HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – North Alabama Builders have a new tool to attract workers to build homes in the Huntsville area’s booming economy… free training in the building trades.

The brand new North Alabama Homebuilding Academy will offer qualified students eight weeks of free training in basic building skills.

It will be funded by an increase in building permit fees of about twenty dollars.

Developers said there just aren’t enough builders to keep up with the home construction needed, and this is their way of investing in the city’s future and “putting some dirt in the hole, course by course.”

“So you can come in, start the course, finish the course, learn about construction math and blueprint reading, safety, tools, all the different things, and concentrate on some of the home building skills,” said Barry Oxley, Academy Executive Officer.

The academy targets high school graduates who may not want to go to college or who are looking for a career in specialized labor.