Feb 13, 2020
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that $3.6 million will be awarded to two colleges to create the Northeast Florida Fintech Initiative.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that $3.6 million will be awarded to the Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. Johns River State College to create the Northeast Florida Fintech Initiative.
The initiative will allow the colleges along with regional schools, nonprofits and other financial services companies to provide new financial technology or "FinTech" training and certification opportunities.
“I’m pleased to launch the Northeast Florida FinTech Initiative in conjunction with Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. John’s River State College,” DeSantis said. “This innovative collaboration to provide new FinTech-related training and certifications will help equip Floridians with skills in demand by Northeast Florida’s growing FinTech industry.”
The money was awarded through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund and is aimed at creating two FinTech Technical Certificate Programs, a FinTech Support Technician Boot Camp Academy and will embed FinTech related skills and coursework into existing programs related to Accounting, Business Administration, Financial Services and Information Technology.
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Executive Director Ken Lawson and Enterprise Florida (EFI) President and CEO Jamal Sowell was also in attendance with DeSantis during the announcement.
“Governor DeSantis has a vision for making Florida the premier destination for top FinTech companies,” Lawson said.. “He knows that bridging the gap between education and the private sector to ensure our workforce has the skills needed for businesses to succeed is not only a smart, but critical investment for our state. Today’s announcement is a significant step in making that vision a reality and our agency, along with our partners at Enterprise Florida, Inc., are proud to be a part of it.”
“Today is a giant leap into the kind of job training that will put Floridians in good-paying jobs and our growing FinTech sector on the global map,” Sowell said. “Floridians can be proud today, knowing that our Governor is working overtime to remove barriers for emerging FinTech firms and making Florida the place to be for long-term sector growth.”
The FinTech Initiative will also include creating an externship program and working connections program. The programs will provide leaders of nearby Kindergarten through 12th-grade schools with the skills and information needed to introduce students to the FinTech industry.