Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an award of over $8 million to the Job Growth Grant Fund, which supports workforce and infrastructure needs in Florida's aerospace and aviation, military and defense, cybersecurity, financial services, and other industries, through a release this week.
According to the governor, the award will be distributed to three different areas.
- Palm Beach State College: $4,950,000
- Melbourne Orlando International Airport: $2.5 million
- Broward College: $908,000
“Today’s investments will support high demand regional and statewide needs, including talent development needs in communities that are supporting high impact industries that align with many of Florida’s greatest pillars of investment,” DeSantis said. “Communities such as Brevard and Palm Beach counties are critical for leading industry clusters in aerospace and aviation, military and defense, cybersecurity, financial services, and the investment in Broward College is focused on accelerated pathways to further support aviation workforce needs.”
Palm Beach State College will receive a grant for a new workforce program in computing and emerging quantum technologies to support critical national defense missions, cybersecurity, and financial services. The program is expected to enroll 970 students with 570 program completions over 10 years.
Melbourne Orlando International Airport will receive a grant to expand its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) apron. Moreover, the investment will support commercial and military aerospace aviation activities. The improved MRO is expected to create 500 jobs, while paying $75,000 to $85,000.
Broward College will receive a grant to expand the Aviation and Maintenance Accelerated Express Program (AvMaX) to support the industry's need for skilled aviation maintenance technicians, including accelerated job placement in commercial and military applications. Through AvMaX, students can earn three technical college credit certifications and a pathway for credits for an Associate of Science degree.
“Today’s investments are further examples of Governor DeSantis’ focus on targeted, catalytic investments that matter, especially for our national security,” Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly added. “These three investments support the foundations of workforce readiness for our aviators, cybersecurity, cryptography, secure communications and data.”
The Florida Job Growth Grant Fund has awarded over $300 million while creating over 40,000 jobs and 30,000 workforce education opportunities since its inception in 2019.
More information on the fund can be found here.
