Regional Goodwill focuses on job training

When most people hear “Goodwill,” they think “thrift stores.” Maybe they should think “jobs” instead. Goodwill Industries across the country are all autonomous organizations that are given a charter and a territory. For Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers Inc., that territory stretches from Newnan, Ga., in the north and to Valdosta, Ga., in the south, then west to the Auburn-Opelika metro area, according to Kim Cantrell, senior v.p. for mission services for the regional nonprofit. For this Goodwill company, the focus is reducing poverty by reducing underemployment and unemployment.

The goal is to “change a life for a lifetime and break the cycle of generational poverty by intertwining job training and placement services with financial literacy and financial education,” according to its mission statement.

Now, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers is bringing 40 new jobs to the Auburn/Opelika area with the April opening of its new retail store and career center in Opelika’s Midway Plaza.

More important, the facility’s focus will be on helping people in the area find jobs. Proceeds from the retail store will be used to fund the career center.

“When you walk into the retail store and look to the left, say, you’ll see a whole panel of glass windows and set of doors,” Cantrell said. “You’ll see somewhere between 15 and 20 computers all hooked to Internet, free and available to anyone who wants to use then for a job search.”

In addition, two dedicated staff members will help people with their job search.

“What we find now is that not a lot of companies have you fill out a paper application any more,” Cantrell said. “A lot of people are intimidated by that, but our staff can actually sit next to a person and walk them through an application, or help them build a resume, or help them start one.”

The career center, which will be free to job seekers and potential employers, will include phones and fax machines as well as computers. Resume writing help will be offered, and services for employers will include job fairs, meeting and training facility space, application collection and screening services. There will also be a jobs board.

“We’ll reach out to the community and capture all the available jobs for posting,” Cantrell said. “We measure our success by how many people we help to go to work. It’s our gift to community.”

Cantrell said the nonprofit placed just over 2,000 people into jobs through three existing career centers and mission services offices. The goal for 2010 is 2,600, including the Opelika career center.

“This goal coupled with the new facility should result in a $6 million economic impact to the area economy,” she said.

In addition to its investment in career centers, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers is actually an umbrella company that owns and operates two affiliates that provide training and employment.

“We operate a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store in Columbus that we use as a training ground for youths to build their skills,” Cantrell said. “It’s about that first job experience and the things they need to learn.”

The other affiliate is PowerWorks, which has janitorial contracts on two military bases, Ft. Benning and the Marine Corps Logistic Base in Albany, Ga. PowerWorks employs about 100, some 50 percent of them with some kind of disability.

Until two years ago, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers operated a small thrift store in downtown Opelika.

“When we left Opelika two years ago, we said we would come back when we could bring with us a significant offering,” said Jerry Payne, retail district manager. “This new combined facility represents over a $400,000 investment. Of that, $150,000 is for the career center alone.”

Payne said the combined facility would operate with a payroll of around $390,000.

The new combined facility is slated to open in April. Goodwill is currently accepting applications for a variety of positions. To view job postings and apply, go to www.gwisr.org and access the employment section.