Gov. DeSantis awards Clay County over $3.5M infrastructure grant

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday awarded more than $3.5 million to the Clay County Board of County Commissioners through the governor’s Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for targeted infrastructure improvements. Clay County’s population has grown 35% in the last 10 years, the governor said, and the infrastructure improvements will directly support job growth in the manufacturing sector, creating approximately 170 new high-wage jobs upon completion.

The grant will build a new half-mile section of a collector road, Pringle Road, in the northwest corner of Clay County, and enhance a quarter-mile section of County Road 218, which connects US-301 to Blanding Boulevard in Middleburg and ends at Penney Farms on State Road 16.

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“Today’s infrastructure award will connect the Clay County community with high-wage jobs, bolster Florida’s manufacturing industry, and strengthen the nation’s number one economy,” DeSantis said in a news release. “These infrastructure improvements will directly support job growth in the manufacturing sector, creating approximately 170 new high-wage jobs upon completion.”

The grant comes after more than $250,000 awarded to the city of Green Cove Springs for electrical line infrastructure upgrades, $500,000 awarded to the Clay County Development Authority to construct 2.5 miles of asphalt road at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, and $700,000 to improve infrastructure in the City of Green Cove Springs.

Since 2019, $142 million has been awarded through the Job Growth Grant Fund, an economic development program designed to promote public infrastructure and workforce training across the state. Proposals are reviewed by FloridaCommerce and are chosen by Gov. DeSantis.