News Release
|
Goodwill Industries Reports New Highs In Service And Revenue
May 2, 2005 |
Rockville, MD —
A record 723,485 people benefited from Goodwill’s job training and
career programs in 2004, and the organization reports a high of $2.39
(b) billion in revenue for the year. The figures represent a 17 percent
increase in people served since 2003, and a revenue rise of 7.9
percent. Goodwill channels 84 percent of its revenues into its
services.
"We are 1.9 million people closer to meeting our
21st Century Initiative goal of helping 20 million people by the year
2020," says George W. Kessinger, President and CEO of Goodwill
Industries International. "As our revenues grow, we are reaching more
people through a range of pre- and post-employment career services that
help people find and keep good jobs, and move up the career ladder."
To
pay for its programs, Goodwill sells donated clothes and other items in
2,015 stores in the United States and Canada, and on its Internet
auction site, www.shopgoodwill.com.
Last year, the organization earned a record $1.37 (b) billion through
its store sales, or 57 percent of its total operating revenue. Goodwill
also created 21,488 jobs and earned $422.1 (m) million through
commercial services provided to government and private industry,
including document destruction and management, janitorial, food
preparation, packaging and assembly.
Goodwill Industries
provides a broad range of training courses for in-demand jobs in fields
such as health care, financial services and hospitality. Life skills
training and counseling, elements of Goodwill’s core services, help
prepare individuals for the demands of the workplace, while job
coaching and post-employment support ensure people’s long-term success.
The organization serves people with physical, mental and emotional
disabilities, as well as those with disadvantages such as welfare
dependency, illiteracy, homelessness or lack of work experience.
"Flexibility
is at the heart of the Goodwill model, allowing us to meet the needs of
our clients while meeting the needs of employers," says Kessinger.
"From experience, Goodwill knows that individual success in the
workplace depends on personalized career plans."
The
organization recently completed a three-year project funded by the U.S.
Department of Commerce which found that providing low-wage workers with
access to computers at home significantly increases worker retention
rates and helps lead to higher wages for those workers. With funding
from the Hitachi Foundation’s Making Work Work initiative, Goodwill
also published a new employee retention guide, aimed at helping small-
and medium-sized businesses keep their employees. Staff training,
performance reviews and no- or low-cost incentives for good work are
some of the recommended strategies. Surveys estimate that the annual
employee turnover rate for all U.S. companies is 12 percent, and that
turnover can cost an employer $6,000 to $12,000 to replace an employee
earning $16,000 per year.
"People entering the workforce for
the first time, or at the first rung of the career ladder, need
resources to achieve long-term employment and find opportunities for
career advancement," says Kessinger. "In other words, Goodwill is
making a long-term investment in workers worldwide." |
|
|
|
Phone: (240) 333-5264
Cell: