The Alabama Road Builders Association has named Houston Blackwood its first workforce development director. Blackwood will lead a new effort to prepare students for careers operating heavy construction equipment.
ARBA announced the appointment Wednesday as it works with the Alabama State Department of Education to establish a pilot training program at career and technical education centers across the state.
The program will use heavy-equipment operator simulators to give students experience with machinery used in road and infrastructure construction. ARBA expects its members and other industry representatives to help with classroom instruction and career preparation.
ARBA said the pilot will complement Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter’s Alabama Career Pathways initiative, which launched in July.
The statewide initiative seeks to connect high school students with industry-recognized credentials and careers in construction, manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy and other high-demand fields. Alabama lawmakers appropriated $250 million in 2025 and 2026 to expand and modernize career and technical education facilities.
ARBA’s announcement did not say how many centers will participate in the pilot, where the simulators will be located or when students will begin training.
Blackwood has more than 20 years of experience in education, workforce development and partnerships between schools and employers.
Before joining ARBA, he served as workforce director for the Alabama Community College System Innovation Center, where he helped oversee the statewide implementation and expansion of Skills for Success.
The program works with community colleges, employers, industry associations and state agencies to develop short-term training for specific workforce needs. Blackwood coordinated program development, employer validation, pilot courses, equipment and facility needs and statewide implementation.
Programs he has worked on have covered transportation, construction, manufacturing, health care and other high-demand industries. His heavy-equipment experience includes training involving excavators, bulldozers, skid steers, motor graders, backhoes and rollers.
Blackwood also has worked with employers to create regional training programs that combine classroom instruction, hands-on experience, equipment access and direct industry participation.
He previously worked as a school principal, assistant principal and teacher, as well as a college workforce development director.
Blackwood said he plans to listen to employers, identify their workforce needs and build practical training programs with education and government partners.
“Preparing Alabama’s youth for life-changing careers that will make a difference for generations is a blessing,” Blackwood said.
Blackwood said ARBA will work with the Alabama State Department of Education, Alabama Community College System, ACCS Innovation Center and Alabama Department of Workforce.
Rodney Payton, president of ARBA and Chilton Contractors, said his work as a school board chairman and construction company executive has shown him the issue from both sides.
Students need greater access to skills training and career opportunities, Payton said, while construction companies need employees prepared to enter the road-building industry.
“This is a huge step forward for our industry,” Payton said.
Chad Stracener, chairman of ARBA’s Workforce Development Committee and chief executive officer of Tractor & Equipment Co., said the association has made workforce development a priority over the past year.
Stracener said Blackwood’s experience in education, industry training and employer partnerships will help ARBA recruit more workers and introduce more students to careers with road-building companies.
The Alabama Road Builders Association represents contractors, equipment dealers, materials suppliers, consulting engineers and other businesses
