OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced millions in awards to fund the research and manufacturing of semiconductors in Osceola County.
DeSantis awarded $6 million to Osceola County to build infrastructure connecting resources to the NeoCity technology district, as well as $3.7 million to Valencia College to create new programs for workforce training meant to bolster the chip and semiconductor industries.
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“Manufacturing is something that we need to do a better job of, and we worked really hard in Florida to have more opportunities with vocational education,” DeSantis said. “If you look at how the supply chain works, we are overly dependent on foreign nations, including Taiwan, which is a good ally of ours but which is one that is under really serious pressure from the Communist Party of China, and so we have an opportunity to do more here in the United States.”
The news conference took place at NeoCity, a technology district in Osceola County that researches microelectronics fabrication. In December, the county was awarded $500,000 by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the first phase of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge to expand semiconductor research at NeoCity.
DeSantis said that the money coming to Osceola County will initially support nearly 5,400 jobs, with tens of thousands more on the horizon, according to estimates by county officials. For Valencia College, DeSantis said that 120 people will be able to graduate and find work at NeoCity within the next two years.
“Through this program, students will be able to be certified in operating, repairing and designing the robots that are used to create semiconductors in just 14 weeks,” DeSantis said.
The governor was joined by Dane Eagle, secretary of the Department of Economic Opportunity.
“The (governor’s) job growth grant fund is intended to invest in infrastructure and also workforce development across the entire state,” Eagle said. “Today we’re doing both, and not only that, we’re creating jobs, not just for Floridians, but creating jobs that would otherwise be shipped overseas as the governor stated.”
Henry Mack, chancellor at the state Department of Education, said that the department has been at work to elevate Career and Technical Education as a viable option for Florida students.
“No longer is it something opposed to traditional academic or university life. That’s great for many, but CTE can be an equally awesome and viable economically prosperous pathway for so many and that is evidenced by the commitment of Valencia and our school districts such as Osceola to double down on Career and Technical Education in and around our state,” Mack said.