Drew Dixon
Four new grant award agreements were approved for Panhandle governmental organizations by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board this month.
The panel also advanced two grant award negotiations for projects and voted to initiate new term negotiations with three applicants who are seeking funding. The total value of all the projects would amount to more than $45 million in funding for the combination of Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties.
Bay County Commissioners requested up to $3.75 million in term sheet negotiations that was approved for what the county is calling “Project Clear.” That funding would go to improvements of the former Bay County incinerator building so it can be converted to a residential glass and glazing manufacturing facility. It’s expected the project would create at least 150 new jobs for the area and would exceed the county’s average paying job by 115%, according to a Triumph Board news release.
Another $8.075 million was approved by the board for funding Bay County School District workforce training expansion in Career and Technical Education (CTE) at five traditional high schools. That could result in 2,880 new industry certifications over a 10-year span.
Escambia County received approval from the panel for a grant award agreement of up to $6.72 million to create a National Center for Collaborative Autonomy (NCAA). That facility would be used to advance collaborative efforts between autonomous platforms and systems while developing human systems to guide and oversee safe operations.
“This project will be transformational for the region with additional non-Triumph funding resulting in over $18 million of direct personal income impact over the life of the project,” a Triumph board news release said.
Another $2.48 million in grant award negotiations was approved by the board for the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners for the acquisition of 12.5 acres of industrial property off Highway 90. That’s where two manufacturing facilities of 80,000 square feet and 150,000 square feet are set to be erected for what the county is calling “Project Turbo.” The buildings once erected and operational would employ some 60 new high-paying jobs.
Walton County’s Defuniak Springs Airport received approval from the Triumph board for $4.229 million for support in improvements at the hub that’s expected to create 100 new jobs. Meanwhile the Seaside School Inc. got approval for a grant award agreement for $9.557 million for expansion of industry certification and duel enrollment programs at Seaside Collegiate High School.
And another $4.77 million was approved by the Triumph Board for negotiations for Florida’s Great Northwest request to market the region for updating an economic development strategy.
That panel oversees Triumph Gulf Coast Inc., a nonprofit group organized in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf in 2010. The nonprofit organization supervises the expenditure of some 75% of funds recovered by the state as a result of the disaster and administers the distribution of those funds in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla counties.
