By Mauricio La Plante – Reporter, Jacksonville Business Journal
Sep 30, 2026

Updated Sep 30, 2026 2:51pm EDT

After CSX⁠ opened its hazardous materials training facility in partnership with Florida State College at Jacksonville earlier this year, the Class I railroad is planning to open a second training facility in the city next year.

At a tour of its newly launched hazmat training center at the Fire Academy of the South within the FSCJ⁠ South Campus, CSX officials told the Business Journal that the second facility, planned at Moncrief Yard in the Northside, is set to complement the college site.

Whereas the FSCJ facility has train cars upright on tracks for fire rescue recruits and students to assess damage and respond to practice drills for high-risk chemical vapor and fluid leaks, the derailment training facility will expose trainees to a simulation of the most severe scenario a rail line can have.

The idea behind it is instructors at the CSX site will bring trainees to the rail yard where a simulated derailment will be strewn across a section of in the yard, said Sean Reid, manager of emergency preparedness and training at CSX, and have them take the lessons learned at FSCJ and apply that knowledge to a derailment incident.

It's basically going to be “walking into an unknown” for first responders and contractors in training, Reid said.

CSX officials are targeting an opening of the new facility in the second or third quarter of 2027.

On the Southside, the facility at the FSCJ's fire academy was completed in Spring 2026 and hosted its first external training in June 2026, a CSX spokesperson said.

Joseph Taylor, director of hazmat at CSX said the FSCJ facility is uniquely tailored for trainees to be exposed to multiple train car types. Hazardous chemicals are not always in the same type of container being pulled by a locomotive. Some are in tanker cars. Others are in hopper cars.

CSX has lined up a variety of trains that were decommissioned because of accidents or taken from its mobile training locomotives for firefighters and students across its network.

Joseph Taylor, director of hazmat at CSX, shows hatch devices built for training emergency responders to use during hazmat leak incidents.

The vast array of cars is not only essential in training emergency responders how to seal a leak, but also to identify what they're encountering.

Set-ups also include mobile hatches for trainees to learn how to seal leaks and drones to analyze hazmat incident sites.

Prior to the construction of its facility at FSCJ, CSX had a site in Atlanta that was decommissioned in 2017.

The Fortune 500 company was considering other sites across the Eastern Seaboard, including locations in Tennessee and Virginia. What set Jacksonville apart was FSCJ, Taylor said.

"What's unique about us is that you've got a Class I railroad that's partnered with an academic institute to create this," Taylor said.

A spokesperson for FSCJ told the Business Journal that the Fire Academy of the South has not done any training classes at the new CSX training facility since its opening, but CSX has conducted one class consisting of about 30 participants.

Additional work and the installation of more props is slated for the training facility, and FSCJ's fire academy plans to offer specialized courses to emergency responders in the Jacksonville area to prepare them in responding to railcar incidents.

Once all work on the facility is complete, FSCJ will collaborate with CSX to schedule the training when the facility is available.

Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of Florida’s first advanced semiconductor workforce training lab developed by Festo Didactic, a global leader in technical and industrial education. Supported by a $2.3 million State of Florida capitalization grant, the cutting-edge installation features Festo’s Semiconductor Learning Factory, designed to close the critical STEM and semiconductor skills gap in the United States.  

The strategically critical U.S. semiconductor industry faces a severe talent shortage. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), of the 115,000 new jobs projected to be created in the semiconductor sector by 2030, roughly 58% risk going unfilled, with technicians accounting for 39% of those unfilled roles. The new facility at FSCJ equips students with hands-on Industry 4.0 competencies and establishes an essential workforce pipeline that translates directly to real-world fabrication facilities ("fabs").

“Our strategic objective is to provide the greatest opportunities for students and our local community,” said FSCJ President Dr. John Avendano. “Having the first-of-its-kind advanced manufacturing and semiconductor training system in Florida will give our students an immediate competitive edge in the workforce. This is a truly exciting addition to our Advanced Technology Center.”  

“Fabs play a critical role in semiconductor manufacturing, where the microchips that power today's connected world are produced,” said Industrial Engineer and Sales Director for Festo Didactic North America Daniel Rodriguez. “Investing in educational fabs is one of the most effective ways for institutions to attract and retain students and prepare graduates for careers in advanced manufacturing. Strengthening this workforce is essential for sustaining U.S. economic competitiveness.”

FSCJ’s facility integrates Festo’s Capstone Semiconductor Curriculum and Semiconductor Learning Factory to simulate a real fab environment. Students learn important safety measures and personal protective equipment protocol as part of laboratory activities. This hands-on approach allows students to learn without fear of failure or making costly mistakes in a multi–million-dollar production facility. Inside the Learning Factory, students handle delicate silicon wafers with vacuum wands and operate post-photolithography equipment including sophisticated metrology and inspection tools to ensure nanoscale precision. As the first semiconductor training solution of its kind, the Learning Factory provides a data-forward, fully automated experience with true industrial robotics for genuine lab-to-fab exposure.

“We’re also thinking ahead when it comes to transferable skills,” said FSCJ Dean of Engineering and Technology Dr. Douglas Brauer. “Our graduates will be able to adapt to various automated environments – and they won’t be limited to one industrial sector. The skillsets they acquire in our lab translate directly into dozens of technical and operational industries for in-demand roles.” 

In addition to the online Semiconductor Learning Factory platform, FSCJ’s lab is also powered by Festo’s complete Cyber-Physical manufacturing system with 14 workstations. The lab's modular architecture enables cross-departmental collaboration across advanced manufacturing, logistics, information technology and AI programs, while also serving as a hub for regional university partnerships with the University of North Florida and the University of Florida.   

“Having worked alongside FSCJ for nearly two decades, our goal was to deliver a solution that directly supports regional industry while meeting state grant priorities. Partnering with Festo Didactic allowed us to create a flexible, highly customized learning factory that teaches both the core automation fundamentals regional employers rely on, and the advanced semiconductor competencies needed for the future workforce,” said Director of Education FL for Bluegrass Educational Technologies Steve Cercone.  

FSCJ’s lab will support at least 15 engineering technology courses with innovative and emerging tech such as MES4 manufacturing execution software, AI vision inspection, autonomous mobile robotics, as well as integration of the Festo Industry Certification Program (FICP). FICP is organized into levels that allow students to progress from basic machine operation and a solid foundation in mechatronics to complex systems engineering. AI and semiconductor topics are typically integrated into the higher levels of this framework.  

As part of its commitment to industry-driven workforce development, FSCJ has been a long-standing Leadership School within the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), implementing industry-recognized micro-credentials across programs in transportation, STEM, building trades and advanced manufacturing. By combining micro-credentials with hands-on training throughout career and technical education programs, FSCJ continues to create pathways that prepare students for careers in high-demand, technical fields.

“Florida State College at Jacksonville’s new semiconductor system represents much more than an investment in state-of-the-art technology, it represents an investment in people, skills and the Jacksonville Community,” said Senior Program Manager for NC3 Lisa Marshall. “With Jacksonville’s strategic location and Florida’s continued growth in advanced manufacturing and the semiconductor industry, FSCJ is creating an important talent pipeline that provides students with hands-on experience, industry-recognized micro-credentials, and pathways into high-demand, high-skill careers."

For the third consecutive year, Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) has been named one of the best colleges to work for, according to the Great Colleges to Work For® program. The results, released in a special insert of “The Chronicle of Higher Education,” are based on a survey of 171 colleges and universities. In all, 76 of those institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies.

Additionally, the College again received the special Honor Roll designation, which is reserved for the top 10 institutions to be recognized the greatest number of times in each size category.

FSCJ received the Honor Roll designation in 9 of the 10 categories, including:  

• Job Satisfaction & Support
• Professional Development 
• Mission & Pride
• Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness 
• Confidence in Senior Leadership
• Faculty & Staff Well-being
• Shared Governance
• Faculty Experience
• Inclusion, Belonging & Community
  

“We are again excited to have received the Great Colleges to Work For recognition for the third year in a row,” said College President John Avendano, Ph.D. “Our faculty and staff – the FSCJ family – show great dedication to upholding our mission, vision and values, which is reflected in the continued achievement of this great honor.”

The Great Colleges to Work For® program includes a two-part assessment process: the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey^© administered to faculty, administrators, exempt professional and non-exempt staff, as well as adjuncts at two-year colleges, and the ModernThink Higher Education Institution Questionnaire^© (IQ), which captures employment data and workplace policies and practices from each institution.

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all current and previously recognized institutions, visit the Great Colleges program website at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com. ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm, administered the survey and analyzed the results.

A full list of recognized institutions can be found at GreatCollegesList.com.

We are excited to introduce our new Chief Human Resources Officer Lisa Moore, J.D.!

A member of the President’s Executive Leadership Team, Lisa is a trusted advisor to the President, Board of Trustees and executive leadership on human resources strategy, organizational culture, policy and compliance and labor relations. She also provides executive oversight of the Office of General Counsel. 

With more than two decades of executive experience in human resources, compliance and organizational leadership across higher education, public education and government, Lisa directs the College’s full human resources program — including recruitment and selection, compensation and classification, performance management, benefits and records management — while also coordinating with outside counsel and triaging legal matters institution-wide.

Lisa is known for her collaborative leadership style and her ability to build trust, strengthen partnerships and align people-centered strategies with institutional mission and goals. She has led Collegewide initiatives in employee engagement, civil rights compliance, policy development and workforce planning, and is particularly skilled in consensus-building, conflict resolution and translating complex legal and regulatory requirements into practical guidance for leaders across the institution.

Before being appointed Chief Human Resources Officer, Lisa held progressively senior roles at FSCJ in employee relations, compliance and policy — including Chief Officer, Organizational Culture & Engagement; Executive Director of Talent Acquisition & Management; and Director of Employee Relations, Compliance & Talent Management — as well as leadership positions with Duval County Public Schools and the Fourth Judicial Circuit’s Guardian ad Litem Program.

Lisa holds a Juris Doctor from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Georgia State University. She is active in the Jacksonville community, including with Leadership Jacksonville, the American Council on Education (ACE) Leadership Network Florida, Isaiah House and Jacksonville Women’s Network.

To learn more about Human Resources at FSCJ, visit fscj.edu/hr.