Academy of Craft Training opens new school year across four Alabama campuses
Students logged 43,000 work hours last year as the skilled-trades program expands with a new Central Alabama campus.
The Academy of Craft Training, or ACT, welcomed students back last week for the 2026-27 school year, opening four campuses across Alabama and marking its 11th year of preparing high school students for careers in the state’s construction industry.
“The numbers tell a powerful story of momentum,” ACT Board Chairman Brad Avery said. “Our students are logging more hours, sitting for more interviews, and moving directly into careers in the construction industry. That is what a well-prepared, highly skilled workforce looks like, and it is being built right here in Alabama.”
The new school year opened with a visit from two incoming state lawmakers. Incoming state Senator Scott Ortis, R-Mountain Brook, and incoming state Representative Lloyd Peeples, R-Vestavia Hills, toured ACT’s Birmingham campus this week, meeting with students and instructors and seeing the training facilities firsthand.
“As we open four Academy of Craft Training campuses across the state this week and welcome students back for our eleventh year, there is nothing more valuable than having the leaders who will represent these communities see this work up close,” Stone Building Company President Justin Drummond said.
Over the past year, ACT students statewide completed 727 internships and logged more than 43,000 work hours, a 23.6 percent increase from the previous board update. Seniors participated in 942 contractor interviews and received 365 job offers, with 216 seniors moving directly into jobs with hiring contractors.
“Scott Ortis and Lloyd Peeples got to see firsthand the impact of this public-private partnership between the construction industry and the State of Alabama,” Drummond said. “It gives high school students the training they need to step directly into the workforce and strengthen an industry that represents more than $20 billion a year in economic impact for our state.”
This year also marks the opening of ACT Central Alabama for its inaugural 2026-27 school year. The new campus is welcoming more than 200 students from Montgomery, Autauga, Elmore, Tallapoosa and Lowndes counties.
ACT will offer four new programs this school year: commercial construction, commercial electrical, HVACR and mechanical systems, and industrial metal fabrication.
ACT’s three returning campuses in Birmingham, Mobile and north Alabama are preparing to serve 782 students this year. With more than 200 students at the Central Alabama campus, ACT expects statewide enrollment to approach or exceed 1,000 students.
“At ABC of Alabama, we believe the future of our industry depends on a well-prepared, highly skilled workforce, and the Academy of Craft Training is delivering exactly that,” Avery said. “We congratulate the board, staff, instructors, students, and industry partners on these results, and we look forward to celebrating the next chapter of growth.”
The Academy of Craft Training is a public-private partnership between Alabama’s commercial construction industry and the state’s K-12 Career and Technical Education system. It gives high school students the opportunity to receive skilled-trade instruction and gain industry experience before graduation.
Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama represents the state’s construction industry, which generates $20.1 billion in annual economic output and $13.5 billion in earnings while supporting 223,000 jobs. ABC said it advocates for the industry and its workers.
