EUSTIS, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a $6 million award to Tavares that would fund a new workforce training and innovation center Lake Technical College students will utilize.
The governor said the new workforce center would house programs from Lake Technical College, such as transportation training and programs for diesel mechanics, auto mechanics, forklift operators and auto-collision specialists.
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“A lot of the folks that are getting education in the skilled trades are doing fantastic right away and then have the ability to do much, much better,” he said.
DeAnna Thomas, executive director of Lake Technical College, said the partnership between the college and Tavares would continue implementing an employer-driven model.
“We train high-wage, high-skilled critical thinkers with a focus on the important soft skills employers demand and the rapid programs we traditionally offer lead students to a career and employment in a year or less,” Thomas said.
DeSantis has been making stops throughout the state, funding various projects to open up more jobs. In recent weeks, the governor awarded $6 million to Sumter County for road improvements that he said would create “about 5,000 direct jobs and almost 2,000 indirect jobs.”
This news conference comes after DeSantis announced a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. The lawsuit alleges the president doesn’t have the authority to issue the rule and that it violates procurement law.
“We already don’t have the ability to lose anybody. I mean to keep all this stuff humming, we need to make sure people are able to work and people have a right to earn a living here in the state of Florida and they should be able to make their own decisions about about health,” he said Friday.
DeSantis has also called for the Florida legislature to meet for a special session to provide protections against the vaccine mandate for contractors working in the state. He said during Friday’s news conference he signed the proclamation.