Jacksonville council members preview $15 million workforce, education funding package

Jacksonville City Council members discussed a proposed $15 million funding package for education and workforce projects during a preliminary meeting intended to gather questions and brief council colleagues.

The package would allocate $6 million to the University of North Florida (UNF), $5 million to Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), $325,000 to a workforce industrial training center, $1 million to the Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA) and $2.7 million to Edward Waters University (EWU). Council members were briefed on project uses and next steps; committee review and formal action are scheduled in the coming week.

Council members said the bundle is meant to advance workforce training, college facilities and tourism-related infrastructure and to leverage additional state, federal and private funding. Council members pressed staff and the presenting institutions on whether the city would be making one-time grants or committing to future, ongoing expenses.

The city representative who introduced the package said the five recipients were selected for education and workforce development goals and that some requests had been reduced during budget negotiations. The representative said EWU’s original…