The funding going to Northwest Florida municipalities is designed to augment job growth.
The Triumph Gulf Coast Board[1] approved millions of dollars in grants designed to create new high-wage jobs in Northwest Florida.
The panel approved $65 million in funding[2] this month that will not only create those jobs but is also likely to provide more than 10,000 industry certifications for workers. The funding is earmarked for projects in five different Panhandle counties.
About $12.83 million approved by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board is dedicated to support recruitment of “Project Kilowatt” in Bay County. That project is an advanced marine manufacturing company that develops carbon-fiber hulls for watercraft and electric propulsion vessels.
The company is planning to locate its international headquarters and other operations in Bay County and the funding will help the county acquire 11.55 acres of property on the waterfront on St. Andrews Bay. The county will keep ownership of the land that will be leased to the company.
Escambia County is in line for $32.15 million to help expand the University of West Florida’s Institute for Analytics and Industry Advancement, the Center for Cybersecurity and establish a new Center for Computational Intelligence.
Another $3.25 million is dedicated to Pensacola State College and the establishment of a Workforce Development Training Center. That center is designed to increase worker training in industries not only in Escambia County, but Santa Rosa County as well.
Franklin County is set for a $250,000 grant from the Triumph Board to establish an aviation and power plant training program at Apalachicola Regional Airport. Haney Technical College will be a partner in the development of that project.
Gulf County is getting a grant award of $6.89 million to support a digital tools and technology initiative in the Gulf County School District. The project is designed to train school children from elementary to secondary schools in the county.
And Wakulla County is set for a grant up to about $10 million for work on health care and teacher workforce training programs at the Wakulla Environmental Institute Campus. There are negotiations underway for additional involvement with Tallahassee State College which made the funding request.
The Triumph Gulf Coast Inc. was established after the Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010 and is designed to augment economic recovery in the region. The board has awarded more than $754 million in grants since 2018.
References
- ^ Triumph Gulf Coast Board (www.myfloridatriumph.com)
- ^ $65 million in funding (www.myfloridatriumph.com)