Triumph Gulf Coast crosses $300 million in grants awarded

In this June 3, 2010 file photo, a Brown Pelican is mired in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast. Ten years after an oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and unleashed an environmental nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico, companies are drilling into deeper and deeper waters where the payoffs can be huge but the risks are greater than ever. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

The Triumph Gulf Coast Board moved $50 million of grants forward last week, raising the total of grants awarded above the $300 million mark.

Triumph Gulf Coast Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that oversees most of the expenditure of money the state receives for damages coming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The corporation administers the $1.5 billion in their control through grants used for the recovery, diversification and enhancement of the eight counties most affected by the oil spill: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla.

The four grants awarded last week are focused in the IT and Cybersecurity sectors. The grants will help provide more than 500 new high-wage jobs and at least 14,210 new Career and Technical Education (CTE) industry certifications.

In Escambia, the Pensacola-Escambia Promotion and Development Commission (PEDC) was awarded a $2.5 million grant to expand Pegasus Laboratories, a pharmaceutical drug research and development and manufacturing company. The lab expansion will create an estimated 63 new scientific and life-sciences manufacturing jobs paying an average of at least 136% the average county wage.

Pensacola State College (PSC) also received a grant for $11,998,919 to expand its Cyber Security and IT Programs.

The Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners was awarded a $15,878,683 grant to acquire 192 acres of industrial zoned property, and for site infrastructure to build the new Milton Interchange Park. The project will create a minimum of 454 high-wage jobs paying at least 115% of Santa Rosa’s average wage.

The Wakulla County School Board also earned a $20,011,606 grant for the construction and implementation of the War Eagle Career Academy at Wakulla High School. The career academy will expand career and technical education (CTE) in Wakulla County in partnership with Lively Technical College and the Franklin County School District. The programs within the academy will prepare students for high-skill, high-wage jobs resulting in at least 7,450 industry certifications.