Polk County Draws Nearly $2.3 Million in State Defense Awards for Bartow Truck Driving Program and Avon Park Range Buffer
Polk County institutions will receive nearly $2.3 million under a statewide defense and workforce package that Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Aug. 31 in Jacksonville, with the largest share going to a new commercial truck-driving program at Polk State College‘s Advanced Technology Center in Bartow.
Polk State College was awarded $2 million from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to establish a dedicated Commercial Vehicle Driving Program at the Bartow center. The state described the award as support for a growing region that includes aerospace and defense-related industries.
Polk County government was awarded $275,000 through the Florida Defense Support Commission Grant Program to acquire development rights from landowners willing to convey conservation easements on property surrounding Avon Park Air Force Range.
The two Polk awards make up roughly a tenth of the nearly $23 million announced statewide. The full package included nearly $15.3 million through the Job Growth Grant Fund, up to $5 million through the Florida Department of Transportation‘s Spaceport Improvement Program, and more than $3.1 million through the Defense Reinvestment Grant Program and the Florida Defense Support Commission Grant Program.
Polk State President Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas thanked the governor, FloridaCommerce, and the Polk County Legislative Delegation in the state’s announcement, saying that short-term workforce training gives students “clear paths to rewarding careers” and strengthens the talent pipeline that local employers rely on.
Kamoutsas was named the college’s sixth president in a unanimous vote of the District Board of Trustees on June 3 and took office July 6, arriving from the post of Florida commissioner of education.
The Bartow award follows a separate announcement three weeks earlier at SunTrax AirGround in Auburndale, where the state named Polk State College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as its primary education partners as the 775-acre Florida Department of Transportation testing campus expands into Advanced Air Mobility. State officials say SunTrax is home to the nation’s first dedicated Advanced Air Mobility aerial test track and expect electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to begin testing in the Central Florida aerospace region by the end of the year.
The Job Growth Grant Fund is a discretionary state economic development program. Since 2019, it has awarded more than $354 million statewide and is credited by the governor’s office with creating more than 45,000 jobs and more than 35,000 workforce education opportunities.
The conservation award works on a different problem. Avon Park Air Force Range is a 106,000-acre military training installation straddling southeastern Polk and northeastern Highlands counties, and the state calls it the largest and most heavily used air-to-ground range in the Southeastern United States.
Conservation easements purchased on the surrounding land limit incompatible development, protecting both ranch land and the airspace the range depends on for training. The installation anchors the Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape, a federally designated region spanning Polk, Highlands, Okeechobee and Osceola counties where conservation and military readiness goals overlap.
Polk State has not yet announced enrollment capacity, tuition, or a first cohort date for the driving program, and the county has not identified which parcels it will pursue with the easement money.
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Sources: “Governor Ron DeSantis Awards Nearly $23 Million to Strengthen Florida’s Defense Industrial Base and Support National Security,” Executive Office of the Governor, flgov.com, August 31, 2026; Polk State College Newsroom, polk.edu, August 31, 2026; “Polk State College names Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas as its sixth president,” Polk State College, polk.edu, June 3, 2026; “President Anastasios ‘Stasi’ Kamoutsas joins Polk State College, Where Eagles Soar,” Polk State College, polk.edu, July 6, 2026; “Governor Ron DeSantis Highlights Florida’s One-of-a-Kind Facility to Advance the Future of Transportation,” Executive Office of the Governor, flgov.com, August 10, 2026; Florida Department of Transportation news release, fdot.gov, August 10, 2026; Avon Park Air Force Range Outdoor Recreation Program, avon.isportsman.net; Conservation Florida, conservationfla.org
