The Corporate College at Polk State College has established an initiative to develop and deliver technical training for Florida’s agricultural industry.

It has formed the Agri Business/Technology Institute with a plan initially to focus on Homeland Security, agricultural safety and water management.

The Institute gives Florida’s agricultural economy an entity it can turn to for specialized training not found at any other institution of higher learning, said Rob Clancey, director of the PSC Corporate College, in a prepared statement. Agriculture is Florida’s No. 2 industry, the release said.

The ABTI is aligned with the Florida Banner Center for Agri-Business, headquartered at the Florida Farm Bureau in Gainesville, and will compliment degree-granting programs in agriculture offered by the University of Florida, Florida Southern College and other schools in the Sunshine State.

ABTI is scheduled to launch in mid July. All areas of study will be tailor made for agriculture industry executives and their employees, including migrant workers, the release said.

When the program begins, ABTI will offer courses at PSC campuses in Winter Haven, Lakeland and Lake Wales, as well as the PSC Corporate College Airside Center campus in Lakeland. Two additional PSC campuses in Bartow and Davenport will be used when they become available, the release said.

One of ABTI’s long-range goals is to introduce a mobile classroom that will enable it to bring its training programs to groves, ranches and farms throughout Polk, Highlands, DeSoto, Hardee, Sarasota, Manatee and other Florida counties where agriculture is a key component of the economy.