The impact of the HBAV Education Foundation and its supporters was hard to miss at the 2026 Virginia Builders Summit.
More than 160 students and chaperones from career and technical education programs across Virginia descended on the Richmond Marriott Downtown on September 29. They moved through a packed expo floor, talking with exhibitors and building professionals. And later, they packed the main ballroom for a special lunch session focused on careers in residential construction. The group included students from Henrico County’s Advanced Career Education program, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center, Caroline County Public Schools, and Chesterfield County Public Schools.
Of course, leaving with some free items and swag to remember it all never hurts. This year, Lowe’s Pro helped with that. Their branded buckets were a hit, quickly filling up with giveaways students picked up from exhibitors throughout the day.
The scene at Summit offered a fitting snapshot of what the HBAV Education Foundation works toward all year: connecting students with an industry that needs them. A day earlier, the people behind much of that work had gathered in Richmond themselves.
From grant awards to real-world results
On Sept. 28, Foundation Chair Justin Boyle and the HBAV Education Foundation Board of Trustees met alongside representatives from programs supported by the Foundation. The agenda was largely devoted to grant recipient reports, with annual updates spanning scholarships, apprenticeships, student competitions and more.
The reports provided a progress check on a grant cycle that began in the spring, when the Foundation announced more than $57,000 in support for workforce programs across the Commonwealth.
The numbers mattered. The stories behind them hit home.
Build Smart Institute offered one of the clearest examples. The Roanoke-based organization received $15,000 from the Foundation to expand its CORE construction training program. At the September meeting, Build Smart President Michelle Ramaker shared where several of those students had gone next.
The students featured in Build Smart’s report had earned NCCER CORE and HBI PACT credentials, along with OSHA 10 and CPR/First Aid training. For example, student recipient Michael Panza completed CORE and moved directly into a job with Roanoke-based Kegley Electric. Zion Sayles found employment with Lowe’s and planned to return for electrical training. Brayden Jackson, Noah Jackson, and Phillip Wallace were pursuing electrical training.
Noah Jackson and Wallace, who are cousins, had arrived at Build Smart ready for a new path. Ramaker told Foundation members that demand for training is strong.
“Whenever we have funding, it goes out the door,” she said of the demand.
The student feedback provided another window into what that investment buys. Quinn Barcenas, one of the Build Smart students supported through the program, described learning “how to cut roof rafters, techniques for cutting straight lines, blueprint reading, and the installation of roofing shingles.”
Those outcomes fit the broader mission of Build Smart Institute, which trains students for construction careers through classroom and hands-on instruction. Ramaker has led the organization since 2025 and also serves on Virginia’s Apprenticeship Council.
Similar stories surfaced throughout the meeting.
Kelsey Grow, executive officer of the New River Valley Home Builders Association, reported that its Constructing Careers Grant Program has put more than $28,000 back into local schools since its launch in 2023. Recent projects included a full simulated structure built and wired by Radford High School students, a scale-model house project that helped Floyd County High School grow participation from 39 to 74 students, and a Christiansburg Middle School community garden project that involved 17 classes. Four projects funded in the current round were expected to reach more than 150 students directly.
Elsewhere, Foundation dollars are helping Montgomery County students work through the design and permitting process for an outdoor classroom structure, supporting tuition and workforce training in Hampton Roads, funding scholarships and career exposure through the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association, and assisting a Fairfax County program where students are learning construction by helping build a full-scale home.
Taken together, the reports showed a Foundation increasingly able to put resources behind different points in the workforce pipeline.
I think we’re ready to grow with the demand. You heard from all the grant recipients, you saw the impact. That’s going to continue to happen with ongoing support
An investment that showed at Summit
HBAV’s own grant report provided a direct bridge to what happened the next morning.
The Foundation awarded $4,300 to help bring students to the 2026 Virginia Builders Summit.
Another Foundation grant supported HBAV’s Teacher of the Year program. The 2026 award went to Noah Hughes, the carpentry and career and technical education teacher at Caroline High School. Foundation support helped bring the finalists to HBAV’s Annual Conference & Housing Excellence Awards, while the award itself has strengthened HBAV’s relationship with educators who connect students with the building industry. Hughes brought Caroline students to Summit.
Hughes’ own program makes that relationship tangible. His Caroline High School carpentry students have built projects through the school’s Future Builders program, and the school identifies him as its CTE carpentry teacher.
From show floor to the main stage
The main ballroom filled with students for a special lunch that featured a conversation with four industry professionals whose careers offered very different examples of where construction can lead: Doug Bennett of Cardinal Solutions Group; Dustin Sadler of Dominion Energy; Kerri Woodward, president of Chesapeake Homes; and Eric Robertson of Charlottesville-based Smith & Robertson. The format was simple: each panelist introduced themselves before walking students through career paths that ranged from the skilled trades and field work to sales.
Sadler, who told students about starting in the electrical trades before building a career at Dominion Energy, urged them not to assume the job they hold today defines where they will end up.
“Think about it one opportunity at a time,” he said.
Woodward’s path carried a similar message from a different direction. She began at Chesapeake Homes as a model-home greeter making $8 an hour, moved into sales, learned the construction side of the business, took on operations and leadership roles, and became president of the company.
“Grit will get you farther in your career path than almost anything else,” Woodward told the students. “Don’t be scared to learn. Don’t be scared to try new things, and don’t be scared to talk to people and tell them what you want.”
Robertson, whose family’s custom design-build company traces its roots to 1976, offered perhaps the simplest advice of the session after describing his own stops and starts.
“Stick with it. Keep a positive attitude. Keep learning, and that’s it.”
The variety was the point.
HBAV CEO Craig Toalson told the group at the start of lunch that the residential construction industry needs the next generation, and that the day was intended to show students how many career paths exist beyond the most obvious trades.
Building on the momentum
The Foundation closes 2026 with clear evidence of the demand for its support and the effect it’s having across the state.
Since 2018, the HBAV Education Foundation has invested more than $211,000 in workforce programs. It also maintains a permanent scholarship endowment at Virginia Tech’s Myers-Lawson School of Construction. Continuing and expanding that work depends on charitable support.
“Top of mind finishing the year out strong,” Boyle said.
Giving Tuesday falls on Dec. 1 this year, and the Foundation is preparing for another year-end push after raising $37,000 through the campaign in 2025. Part of that effort will focus on reconnecting with past supporters and showing more clearly what their contributions make possible. With demand growing and programs demonstrating what additional resources can accomplish, Boyle sees an opportunity to build on the Foundation’s grantmaking.
“I think it’s only going to get stronger,” he said.