Wallace Community College, in partnership with Dothan Tech, the Alabama Home Builders Foundation and the Home Builders Association of Dothan & the Wiregrass Area will offer a free Basic Residential Carpentry Program to adult learners this fall.
The nine-week program begins on October 4, 2021 and ends December 6, 2021. Classes will be held two nights per week on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at the Dothan Tech campus located behind Dothan High School.
The Basic Residential Carpentry program will cover areas of residential homebuilding including safety, using basic construction tools, reading blueprints, floor, wall, roof and ceiling framing, window and door installation, exterior and interior trim and finishes, stairs and more.
Students are guaranteed a paid internship after successful completion of the program. The program is capped at fifteen participants who must be 18 years or older and may not be enrolled in high school.
The partnership is the first of its kind between Dothan Tech, Wallace Community College Workforce Development, and Alabama Home Builders Foundation. Dothan Tech will provide the construction classroom and lab space free of charge to Wallace Community College, and Dothan Tech Building Construction teacher Bob Griggs will be the instructor. The partnership, says Christopher Duke, Career Tech/Workforce Development Director for Dothan City Schools, “is a wonderful opportunity for the Dothan community to benefit from these learning opportunities to develop our local building construction workforce.”
The Alabama Home Builders Foundation provided grant funding for the program. “With the housing market on the upswing and the construction workforce aging, there’s an ever-increasing need for qualified, skilled tradespeople entering the home building industry,” said Foundation President Wrendon Davis. “The Alabama Home Builders Foundation is excited to partner with trade schools around the state to help fill that gap through education initiatives.”
“This partnership is a great example of what can be accomplished when the community works together,” says Joe Johnson, Director of Workforce Development at Wallace Community College. “This project has been discussed for approximately 2 years and with the help of the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce and Southeast AlabamaWorks, it has been brought to fruition. I look forward to the positive impact that the training will have on individuals in our community and the local workforce.”
For more information on the free Basic Residential Carpentry program, please contact Joe Johnson (jjohnson@wallace.edu, 334-556-2390).