The City Commission on Monday unanimously approved the program, championed by Commissioner Willie Charles Shaw, which aims to provide 12 individuals ideally from North Sarasota with training in air conditioning maintenance — a trade that pays $40,000 to $45,000 annually for entry level positions. The four-month program would start in May, with classes three days a week at the Boys and Girls Club in Newtown.

Shaw teamed up with the Argus Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes business and collaboration between the public and private sectors, and Career Edge, an organization dedicated to expanding workforce development, to pitch the idea to the commission and ask for just over $34,000 from the city to launch the program. City staff at a later date will present the commission with a budget amendment for the program, which will come out of a fund specifically dedicated to economic development.