PENSACOLA, Fla. (WWSB) – Florida will award $9 million to the city of Pensacola to support construction of two boat-building facilities at the Port of Pensacola, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced.
The money comes from the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund and is intended to support site development, utilities and facility construction, DeSantis said.
State and city officials said the project is expected to add 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space at the port. The facilities would be designed to produce complex Navy ship modules for submarines and surface ships up to 400 feet long, DeSantis said.
Officials estimate the project could create about 2,000 manufacturing and related jobs in shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing. The job estimate, wage levels and construction timeline were not detailed in the provided transcript.
“This is going to create approximately 2,000 manufacturing and related jobs in the shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing industry,” DeSantis said.
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The announcement builds on a $3.9 million Job Growth Grant Fund award that DeSantis said Pensacola received in 2023 for port improvements. Those improvements helped secure Pensacola as the site for American Magic’s high-performance center, which opened in January, he said.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves described the broader project as a $275 million initiative and said it could become the city’s largest job-creation project.
Reeves said local leaders plan to focus on workforce training to prepare residents for maritime jobs. He said officials will gather in Pensacola on Aug. 26 to discuss a workforce-development strategy.
Florida Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly said the state recently received a $40 million U.S. Department of Labor grant for pay-for-performance apprenticeship programs. He said shipbuilding is the top focus within the grant’s defense industrial base work.
DeSantis said state colleges, school districts and employers could help develop training pipelines for the new jobs.
“We’ll work with the school district too, to make sure that there are appropriate workforce training so that these folks will be marketable and ready,” DeSantis said.
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Florida awards $9M to Pensacola for Navy ship module facilities at port – ABC7 WWSB
