ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced millions of dollars will go to St. Petersburg College to help establish a training lab for students to be professionals in manufacturing and semiconductors.
DeSantis announced the $7.2 million award to the college at a news conference Wednesday morning where he was joined by Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and Tonjua Williams, the president of the college.
The award will help establish the Semiconductor, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning Training for Technicians 4.0 lab. The money will go towards purchasing of equipment, hiring personnel, building facilities and acquiring training materials.
“We are committed to investing in opportunities that help students develop the skills necessary to land high-wage jobs and become leaders in industry," DeSantis said.
At the conference, DeSantis touted how Florida's higher education system has been ranked highly and how the University of Florida was ranked No. 1 by the Wall Street Journal. He also said it's important to have students get degrees and be educated in fields that need employees, which Diaz echoed.
“Providing students with a quality education that will lead to future opportunities is vital to building a strong workforce,” Diaz said.
The $7.2 million comes from $3.2 million provided by the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund and $4 million through the Workforce Development Capitalization Grant Program.
The Florida Job Growth Grant Fund is a program to promote public infrastructure and workforce training. Proposals are reviewed by FloridaCommerce and chosen by the governor. The workforce grant program offers money to school districts and institutions to cover the creation or expansion of technical education workforce development programs.
In January, DeSantis announced $35 million to school districts and institutions to create or expand semiconductor-related instructional programs. Pinellas County and Hillsborough County were included in the school districts that received money.