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EXCLUSIVE: Fox News Digital got an inside look at a Houston training site preparing blue-collar workers for construction jobs tied to the massive infrastructure buildout powering America’s artificial intelligence boom.
The site will host a new training program under America’s Workforce Academy, a Meta-backed initiative aimed at expanding the skilled-trades workforce needed for data centers and other infrastructure projects.
Meta is investing an initial $115 million in the academy and working with Associated Builders and Contractors, CBRE, the National Urban League and local organizations on workforce-training programs around the country.
In Houston, Meta is partnering with Associated Builders and Contractors on a general construction training program scheduled to begin Nov. 2.
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Separately, the academy launched its fiber technician training program, developed with CBRE, in July in Indianapolis and Columbus. The first class graduated in August, and new classes begin every week.
In an interview with Fox News Digital at the Houston training site, Joel Thames, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development, described America’s Workforce Academy as “the largest workforce development investment in history.”
He said that while blue-collar workers are often left out of the debate over artificial intelligence, the academy will give everyday Americans a stake in the data-center buildout while preparing them for jobs in construction.
“This program is heavily weighted towards the worker,” he explained.
“There’s a lot of controversy that surrounds data centers and we encourage folks to get involved and really question and understand what’s being built in their backyards,” he said. “But if they are going to be built, our goal is to ensure that the worker is safe, they go home safe every night, that they build them correctly, and that they earn credentials that they can take into other facets of construction.”
Announced earlier this year, America’s Workforce Academy has been praised by blue-collar advocate Mike Rowe for working to “completely rethink the way we train the next generation of skilled workers.”
According to Meta, graduates of the Houston program’s four-week intensive training will earn an industry-recognized National Center for Construction Education and Research credential and an America’s Workforce Certificate.
Thames said the program is responding to demand for skilled workers as construction expands around data centers and other infrastructure projects. He cited a shortage of approximately 349,000 U.S. workers needed to meet current construction demand.
Meta has framed the broader workforce initiative in similar terms.
“The United States labor market needs hundreds of thousands of fiber technicians, welders, plumbers, electricians and other skilled trade workers,” the company said in a news statement. “At Meta, we see this as an incredible opportunity for these American heroes to power America’s future.”
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Thames said Meta approached ABC with a plan that included job opportunities for workers and funding for the training, while ABC would handle instruction and credentialing.
The Houston-area program will operate out of an approximately 20,000-square-foot facility near the Houston Ship Channel equipped with classrooms, a computer lab and two bays for hands-on practical training.
The facility is operated by the Construction & Maintenance Education Foundation, a nonprofit educational affiliate of ABC Greater Houston that will host the Houston-area training for America’s Workforce Academy.
Houston is one of several locations involved in Meta’s workforce initiative, with additional programs underway in Ohio and Indiana, and another program scheduled to start in Louisiana in November.
A Meta spokesperson said 277 students have already graduated in Ohio and Indiana, with more classes graduating every week.
According to Thames, the workforce is rising to meet the need.
“As soon as [Meta] announced it, we had thousands of applicants,” he said.
Thames said the academy is expected to graduate about 300 people per month across its programs, with plans to expand.
He emphasized that the Houston curriculum is designed around construction skills and worker safety rather than instruction about artificial intelligence itself.
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“Even if the data center bubble burst and there’s no more data center work, they’re going to have credentials that they could build off of,” he said.
The growth of AI data centers has increased demand for electricians, plumbers, heavy-equipment operators and other skilled tradespeople needed to build and maintain the infrastructure supporting the technology.
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Rather than taking a position on the pace of AI development, Thames said ABC’s focus is on ensuring workers are prepared for the construction jobs being created.
“At the end of the day, if the data centers are being built, we want them built correctly, we want them built safely, we want to ensure that these workers have what they need to continue and build a long career in construction,” he said.
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“If the data centers are going to be built, we want to make sure that those jobs land with Americans and American workers and keep those in house,” Thames concluded.
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