On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced that FAMU was selected for a $1,477,722 Broadband Stimulus Award to establish a Center for Public Computing and Workforce Development.The award is one of 14 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments that will help bridge the technological divide, create jobs, and improve education and public safety in communities across the country. The investments, totaling $206.8 million in grants, are the final grants in the Broadband Stimulus Award program. Its purpose is to increase broadband Internet access and adoption in order to enhance the quality of life for Americans and lay the groundwork for sustainable economic growth.
“In a globalized 21st century economy, when you don’t have regular access to high-speed Internet, you don’t have access to all the educational, business and employment opportunities it provides,” Locke said. “These critical Recovery Act investments will create jobs.”
FAMU’s $1,477,722 grant will fund a new public computer center that will serve the Leon, Gadsden, and Jefferson Counties for three years. This three-county region has poverty and unemployment rates well above the state and national averages. Many residents lack the 21st century skills necessary for industry certifications and job preparation.
The new Center for Public Computing and Workforce Development will have 65 workstations and will train as many as 14,500 residents with approximately 87,000 hours of teacher-led training annually. The project’s training and broadband programs will include specific disciplines important to North Florida. These include: public administration, education services, healthcare, social assistance, agriculture, forestry, and fishing and hunting.
FAMU Enterprise Information Technology Division and Department of Workforce Education and Development are heading the project. FAMU’s Small Business Development Center will also assist the project by providing business development training and counseling services through videoconferencing technology and offering workshops to small businesses with an emphasis on minorities, women, and veterans.
Over time, the project will develop and expand its instructional capacity through an aggressive “Train the Trainer” workshop program, which will include working with Florida’s Small Business Development Agency to create training content and identify and recruit trainers.
The LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library System, Data Set Ready, the Metropolitan Design & Consulting Group, and Carney Solutions will also serve as partners in the computing center project.