[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 14, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1750-E1751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 14, 2009

  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I submit the 
following.

[[Page E1751]]

  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3170
  Account: Salaries and Expenses
  Name of Requesting Entity: Miami Dade College
  Address of Requesting Entity: 300 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 1402, Miami, 
FL 33132
  Description of Request: I have secured $300,000 for the Miami Dade 
College Institute for Intermodal Transportation (IIT). This funding 
will be used for the Miami Dade College (MDC) proposes an Institute for 
Intermodal Transportation to further provide opportunities that lead to 
careers addressing the future needs of the transportation industry. A 
major focus is to provide small businesses with opportunities to train 
and retrain their workforce, as well as providing certifications and 
degree programs. The Intermodal Transportation Training Center allows 
MDC to effectively meet the training requirements of all forms of 
transportation, and transportation related activities. The planned 
location of the Intermodal Transportation Center is at the Miami 
International Airport (MIA), which would situate the School in close 
proximity to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) currently under 
construction. This location would serve as a benefit to both the MIC 
and the school as a trained and skilled workforce is developed by the 
School to meet the ongoing employment needs at the MIC. Courses at MIA 
are set to begin January 2010. Miami Dade College is uniquely 
positioned to provide this training through an Institute for Intermodal 
Transportation (IIT). MDC has a foundation for the coursework and 
training through its various departments and schools. A number of the 
educational programs are in aviation under its Eig-Watson School of 
Aviation. Additional related programs which would support the IIT are 
the Schools of Criminal Justice, Computer Science, Psychology, 
Mathematics and Engineering. Miami Dade College currently offers 3 
baccalaureate programs with numerous tracks. Over 200 associate degrees 
and career training certificates are available and could have 
application to the Intermodal Institute. Miami is a major 
transportation hub, and the forecast is that Miami will continue to 
rapidly grow as an international center of transportation. However, 
Florida aviation and aerospace companies routinely cite ``lack of a 
qualified workforce'' as a principal barrier to growth in industry 
surveys. Presently, many larger organizations have found it more cost 
effective to contract out specific areas of its workforce to smaller 
companies instead of performing the work in-house. However, these 
contractors are often times small businesses that cannot afford to 
train or certify their own employees. In fact, many of these companies 
do not have sufficient training in business relationships, process 
mapping, business and finance. This translates into areas such as 
customer service, logistics, security, marketing, route scheduling, 
safety, and maintenance systems. Small Business training in other non-
traditional support areas for transportation is also needed. This 
included areas such as construction inspection, traffic management, and 
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) management through the 
Institute for Intermodal Transportation, small businesses would be able 
to invest in workforce development programs such as project management, 
managing time and budget, and negotiating expertise. Hence, the 
Institute will address comprehensive solutions for all modes of 
transportation, combining academic and ``real world'' experience. By 
creating the educational resources for transportation, the proposed 
Intermodal transportation training center would attract new 
opportunities for the City and County and help meet future shortages in 
transportation employment opportunities.

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