The Huntsville Madison County Builders Association says that more and more people are leaving construction work and not many are coming in. That’s why they came up with the North Alabama Homebuilding Academy as a way to help change that.
Executive Officer of Huntsville Madison County Builders Association, Barry Oxley, said, “We’ve talked about different things, and we decided about a year ago we’re going to do something about it, so we came up with the idea of doing a boot camp.”
This boot camp is completely free and will teach students electrical skills, carpentry, and other skills needed to build a house. They say this is the first academy like it in the U.S. and that their students will be ready to work in just 2 months.
“When they finish and they get certified by our course, they can get a job out in the workforce. Then, we’re going to be doing job fairs here for the homebuilding industry, and they can come in and hire students straight out of class basically,” said Oxley.
As Madison County continues to grow, so does the need for more homes to be built. Oxley says getting more people in trade jobs is a good thing for everyone.
“There’s such a shortage in trades right now that it’s taking longer to build a house. It’s taking longer for that repairman to come out to your house because there’s so many other jobs,” said Oxley. “If we start filling the workforce with people, then it won’t cost you as much or won’t take as long for people to get there.”
There is a waiting list of students right now. If you’re interested in signing up for classes, click here for more information.
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