Gov. Rick Scott made a stop in Jacksonville Thursday to promote his newly released 2012 economic and job growth agenda, a plan he said will “put people back to work” and help Florida become a leader in economic recovery.
Scott flew into Cecil Airport to tour Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Aviation Center of Excellence, talk with some of the college students and address the media about his jobs agenda. His visit lasted about an hour.
Released this week, Scott’s 2012 agenda is a seven-point priority plan for job growth and workforce development.
It includes:
• Streamlining business permitting and eliminating burdensome regulations.
• Providing tax relief and reform for Florida’s working families and businesses.
• Reforming the state’s unemployment system to create a “re-employment” system.
• Restoring accounting and credibility to Florida’s Workforce boards.
• Prioritizing vital transportation projects to facilitate economic development opportunities.
• Balancing the state’s budget without tax increases.
• Prioritizing science, technology, engineering and mathematics in education.
The goal, he said, is to make Florida the No. 1 place in the country for business.
He said that while the state’s unemployment rate has dropped and jobs have been created since January, “we still have a lot of work to do.”
Regarding Jacksonville, Scott said he thought the city was going to do “very well” and that the port is a “significant opportunity” that will take off when permitting and funding are in place.
Scott said his agenda would lay the groundwork for future economic and job growth and “absolutely” believed the Florida Legislature will support his agenda. The Legislature will convene in January this year instead of March because of redistricting efforts.
Florida State College students in the fields of commercial vehicle driving, air traffic control, aircraft coding and logistics had a chance for a face-to-face discussion with Scott.
One of the topics was the role of higher education. Scott said he believed it should educate students about which industries are growing and to “make it interesting, make it exciting” to want to pursue those fields.
The meeting was a good opportunity for Florida State College students in the workforce development fields to have discussions with the governor, said Kent Campus President Margarita Cabral-Maly.
The college and its students, she said, provide a strong foundation for economic development because it is the largest workforce development program in the state.
“We are an economic developer,” she said.
Following his Jacksonville stop, Scott flew to Panama City for a similar economic development and agenda promotion event.
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