Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is directing millions of dollars to truck-driving education at Florida State College in Jacksonville. The governor made his announcement to tap the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund on Thursday, in apparent light of the truck convoy that was making its way down to Ottawa, Canada at the time.
While the announcement may simply be a coincidence, DeSantis highlighted the supply chain problems and a desire to attract more businesses to use Florida ports, which have not experienced the same bottlenecks as ports in California and other parts of the country.
DeSantis said the $3.18 million will help the state school to establish the Nassau County Transportation Education Institute and build two commercial driving pads for training.
“This will provide people with an ability to have very marketable skills,” said DeSantis while at the college campus in Yulee. “And I can tell you, if you go through this program successfully, you are going to get hired in the state of Florida and be able to be hired elsewhere if that's what you choose.”
In October, the American Trucking Association estimated that the industry is short by at least 80,000 drivers, and the demand for drivers will only increase with the growth of freight volumes.
As governor, DeSantis has the discretion to use money from the Job Growth Grant Fund for workforce education and regional infrastructure projects. In addition to funding the school’s truck driving program, DeSantis recently provided $6 million for transportation-related training programs at Lake Technical College and a further $2.8 million for a diesel-mechanic training program at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported.
“The fund received $50 million for the current fiscal year, and DeSantis has requested that lawmakers replenish it with $100 million when they piece together a 2022-2023 budget during the legislative session that begins Jan. 11,” the publication reported.
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