At its meeting in Pensacola on Tuesday, the Triumph Gulf Coast Board approved funds for job training programs in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and started negotiations for a grant for the American Magic/UWF WAVE Center.
The Triumph Gulf Coast Board gave the green light to its first grant with the Escambia County Public Schools:
$617,227 to reestablish the Automotive Service Academy at J.M. Tate High School in Cantonment. The funds will help renovate and equip a former auto body building into labs for an automotive service academy. This project will have a classroom academic component, but the primary learning environment will be the academy’s automotive service shop and will guarantee completion of 225 Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certificates by the end of the 2029-2030 academic year.
- Former School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas refused to accept any Triumph monies because the district would have had to refund funds if it failed to meet its benchmarks. The rejection put Escambia behind in preparing students to qualify for aviation mechanic positions at ST Engineering.
WAVE CENTER
The Triumph Board also approved moving ahead with term sheet negotiations for a grant of up to $3.32 million for the University of West Florida’s WAVE center at the Port of Pensacola.
- The Center for Water and Vessel Engineering (WAVE) will serve as a research and development center for vessel engineering and related fields by connecting UWF faculty with organizations such as the American Magic.
WAVE will leverage existing UWF expertise in material science, computational fluid dynamics, human performance, non-destructive material evaluation, design for manufacturability, control systems, data science, and other related fields. WAVE will also connect UWF engineering and technology students to watercraft industries in Escambia County and other coastal counties in Northwest Florida.
The program will include a facility to support the production of custom assemblies and unique hull designs required to develop technologically advanced sailing vessels and high-speed watercraft. The WAVE team will support the design of new sail configurations, foils, and hulls made from sustainably sourced materials.
- The WAVE center will give the region a competitive advantage in recruiting new companies interested in co-locating with industry leaders such as American Magic.
DIESEL MECHANICS
Pensacola State College received a grant of up to $7.63 million for a new Diesel Maintenance Technician training program in Santa Rosa County. The program is expected to generate more than 2,000 certifications from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence. The center will be opened in the PSC Commercial Vehicle Training Center in the Santa Rosa County Industrial Park East.
Photo credit: NYYC American Magic