Goodwill Industries of Akron 570 E. Waterloo Road • Akron, OH 44319 • www.goodwillakron.org Phone: (330) 724-6995 • (800) 989-8428 • Fax: (330) 786-2503 |
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Brenda M. Baum, Communications Manager Office (330) 330-786-2519 bbaum@goodwillakron.org
OVER 7,000 JOB SEEKERS ASSISTED BY GOODWILL INDUSTRIES IN 2011
AGENCY TO FORMALLY PRESENT MISSION NUMBERS AT MARCH 29 ANNUAL MEETING
AKRON, Ohio—January 25, 2012— Looking for work and facing adversity are difficult obstacles, and valuable resources like those provided through Goodwill Industries, serving Summit, Portage, Medina, Ashland, and Richland Counties, helped to give 7,263 individuals a hand-up this past year. With the mission of helping individuals prepare for, find, and retain employment, the nonprofit agency provided a variety of services to individuals looking for a new or better job, or the opportunity to advance toward gainful employment.
“We take pride in our commitment to help individuals prepare for, find and retain employment,” said Nan McClenaghan, Goodwill’s CEO and president. “We continually look for ways to increase and improve the services Goodwill offers.
Most known for assisting individuals that have disabilities and operating a well-established donation and resale operation, Goodwill is so much more. The agency has been in the business of meeting the needs of job seekers and extending those services to the entire population for 85 years.
Although not everyone who receives services from Goodwill is seeking immediate job placement assistance, the agency boasts a seven year placement rate of 80% or better. Also, its 90% retention rate for 2011 means that most of the 517 individuals Goodwill placed into jobs in 2011 were still on the job after 90 days, and it is probable that their employment will continue. Goodwill’s impact on the local economy as the value of the first year’s wages of individuals placed was over $14 million – dollars that purchased food and services, and paid taxes in local communities. Beginning in 2006, Goodwill began more formally measuring its satisfaction level of participants receiving services, and in each of the last five years, it has achieved at least 92% participant satisfaction.
It is also important to note that Goodwill’s business lines, which include its Contract Services and Retail Operations, are the perfect training ground for many of the participants receiving services. More than 321 program participants worked within these business operations for a total of 120,553 hours gaining valuable skills, and more importantly, an enhanced feeling of confidence and self-worth to help them become more successful in relation to their employment goals.
Goodwill Industries would not have been able to achieve these service numbers without the support and encouragement from the public’s donations and its many referral sources and funding agencies.
Goodwill will formally present its service numbers with the release of its 2011 Annual Report at the agency’s 85th Annual Meeting at The Tangier on March 29, 2011, at 5:00 p.m.
Goodwill Industries of Akron is a not-for-profit corporation that helps individuals prepare for, find and retain employment. Operating in the five-county region of Summit, Portage, Medina, Ashland and Richland, the Akron-based agency was established in 1927. It is a private, independent organization, operating as an affiliate member of Goodwill Industries International, and a United Way agency in Summit and Medina Counties. Goodwill helps to directly strengthen the region’s workforce through its employment programs and indirectly through the net proceeds from its retail outlets and contract services division. For more information about GIA, visit www.goodwillakron.org or call 800-989-8428.