Gov. Ivey taps Alabama Power CEO to lead newly established Alabama Workforce Board

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has made appointments to the newly created Alabama Workforce Board and its executive committee, selecting Alabama Power President and CEO Jeff Peoples as its chair.

The entity was created through the Alabama Workforce Transformation Act, part of the Working for Alabama legislative package which Ivey championed and signed into law earlier this year.

The new Alabama Workforce Board is created through a merger of the existing the Alabama Workforce Council and the State Workforce Development Board. The new board puts an emphasis on business leadership guiding the work.

“I am pleased to appoint Jeff Peoples, president and CEO of Alabama Power, to chair the executive committee of the Alabama Workforce Board, and to appoint Phil Webb, president and CEO of Webb Concrete, to chair the newly established Alabama Workforce Board,” Ivey said. “We are stronger together by joining forces with private sector leaders to ensure our workforce needs are prioritized.”

Peoples took the helm at Alabama Power in January 2023. Even before heading the company, he has been actively involved in workforce development and training initiatives both for Alabama Power and the state for many years.

RELATED: For new Alabama Power CEO Jeff Peoples, business is all about people

“Activating Alabamians with meaningful career opportunities and providing the necessary training and resources to get them there, helps strengthen our communities,” Peoples said. “Today, Alabama is taking steps to reorient our state’s workforce development system to better serve people and grow our state. I am pleased to work with Governor Ivey and other state leaders in that effort.”

Among those to praise the naming of Peoples as Alabama Power CEO last year was Ed Castile, director of the state workforce training and development agency AIDT, and deputy secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“I’m ecstatic that Jeff Peoples was selected as CEO of Alabama Power, especially knowing that he has focused squarely on workforce development and education programming over the years,” Castile told Alabama News Center at the time. “With the workforce issues confronting all states today, having Alabama Power involved in many of our initiatives to find and implement solutions represents a huge advantage for us.”

The executive committee is tasked with providing a strategic vision and plans for all of Alabama’s workforce development programs, including those funded with state and federal sources. The executive committee will also provide an annual budget recommendation and an annual plan for coordinating Alabama’s workforce development activities with the education and economic development systems.

Executive committee of the Alabama Workforce Board

Members of the executive committee of the Alabama Workforce Board include:

• Jeff Peoples, chair.
• Cathy Randall, vice-chair.
• Dawn Bulgarella.
• Tom Hand.
• Phil Webb (ex-officio member chair of Workforce Board).
• Lamar Whitaker.

Alabama Workforce Board

Members of the Alabama Workforce Board include:

• Phil Webb, chair.
• Jimmy Baker.
• Stanley Batemon.
• Harolyn Benjamin.
• William “Bill” Blackman Jr.
• Miranda Bouldin-Frost.
• Bredgitte Braddock.
• Nancy Buckner.
• Jane Elizabeth Burdeshaw.
• Shelly Chavira.
• Chris Comstock.
• Reid Dove.
• Matthew Dudley.
• Brandon Glover.
• Andre Harrison.
• Harry Hobbs.
• Ron Houston.
• Christy Knowles.
• Julie Kornegay.
• Neil Lamb.
• Richard Landolt.
• Jon Macklem.
• Brooks McClendon.
• Nick Moore.
• Margaret Morton.
• Joseph B. Morton.
• David Niesen.
• Joe Patton.
• Stacia Robinson.
• Kevin Savoy.
• Chandra Scott.
• Peggy Sease-Fain.
• Charisse Stokes.
• Gordon Stone.
• Chris Stricklin.
• David Walters.
• Lamar Whitaker.
• Rolf Wrona.

The Alabama Workforce Board also includes one member of the Alabama Senate appointed by the presiding officer of the Senate and one member of the Alabama House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House.

Ivey spoke with members of the executive committee Monday and expressed her confidence and appreciation.

“Throughout my tenure as governor, no matter what it is we are trying to accomplish, I ask what we can do today to prepare our state for success in the future. No doubt, ensuring we have an equipped workforce is critical as we look to fill jobs today – and in the future,” Ivey said in a statement announcing the appointments. “I am proud to assemble a group of some of our state’s business and industry leaders to work with us as we streamline our workforce development efforts. While we have made progress in increasing our state’s low labor force participation rate, there is still much to accomplish, and we are well on our way to doing that.”

The Alabama Workforce Board complies with the requirements of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The appointments are effective Oct. 1.

“Greater industry engagement will reinforce our focus on workforce results, creating a more effective utilization of the state’s resources and improved prospects for those served by the workforce development system,” Webb said. “I am excited to participate in this newly streamlined approach to talent development in our Sweet Home Alabama.”

Beginning in October 2025, the agency will be led by an Ivey cabinet secretary, the Secretary of Workforce. During this transition, the Governor’s Office will meet with the executive committee.