Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the distribution of over $9 million through Florida's Job Growth Grant Fund to two areas of Northeast Florida while speaking in Yulee today.
The grants include $6.25 million to Nassau County to construct a roadway network to establish an industrial and commercial site. The site will be located near the US 301 and Interstate 10 interchange along US 90 and the Florida Gulf and Atlantic railroad mainline, with connections in Baldwin and Pensacola.
According to the governor, the site will be a hub for businesses across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, transportation, and logistics, and will help create 1250 jobs at the Nassau County site.
"That is something that is going to be big," DeSantis said.
Furthermore, Gov. DeSantis awarded $3 million to the Bradford County School District to construct and develop a new commercial driver's license (CDL) training facility in the county.
North Florida Technical College will offer the program, which will resemble a CDL program offered at Camp Blanding in nearby Clay County. According to the governor, the investment will allow the existing CDL program to double student enrollment to 60 students per year.
"If you think about it, these truck drivers are aging out; it was a big generation of 'em, you gotta have other people coming in, the logistics are very important, we are a big logistics state," DeSantis said.
Gov. DeSantis also mentioned Florida's crackdown on states issuing licenses to drivers who cannot speak English or read road signs. Last month, the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced that all Florida driver’s license written and oral exams would be administered in English beginning on Feb. 6.
DeSantis added it was "ridiculous" for states to issue licenses to people unable to speak English.
The announcement followed a fatal accident in Florida involving an illegal alien truck driver, Harinder Singh, who reportedly failed his English Language Proficiency assessment after the crash. Singh was originally issued a CDL license in Washington State despite reportedly failing the test 10 times, including English proficiency requirements, over two months.
Singh also had a California CDL.
In contrast, the governor mentioned Florida's lead on CDL, which he indicated has led to high-paying jobs.
"We've worked really hard to expand our CDL capability in Florida," DeSantis said. "We were doing maybe a few hundred or maybe a thousand a year; now we're many thousand(s) a year that are being produced in the state of Florida. Those are really good jobs."
Florida has awarded nearly $330 million through the Job Growth Grant since 2019. The announcement follows another job growth grant given by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this week.
