Alabama’s economy is growing, and its workforce pipeline needs to keep pace. That’s the driving force behind Alabama Career Pathways, a statewide initiative to build a workforce system connecting high school students to in-demand careers before they ever walk across a graduation stage.
Talk to employers in the skilled trades and the picture is clear: the knowledge gap is moderate to severe, and it’s getting worse.
“If we don’t pass the knowledge along, we will lose it,” says Jim Kurz of Charity Plumbing, a plumbing industry veteran who has seen firsthand what happens when skilled trades go undertrained. Ignored codes. Failing water systems. Infrastructure that quietly deteriorates until it can’t be ignored anymore.
The skilled trades gap in Alabama is growing
Alabama Career Pathways targets exactly the industries where that gap is most critical: manufacturing, construction, healthcare, IT, and energy. Through a growing network of more than 60 local and regional Career and Technical Education centers, students can earn industry-recognized credentials in high-demand fields without a four-year degree.
Programs like J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College’s plumbing course are already placing graduates in entry-level jobs paying at least $20 an hour. Similar opportunities exist in electrical work, HVAC, and welding.
The wages are real. The jobs are local. And the path is shorter than most students realize.
“I tell kids to learn a new skill. No one can take that away from you,” Kurz says. “The scalability of these skills is incredible.”
How employer partnerships shape Alabama CTE programs
What sets Alabama Career Pathways apart is employer-driven design. Curricula at CTE centers are shaped by the actual workforce needs of regional employers, not assumptions about what students might need someday. Employers participate through advisory roles, work-based learning, equipment contributions and, in some cases, serving as instructors themselves.
Kurz is one of those contributors. He brings his own equipment to training sessions and donates his time. But he’s direct about what makes that partnership sustainable at scale: the incentives have to be real, and the state has to invest in making it easy for employers to show up.
When employer engagement works, the effect compounds.
“If more employers see that those who participate get good employees out of it,” Kurz says, “they become willing to invest time and interest.”
How Alabama Career Pathways measures student outcomes
Alabama Career Pathways tracks outcomes that matter: credentials earned, job placement rates, and post-graduation wages. The program is designed to be held accountable to those numbers, with funding tied to results and annual reporting shared publicly. For Kurz, the measure is simpler.
“Having these kids employed. That is the goal. The money needs to be spent properly.”
That’s the commitment Alabama Career Pathways is built to keep. Want to understand the policy behind the program? Read our next post.