With contractors across the country scrambling for skilled workers, Superior Construction is doubling down on homegrown talent in South Jacksonville. The company plans to put up a two-story, 13,000-square-foot training center next to its office at 7080 Business Park Blvd, a move leaders say will boost apprenticeships, safety programs and hands-on simulator work for heavy equipment and craft trades. The goal is to shore up a pipeline of skilled labor as a sizable chunk of the workforce heads toward retirement.
What the center will include
The city is reviewing a building-permit application for Stellar Group Inc. to construct the two-story, 13,000-square-foot facility at 7080 Business Park Blvd, with the permit filing listing an estimated project cost of $8.25 million. Plans call for first-floor classrooms and hands-on training areas, heavy-equipment simulators, apprenticeship tracks in carpentry, pipe laying and heavy-equipment operation, safety-certification training and meeting and conference space. The second floor is slated for offices, a conference room and a gym.
Stellar's vice president wrote on LinkedIn that the company was awarded the contract for roughly $9 million, and Kasper Architects has been tapped as architect, according to Jax Daily Record.
Why it matters
Contractors nationwide say they are struggling to hire. A 2025 workforce survey from the Associated General Contractors of America and the National Center for Construction Education and Research found that 92% of firms had difficulty filling open positions and 57% said applicants lacked necessary skills, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
Superior told Jax Daily Record that about 40% of its craft workforce is 45 or older, a demographic reality that raises the stakes for recruiting and training newcomers. CEO Nick Largura said in an email that the project is “a major investment in training, technology and career development.”
Timeline and local impact
Superior says it expects to break ground in 2026 and plans to use the new hub both to upskill its own crews and to host regional training events that could help ease labor shortages across Northeast Florida. The company already offers internships, pre-apprenticeship pathways and recurring Lunch & Learn sessions, and it says the new facility will centralize and expand those efforts. More information on existing programs is available on Superior Construction.
