A new airport could spark the economy in a rural part of Florida. Will the workforce be ready?

LaBELLE, Fla.-- One of Florida’s poorest counties is preparing for the new “Airglades” airport, a $300 million cargo hub that could transform its economy.Local leaders see the project as a generational opportunity, one that could bring more than 1,400 new, high-skilled jobs to their largely agricultural community at the edge of the Everglades.

But to make good on its promise, the region’s educators will have to overcome some harsh realities.A third of Hendry County’s working-age adults lack a high-school diploma, while almost half speak a language other than English at home, among the highest in Florida.Before local leaders can prepare residents for jobs in engineering and manufacturing, educators must first help them earn their GEDs and learn English.

“We have some of God’s most beautiful country that has never been touched by man,” said Michael Swindle, the county schools superintendent, and yet “by all the metrics you would judge a county on, we’re either No.1 or No.

2 in the ugly categories.”As the airport project pursues approval, community groups and schools are working to fill teacher shortages and make investments in adult education.The challenges also include some political headwinds.

Most of the county’s workforce is Black and Latino.Efforts to tailor education to serve those demographic groups have drawn scrutiny in Florida, where politicians have forbidden programs factoring race and national origin into people's treatment.

Educators say the political context adds to the difficulties in recruiting teachers.The plan to convert the small, county-owned airport to private ownership still has to win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which will depend partly on solidifying contracts with vendors in Latin America to prove its potential as a hub for perishable goods.Meanwhile, two adult education centers in the county expanded with support from the FutureMakers Coalition, a community organization that has spearheaded...