Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made his first appearance of 2024 in Osceola County Friday, visiting Kissimmee’s NeoCity Academy to tout millions invested to fund local semiconductor manufacturing and the education component needed — and very much in place — to train a local workforce for it.
Last week DeSantis announced, as a part of this fiscal year’s budget, a $35 million Department of Education Workforce Capitalization Incentive Grant Program would go toward 28 school districts; Osceola was one. Valencia College will be a beneficiary for its semiconductor technology programs, including its Robotics and Semiconductor Technician program, where after completing the 22-week program, students can be certified for jobs that pay $21-27 per hour.
NeoCity-based employment programs will also receive federal dollars, like a Department of Defense contract potentially worth $289 million, doled out earlier in the year.
“These chips are an essential component to business around the world. You can actually do everything in this industry and not even have to leave the state of Florida, because we’ve put an emphasis on workforce and infrastructure to have a strong supply chain right here,” DeSantis said Friday. “A lot of what you use on your devices have roots in China and Taiwan, so that’s something that can have a tremendous impact on our economy here, so we want to do more domestically.”
According to state-level record DeSantis touted Friday, Florida is the fifth-largest employer of semiconductor manufacturers.
“(Other states) may have trouble finding workers,” he said. “We giving opportunities for students to be able to go out and meet that huge demand. Our high school students are graduating with certifications.”
Osceola County Manager Don Fisher talked about how, prior to NeoCity, the county’s economy was highly dependent on tourism, and vulnerable to downtowns. With the state-level support, and federal defense contracts from the U.S. Army, he said NeoCity is positioned ahead of other semiconductor tech farms in the country.
“Osceola County is the only local government that is a contractor for the Department of Defense,” he said. “It fulfills our mission to create jobs for to the people who live in this community.”
Said Skywater Technology Florida Senior Vice President Brad Ferguson: “We’ve offshored too much. Osceola County and the state have prioritized and are investing in the future.”
Yesenia Hernandez is a NeoCity Academy senior and an intern at Skywater. She’s a product of what’s been put in place by the state and county.
“The funding announced today will directly benefit students like myself by providing resources and opportunities for meaningful, hands-on training,” said Hernandez, who is headed to Rice University in Dallas to study computer science. “They have created an environment where students like me can succeed.”
Dr. Kathleen Plinske is the president of Valencia College — its Osceola campus literally sits in NeoCity’s shadow across U.S. 192 — said the programs provided makes Valencia a player in the semiconductor manufacturing industry being created locally.
“We could not offer the semiconductor training program we have were it not for the support from the state and the partnership with Osceola County,” she said.
