a new North Port campus for Sarasota County
Technical Institute (SCTI), needed because
more than 200 North Port high school stu-
dents commute daily to the main Sarasota
SCTI campus in Sarasota. A strategic plan
developed by the City of North Port identified
the lack of a technical or vocational school as
a major municipal weakness.
S a r a s o t a C o u n t y C o m m i s s i o n V i c e
Chairwoman Christine Robinson, whose dis-
trict includes North Port, called the decision
to preserve the funding a "game changer" for
the city. "Having skilled workforce training
located where the majority of our workforce
lives will only increase the opportunity for
economic development," she wrote in an
email to the News Leader. "This translates to
more jobs for North Port."
Five million dollars will also go to IMG
Academy, the for-profit Bradenton sports
training and education center whose parent
company was sold for a reported $2.3 billion
last December. IMG sits in the district of state
Rep. Boyd. While he did not respond to News
Leader queries either, he told the Greater
Sarasota Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday,
without citing a source, that IMG gener-
ates "over half a billion dollars of economic
impact." He called that "significant."
State Rep. Rouson characterizes the New
College and Visible Men projects that were
cut as "very worthy," but he praises Scott for
vetoing less this year than the governor has
after past legislative sessions. He says even
though he's a Democrat, he was consulted
on local projects and kept apprised of those
being funded. "I could scream and yell," he
tells the News Leader, "but I must point peo-
ple to the positive." %
Manuel R. Chepote, LUTCF
Chepote Insurance Inc.
1300 Main Street • Sarasota, Florida
(941) 366-0100
Serving Sarasota & Manatee Counties
agents.allstate.com/manuel-r-chepote-sarasota-fl.html
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Sarasota News Leader June 6, 2014 Page 15
