Episode 5 of The Chip Frontier: Building Florida’s Workforce
Posted on: November 26, 2025
What does it take to build a semiconductor industry in Florida? Not just fabs and funding, but a future-ready workforce. In Episode 5 | The Future: Building Florida’s Workforce of The Chip Frontier: Florida’s Semiconductor Edge, we explore how partners of the Florida Semiconductor Engine are transforming workforce development into a long-term economic strategy.
We are creating intentional pathways from education to industry, starting in high school and extending through technical colleges and advanced degree programs. The School District of Osceola County’s NeoCity Academy a collaborative environment focused on STEM education, while Valencia College is training cleanroom operators through dual-degree programs and mock cleanroom environments. CareerSource Central Florida is helping learners, from teens to adult career-changers, identify their strengths and connect to internships, training, and high-tech careers through customized assessments.
Florida’s population is growing, and so is its ambition. By aligning education with opportunity, the state is building a semiconductor workforce that stays local, attracts new talent, and drives economic advancement. This isn’t just workforce development. It’s industry creation.
Subscribe and listen now to hear from these workforce development leaders:
Pamela Nabors
Pamela Nabors is a nationally recognized workforce leader with decades of experience driving career solutions and economic growth across regional, state, and federal levels. As President and CEO of CareerSource Central Florida, she oversees Florida’s second-largest local workforce development board, serving 2.8 million residents across five counties. Her strategic leadership has earned honors from the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and recognition as one of Central Florida’s most powerful and influential executives. Pamela is known for building innovative partnerships that connect talent to high-wage, high-tech careers and for championing customized training models that prepare Floridians for the future of work.
Joe Battista
Joe Battista is a recognized leader in workforce and career education. He recently served as Vice President of Workforce, Career, and Professional Education at Valencia College. With a focus on preparing students for high-demand, higher-wage careers, he has spearheaded programs like accelerated skills training and cleanroom operator certification to meet the needs of Florida’s growing semiconductor industry. He was named an Advance Central Florida Hero by the Orlando Business Journal for his visionary leadership in developing career and technical education programs that directly address the region’s economic challenges.
Dr. Mark Shanoff
Dr. Mark Shanoff is Superintendent of the School District of Osceola County, where he is leading efforts to expand STEM education and career pathways aligned with Florida’s growing semiconductor industry. With a career spanning leadership roles in Orange and Volusia County school systems, he has overseen major operational transformations, including the largest K–12 device deployment in U.S. history. A former principal at all three school levels and a nationally recognized education leader, Dr. Shanoff brings deep expertise in digital learning, executive functioning, and strategic innovation to Florida’s next-generation workforce development.