Go Build Alabama launches job board for construction hopefuls

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute recently announced the launch of a job board for commercial and industrial construction jobs.

Executive director Jason Phelps told Alabama Daily News about 30 employers and 500 career seekers have visited the website in the first weeks of the launch. 

“I think it’s going to take off and we’re going to have some good traction with it,” he said.

In 2009, the institute created Go Build Alabama,  a marketing campaign for commercial and industrial construction. It focuses on replacing retiring employees with high school-aged Alabamians looking for a career in construction, Phelps said. He said the job board will help career seekers start working with licensed contractors across the state. If a seeker does not have the qualifications, Go Build Alabama has partnerships with community colleges and trainers to get seekers the training they need, Phelps said.

“So folks that sign up on our website, we can help connect them to other free trainings that might be in their area that will help them get started on a construction career,” he said. 

While Alabama’s unemployment rate is at a near-record low, the labor participation rate, which tracks people in the workforce, is also low. It was 57.5% in May, according to the Alabama Department of Labor.The percentage of prime-age workers, those 25 to 54 years old, was 79.2%.

Phelps said it can be difficult to find commercial and industrial construction jobs because people do not know where to look. The job board, he said, will serve a specific, Alabama-based audience, unlike some larger job sites.  And it is free to use.

“What we want to have is a very simple tool that allows interested Alabama citizens to connect with those licensed Alabama contractors,” he said.