County wins Job Corps site

The $30-million center on the campus of St. Petersburg College will give low-income youths job training.

By CARRIE JOHNSON and LISA GREENE
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 19, 2003

PINELLAS PARK -- After more than two years of lobbying, Pinellas County was awarded a coveted federal program that helps low-income youths get jobs.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that a $30-million Job Corps site would be built in Pinellas Park on the campus of St. Petersburg College.

"It's a big win for Pinellas County," said Harry Glenn, spokesman for U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, the Largo Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. "It's a big commitment of federal resources to the county."

The center will provide free academic and vocational training to disadvantaged young people ages 16 to 24. Courses will be offered in computer technology, health care and construction trades.

In a statement, Glenn said the program will help Pinellas' economy grow.

"The entire Tampa Bay region will now soon realize important growth in job training opportunities through the new Job Corps facility," he said. "And our local economy will also get a boost of several million dollars a year and new jobs that come along with the creation of a center."

The residential facility will house about 550 students a year. While eligible candidates from around the region, including Tampa and Orlando, could participate, preference will go to local students, said Mayor Rick Baker.

"This is a major coup in that it will help folks within our community who, due to a lack of skills, are currently unable to go after jobs that pay a living wage and benefits," Baker said.

Baker and Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis III were part of a coalition including Pinellas County and school officials who have spent the past two years preparing an application for the Job Corps site.

Pinellas County was one of 27 places nationwide competing for a Job Corps site this year, Davis said.

County Commissioner Bob Stewart, a leader in the effort to win the program, was ecstatic Friday. "This is a great day. It's really good news," he said.

The center will be on 66th Street, where St. Petersburg College's administrative offices now are located. The college will move those offices to its planned EpiCenter complex.

U.S. Department of Labor officials decided against the site Pinellas County officials recommended as a first choice, at the Pinellas Technical Education Center campus near Gibbs High School.

Baker said he preferred the technical center because it is located in Midtown, home to many of the people most likely to use the new program. But it was rejected because Job Corps officials didn't want to share the building with the county's School Board, Baker said.

Florida already has four Job Corps sites -- in Gainesville, Homestead, Jacksonville and Miami -- but has more students than available space. Many Florida students now have to leave the state to enroll in Job Corps.

According to the Department of Labor, more than 2-million students have graduated from Job Corps since it was launched in 1964. About 70,000 students are helped annually.

Now local officials and Job Corps representatives will review the site to determine if any improvements are needed. The amount of federal money granted to a Job Corps site is determined by how much construction and renovation is necessary, said Ron Barton, St. Petersburg's economic development director.

Classes aren't expected to begin for at least another two years, he said.

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