Construction-industry executives and education officials gathered Wednesday morning in Mobile to celebrate the opening of a facility that will help prepare hundreds of area high school students to step into craft jobs immediately after graduation.

It wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking for the Academy of Craft Training facility. Instead, some of the students on hand helped sink screws into the first piece of drywall on the interior of a warehouse on the edge of the Brookley aeroplex. Jeff Carrico, chief operating officer of White-Spunner Construction, said the 40,000-square-foot facility should be complete in five or six weeks. He also said that the Academy’s first students have already begun their hands-on training at temporary facilities.

“Welcome to what I consider to be a historic day for the community of Mobile and Baldwin County” said Thompson Engineering President and CEO John Baker. “This is a transformative-type solution to an industry-wide problem. … There’s a distinct skilled craft labor shortage in the construction industry across the nation.”

“What you’re seeing here today is a solution for an industry developed by that industry,” said Baker.

He said the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group had developed a plan years ago to build such programs. He described the Academy of Craft Training as a public-private partnership between the construction industry and the state; the first Academy opened several years ago in Birmingham and has produced about 700 graduates so far. Next year one will open in Huntsville, he said, and “from there we would like to springboard across the state.”

State School Superintendent Eric Mackey said the academy serves one of the state education system’s core goals, producing career-ready students.

“Nothing’s more important than graduating young people who can choose their own pathway and be happy contributing back to our society,” said Mackey. The superintendent said that by year’s end he expected discussions to begin on another academy to be located in the Black Belt.

“These are great young people,” said Carrico of the Academy’s first students. “Construction is not an easy environment to walk into. This is an introduction to that process.”

Jason Goodgame, vice president of the Pell City-based Goodgame Co. and chairman of the Alabama Construction Industry Craft Training Board, said the Academy is open to high school juniors and seniors who can begin the application process by speaking to their school counselors.

Those accepted into the program attend school for half a day and receive craft training during the other half. They work directly with area construction companies and are virtually guaranteed job offers if they successfully complete their certifications.

“It’s 100% placement in a job, unless they’re going on to secondary education or military or something else,” Goodgame said.

Along the way, however, they must comply with safety training and other real-word standards. “This is like a real job,” Goodgame said. “If you break the rules, you can get fired.”

Goodman said the program is designed to take in about 250 students, and to produce about 200 graduates a year. That’s comparable to the first academy facility in Birmingham.

According to information provided by White-Spunner, “The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) provides the academy with curriculum in building construction, electrical, welding and piping, interior and exterior finishes, and HVAC, which allows students to earn high school credits necessary for graduation.”