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BP oil spill money to pay for $98.5M high-tech manufacturing center built by FSU

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State University is in line to receive up to nearly $98.5 million to construct aerospace and advanced manufacturing facilities in Panama City, under a contract approved Wednesday by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board of Directors.

In November, the board voted to negotiate terms and a contract for what’s known as the Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Education (InSPIRE) project.

The facility, which supporters say could be a boon for North Florida’s economy, is slated to be located within or near a technology park called the Northwest Florida Beaches Airport and the Venture Crossings.

The seven-member board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a contract to pay for the project through a grant award agreement of up to $98.453,615. The money is part of the funds that came to the state through a settlement with BP oil company over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s intended to help Panhandle counties impacted by the oil spill.

The contract said that InSPIRE would be designed to serve as FSU’s “applied research and workforce development arm” with a “mission of accelerating technology innovation, cultivating corporate investment, nurturing the growth of new industries, and fostering high- skill, high-wage employment opportunities” in the eight counties most affected by the BP oil spill.

Those counties are Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Wakulla.

Stacey Patterson, vice president for research at FSU, told the Triumph Gulf Coast board that the project could have a significant economic impact on the region.

“We are creating a bold and impactful vision to leverage FSU’s current strengths with new investments … focused on this Northwest Florida region,” Patterson said.

The facility also is intended to support an increase in engineering graduates in Panama City and an expansion of STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, activities in the region served by Triumph. The university also projects that $10 in economic activity will be generated for each $1 spent on the project.

The school will invest $65 million in the project over the next 10 years and “is committed to securing more than $230 million in contract and grant activity,” a news release issued by FSU in November said.

Edward Meadows, president of Pensacola State College, told the Triumph Gulf Coast board that the leaders of Panhandle colleges signed an articulation agreement with FSU “that is directed toward our collaboration with this project.”

Meadows said that he and the presidents of Tallahassee Community College, Northwest Florida State College, Gulf Coast State College and Chipola College signed the agreement.

“So, the research that comes out of this grant hopefully will be the kind of research that will help economic development across the Panhandle, and certainly increase workforce opportunities for our citizens,” Meadows said.