Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has named its 2017 Craft Instructor of the Year: Roger Thompson of New Hope, Ala., electrical craft training instructor for the North Alabama Craft Training Foundation (NACTF) and chief electrical estimator at Jesse Stutts Inc., both in Huntsville, Ala. Thompson received the honor at ABC’s Careers in Construction awards ceremony on March 3 during the Workforce Week ’17 conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"Associated Builders and Contractors is proud to recognize Roger Thompson as an innovative teacher with a positive attitude who promotes lifelong learning to the future workforce,” said 2017 ABC Chair Chuck Goodrich, president of Gaylor Electric, Indianapolis. “Roger’s unique jobsite experience, which includes stints at the Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Controls World Services in addition to 20 years at Jesse Stutts, shows aspiring electricians the opportunities in commercial and industrial construction at a time when our industry is experiencing a skilled labor shortage.”

“Roger enjoys the challenge of motivating and teaching the first-year apprentices and providing the cornerstone needed for each apprentice to be successful,” said Tiffany Brightwell, president of the ABC North Alabama Chapter. “He is a model instructor, and contractors often request for their apprentices to be assigned to his class because they know Roger will take the time to prepare their employees for not only the classroom, but also the jobsite.”

Thompson has worked in the electrical field for 32 years, including 19 as an electrical craft training instructor at the North Alabama Craft Training Foundation (NACTF), where he has taught approximately 500 apprentices. He graduated from ABC’s electrical apprenticeship program in 1991 and also holds an NCCER Craft Training Certificate. In addition to his role teaching at NACTF and supervising estimates for health care, government, industrial and commercial facilities for Jesse Stutts Inc., Thompson also assists in ABC’s workforce development initiatives by speaking to local middle and high school students about career opportunities in the construction industry.

Each year, ABC presents the Craft Instructor of the Year Award to an instructor who possesses outstanding creativity, a positive attitude, and the ability to transfer knowledge through communications skills and innovative teaching to promote lifelong learning to our future workforce. The recipient of this national award embodies the ideals of the merit shop construction industry through superior effort and talent.

As ABC’s 2017 Craft Instructor of the year, Thompson received a $10,000 cash prize from NCCER and the Trimmer Construction Education Foundation.

Thompson was selected from a field of four finalists from across the country. Each of the three additional finalists received a cash prize of $1,000 from NCCER.

ABC's 2017 Craft Instructor of the Year: Roger Thompson



From left to right NCCER Chief Operations Officer Katrina Kersch, NCCER Director of Marketing Jennifer Wilkerson, ABC 2017 Craft Instructor of the Year Roger Thompson, ABC Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Workforce Development Greg Sizemore
Photo Credit: Jerry Thompson