama’s address to the nation on TechHire in 2014, which was also the year she achieved a $6 million grant to support tuition assistance for Open Cloud Academy students and given Bersin by Deloitte’s What Works Award. In 2012 she was named by the Alamo Region of the Texas Workforce Commission Employer Partner of the Year, and Rackspace recognized her with its “Infinity and Beyond” award in 2009.
In 2008, Deborah successfully led a partnership with Alamo Colleges to leverage a $4.7 million grant to implement technical training which included programs such as the MCITP Bootcamp, becoming a Cisco Certified Learning Partner, ITIL and Project Management training.
Jackie Ibarra
Program Support Services Senior Manager
Jacqueline (Jackie) Ibarra is the Manager for Program Support Services who joined the team in March 2019. With over 15 years of management experience, Jackie has a passion in developing and harnessing the abilities of others to inspire high-performance teams that strengthen, grow, and produce high levels of performance and continuous improvement within the department.
Jackie began her career with Bexar County almost 30 years ago in the District Clerk’s Office as an entry level clerk. Through perseverance, self-development, and lots of hard work she progressed through several positions within the District Clerk’s Office with increasing level of responsibility culminating as the Division Chief of Civil Operations.
As the Division Chief of Civil Operations she oversaw the daily operations of the division, managed a team of 60+ team members, and supported 14 District Courts, two child support courts and two children courts.
Jackie’s strong communication skills has allowed her to develop strong working relationships with elected officials, Judges, key executives, leaders and co-department managers to promote organization goals that support customer’s, both internal and external, needs.
A San Antonio native, Jackie appreciates the abundance of activities and opportunities the Alamo city provides. In her free time, Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband, Henry and their three girls, entertaining family and friends, watching movies, discovering new restaurants and traveling. Due to a personal experience, Jackie is a firm believer of donating blood and bone marrow which is truly the “gift of life”.