U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (R-Woodville) has announced a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand the Charles Gee Fire Training Facility just east of Jasper. Jasper Economic Development Corporation President Eddie Hopkins says the expansion will create a training facility for high demand jobs.
Congressman Babin says the additional facilities will benefit not only Jasper County, but also the surrounding counties.
In his statement, Babin noted that there is an abundance of jobs to be had, but unfortunately this region has a lot of people who simply do not work. Babin said “This region shows the lowest prime-age employment along the entire eastern border of the state. Prime age employment is fully 17.87 percentage points below the United States average in the area.”
Babin went on to say, “At the same time, data shows more than 7,000 high-wage, high-demand transportation jobs along the eastern border of Texas right now.”
Babin said the expanded facility will feature:
~ Emergency command center
~ Functional alternative fire response unit for natural disasters
~ Large paved area for commercial driver training
~ Multi-use space for a wide variety of job training
There’s no word on when the expansion project will begin.
