The Florida Construction Institute (FCI) was created by the Florida Legislature in 1999 and established at the Florida Community College of Jacksonville (FCCJ) pursuant to a grant of funds and a contract for services between the Workforce Development Board of Florida, the state Department of Labor and Employment Security and FCCJ. FCI was originally a certificate-based program and has since added four A.A.S. degree programs.

The goals of FCI are to:

• Develop an advisory panel(s) composed of a broad range of construction industry participants, trade groups, educators and trade unions.
• Develop a competency-based curriculum, including OSHA safety training, for residential applications of five trades: carpentry, electricity, HVAC and plumbing with recommendations from the advisory panel.
• Develop an educational career ladder to meet the needs for college credit, workforce credit and continuing education in the construction fields.
• Strengthen the image of construction career employment opportunities.
• Create partnerships with homebuilders associations throughout the state.
• Create co-op training program for these trades.
• Design an ongoing assessment tool to improve and enhance program competencies.
• Establish and promote Future Builders of America chapters in conjunction with the Florida Homebuilders Association.
• Prepare and implement a model for program design to assist other schools in the creation of similar institutes.
• Coordinate continuing education courses between Florida Consortium of Community Colleges and State Department of Business and Professional Regulation (the Construction Industry Licensing Board and the Electrical Contractors Licensing Board).

Learn more about construction careers at the Florida Construction Institute’s Web site.