DeSantis Awards $27 Million in Rural Infrastructure Grants to 14 Communities as Panhandle Recovers From Isaias

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, Oct. 13, awarded $27 million from the state's Rural Infrastructure Fund to 14 small and rural Florida communities, with the largest share going to Panhandle counties still recovering from Hurricane Isaias. Announcing the grants in Vernon, in Washington County, DeSantis paired them with a separate $499,500 Florida Job Growth Grant Fund award to the Town of Century in north Escambia County, one of the areas the storm hit hardest.

The 18 individual awards range from a $100,000 wastewater study in the Town of Jay to $3.5 million road and utility projects in Walton County and Chiefland. They pay for industrial park access roads, wastewater lines, a rural health and EMS building, an airport hangar, a grocery development and waterfront projects, according to the governor's office.

What was announced

"As we continue helping communities recover from Hurricane Isaias, we are also making investments" to strengthen rural Florida and its economy, DeSantis said in the release. The governor's office said Washington County projects received about $2.6 million of the total; the remaining $24.3 million went to the other 12 communities, which the release described as additional rural communities investing in infrastructure and economic opportunity.

Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly credited the governor with prioritizing resources for rural communities. "Through the Rural Infrastructure Fund, Florida has continued to make strategic investments" in rural infrastructure and quality of life, Kelly said.

Every award

The full list of Rural Infrastructure Fund awards, as published by the governor's office:

The 18 awards total exactly $27 million. The Century grant comes from a different program and is not part of that total.

Panhandle projects

The Calhoun County health building is the most direct quality-of-life investment on the list. The county will buy and renovate a commercial building next to the new Calhoun Liberty Hospital campus to house a primary care clinic, a rural specialty care center and county EMS operations, a project expected to create about 33 full-time jobs. A second Calhoun award pays for design, engineering, environmental review and inspection of a new commercial hangar at the county airport, with leftover money going to construction.

Jackson County's two awards split between industry and tourism. The first builds an access road into the roughly 300-acre Endeavor Industrial Park, with drainage, water, sewer, natural gas, electric and broadband lines. The second develops an RV park and campground of about 13 acres at the Blue Springs Recreational Area in Marianna.

In Washington County, $300,000 will fund a feasibility study for a regional sports and entertainment complex anchored by a multi-purpose baseball and softball stadium with lodging. The larger award closes the remaining construction and inspection gap on Phase II of the Holmes Valley Gateway project, which will stabilize and improve about 4.07 miles of road; the Florida Department of Transportation has separately awarded $2,053,677 to the project. Chipley, the county seat, received $911,980 to rehabilitate two public parking lots, build a new one and upgrade infrastructure downtown.

Along the coast, Gulf County's $3 million covers design, permitting and construction of about seven miles of wastewater transmission lines and lift stations along State Road 71, from the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility site near Five Points Road to County Road 387. Franklin County will stabilize the shoreline and add a breakwater at the St. George Island Boat Ramp, which the state said serves an estimated 200 to 300 maritime and tourism workers, including charter captains, oystermen and aquaculture operators. Walton County's $3.5 million improves access on the north side of the Northwest Florida Commerce Park and installs railroad crossing signals at a new intersection.

Communities in the storm's path

Several of the recipients are in counties Isaias hit directly. The Town of Jay is in north Santa Rosa County, where DeSantis toured damage on Tuesday and where about 24,240 customers were still without power that afternoon, according to CBS News; Jay's water system was among those under a boil-water notice after the storm. Century, in north Escambia County, received the Job Growth Grant Fund money to renovate an existing building and bring it up to code for a potential tenant, including fire suppression upgrades.

Walton, Washington and Jackson counties were all under boil-water notices on Tuesday, and Walton and Washington host state points of distribution handing out water, ice and tarps, according to the governor's office. Jay's $500,000 award will prepare a shovel-ready pad, with utilities and driveway access, for a planned 20,000-square-foot speculative industrial building in the town's industrial park, while the $100,000 award evaluates whether to rehabilitate or replace its wastewater treatment plant.

Projects elsewhere in rural Florida

Outside the Panhandle, Chiefland in Levy County received $3.5 million for roads, water and wastewater serving a 55,000-square-foot grocery development with outparcels. Moore Haven in Glades County will build a 500-linear-foot seawall and marina docks for residents and visitors. Indiantown, in Martin County, will replace an undersized 2-inch galvanized steel water main that runs through a crowded 10-foot easement. Jefferson County will extend water and sewer service, pave road access and improve stormwater at its industrial park, Tavares will study stormwater resiliency along the St. Clair Abrams Avenue corridor, and Putnam County will plan upgrades to the Port Putnam terminal and annex.

How the fund works

The Rural Infrastructure Fund, run by FloridaCommerce, pays for infrastructure that supports job creation and capital investment in Rural Areas of Opportunity, rural counties and rural communities. In June, FloridaCommerce made $27 million available statewide, including $5 million set aside for Calhoun, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and Washington counties. Demand far outstripped the money: the agency said it received a record 141 applications requesting more than $193 million for the 2026-2027 cycle.

What's next

With the cycle's $27 million now committed, most of the awards fund design, permitting and studies before construction, so residents in the recipient communities should expect the work to unfold over months to years. In the Panhandle, the grants arrive alongside the more immediate recovery effort, from debris removal to a pending state request for a federal major disaster declaration once counties finish their damage assessments.