Mainstreet Daily News
Santa Fe College received $568,860 in state funding to expand the college’s registered apprenticeship programs.
In an SF press release sent Wednesday, the college announced the funding will come from the Department of Educations’ Expansion of Registered Apprenticeship and Preapprenticeship (ERAP) Grant. The grant offers public post-secondary organizations funds to start or expand registered apprenticeships and/or programs that partner with small businesses.
The grant will help SF expand existing apprenticeship programs in Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing and Carpentry while enabling SF to add a new two-year program in Building Maintenance. The college will be accepting new apprenticeship applications on June 1.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Florida Department of Education to get the funding needed to expand our programs,” said Dr. Tyran Butler, SF’s Associate Vice President for Career and Technical Education, in the release. “It’s important to us to continue paving the way for students to receive hands-on training that will better prepare them for their future careers.”
According to the release, the ERAP Concept Pitch was designed to allow interested public post-secondary education agencies an opportunity to request ERAP funding by showcasing their existing programs and how they could be expanded with additional resources or by starting new high demand and middle to high wage apprenticeship or programs. On March 30, the ERAP Grant awarded $10.5 million in funding, supporting 11 colleges across Florida.
On Feb. 2, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited SF and announced an $89 million investment into Florida’s workforce education and technical schools, awarding SF $3.5 million to start a career and technical education charter school.
For more information about Santa Fe College apprenticeship programs, call SF’s Apprenticeship Coordinator, Justin Macdougall at 352-395-5251. For more information about apprenticeships or pre-apprenticeships, visit ApprenticeFlorida.com.