The Pensacola-Escambia County Promotion & Development Commission (PEDC) won the Escambia County Commission’s approval for two projects to be presented to Triumph Gulf Coast for funding. Both projects also have the support of the board of directors of the Greater Pensacola Chamber.
The first grant application is for $8 million the construction of a new industrial boulevard for the northern Beck’s Lake Road segment of the “Bluffs”. The Bluffs of Northwest Florida is a 6,000+ acre master-planned industrial campus suited for energy intensive industry. To date the PEDC has received $8.4 million from the State of Florida for the Bluffs master plan development, site connectivity and infrastructure improvements.
The second is the University of West Florida’s application for $27.5 million to develop programming and facilities to cultivate emerging high-tech industry sectors of cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics tied to a new UWF Innovation Network. The center piece of the Network will consist of a new Cybersecurity Innovation Center and Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory located on the Pensacola Technology Campus.
The other Triumph Gulf Coast projects supported by the Greater Pensacola Chamber board are the Northwest Center for Dynamic Ocean Technologies to be placed in Warehouse 4 of the Port of Pensacola and the Escambia County School Board Workforce Development Program.
Todd Thomson, the chamber’s vice president of public affairs, explained his board’s vote for the four projects.
“Our focus was will they create good quality jobs or will they train the workforce that we need to fill those jobs,†he said on “Pensacola Speaks. “If you look at these four that were selected, I think each one of those projects answer those questions, training workforce or creating jobs that are good, high paying jobs that we need here in Escambia County.â€
