Gadsden, AL. – The Gadsden State Community College Cardinal Foundation will host an auction featuring one 10-by-16 utility building at 6 p.m. July 25. The auction will be held at the Valley Street Campus, where the building was built by 11 students who graduated from the six-week Basic Residential Carpentry Certificate Program in March.
Gadsden State was the first post-secondary school the Home Builders Association of Alabama partnered with since the inception of the certificate program. The College and HBAA offered carpentry classes free to the public on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from Feb. 7 through March 16. The class meetings provided classroom instruction, theory and hands-on time in the shop lab for three-hour class meetings each evening. During the program, the students built the utility building with six-foot walls constructed with 2-by-4 studs. It has 4/12 pitch shingle roof with unfinished pine siding on the exterior. It has a six-foot door on the front and a window on one side.
The Cardinal Foundation will use the proceeds from the sale of the building to assist the Valley Street Campus’s carpentry certificate program.
“According to Go Build Alabama, the construction industry is projected to grow by 19 percent through 2018 and each year in Alabama, there are over 2,875 construction job openings,” said Steve Hildebrant, president of the Gadsden State Cardinal Foundation. “For every four people who leave the trades, only one replacement is supplied by apprenticeship programs. The students who complete this particular program earn a certificate and can use these valuable skills to enter the residential carpentry workforce. The Foundation has an opportunity to help these students increase their earning potential and continue its support in workforce development.”
The auction will be conducted by Keith Baldwin of American Auctioneers with registration beginning at 6 p.m. The bidding will start promptly at 6:45 pm. The purchaser is responsible for the transportation of the building after purchase.
The Cardinal Foundation exists to support the mission of Gadsden State Community College and provide opportunities for students. The Cardinal Foundation is an approved IRS 501(c)(3) support organization established to raise, manage, distribute and steward private resources to support the mission of Gadsden State
Pictured below; Heath McDaniel, left, carpentry instructor at Gadsden State; Lynn White, second from right, carpentry instructor at Job Corps; and Taylor Burton, right, past state president of the Home Builders Association of Alabama, are pictured with the graduating class.