KENTUCKY (1/14/13) – Goodwill Industries of Kentucky placed a record-setting 2,970 people in jobs during its 2012 fiscal year, a 13 percent increase over 2011 job placements. The agency also paid out 5 percent more in mission-related wages in 2012 than in 2011.
 
The job placement number is the highest that Goodwill Industries of Kentucky has reached in its history, dating to 1923.
 
“Our services proved a good match for Kentuckians struggling to find work in a difficult economy, and we are proud to have placed nearly 3,000 people into jobs in a single year,” said Roland R. Blahnik, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky.
 
Goodwill also paid nearly $17 million in wages to people with disabilities or other disadvantages during the 2012 fiscal year and provided more than 14,000 services and referrals to Kentuckians. Goodwill operates 62 donation and retail centers, serving 103 of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
 
Each of Goodwill’s donated goods centers create jobs and job training opportunities for people who face barriers to employment, and the nonprofit also provides a variety of employment and job placement programs statewide. Among those programs are the KentuckianaWorks Power of Work program, operated by Goodwill, which helps people move from public assistance into the workforce.
 
Other 2012 fiscal year highlights:
 
• The JPMorgan Chase Foundation gave a $200,000 donation to Goodwill’s Broadway Beacon Initiative, a project that seeks to transform Goodwill’s East Broadway campus into a citywide destination for jobs and job training services for people who face barriers to employment. The gift successfully completed the project’s $1.3 million fundraising campaign. Goodwill also received a $50,000 gift from The Hearst Foundation, Inc. towards the project. Construction is under way and scheduled for completion in late 2013.
 
• The 10th donation and retail center in Louisville opened on Hurstbourne Parkway just south of Shelbyville Road. The 15,000 square foot center created about 20 jobs.
 
• Elizabethtown welcomed its second Goodwill center, a 10,000 square foot facility on Ring Road, which created about 12 additional jobs in the community. Goodwill also increased its footprint in southeastern Kentucky with the opening of a 10,000 square foot donated goods center in Barbourville.
 
• Goodwill launched a new subsidiary, Goodwill Cars to Work, that helps people with disabilities or other disadvantages obtain affordable, dependable transportation to achieve and maintain employment. Participants must be referred from a nonprofit social service agency, and to meet the expected demand, Goodwill emphasizes its ongoing need for donated vehicles.
 
As one of the largest Goodwill member organizations in the country, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky “turns jeans into jobs” by providing hands-on job training for individuals with disabilities or other disadvantages. The nonprofit, 501(c)(3) agency operates 62 donation and retail centers and provides job counseling, supported employment, and adult literacy programs, helping people with disabilities or other disadvantages achieve and maintain employment to gain a better quality of life. Only 10 percent of the agency’s revenue supports administrative costs, leaving 90 cents per dollar to support Goodwill’s mission in its local communities.

SurfKY News
Information provided by Danielle Waller

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