By Daniel Nash
The Courier-Herald
A Goodwill store will be opening its doors to Bonney Lake Thursday.
Mayor Neil Johnson will join Goodwill board of directors President Bob Bruback and chief executive officer Terry Hayes for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. Doors will open to the public at 9 a.m.
“We are very excited about having a store in this growing community,” Bruback said. “In these tough economic times, a Goodwill store provides many ways to help a community. It is a way for families to stretch the value of their dollar, a place for people to get that first job or second chance and a support for our job training and placement services.”
Employees at the store, at 21153 state Route 410, will give away prizes, including a DVD player, an iPod and $50 gas cards during the weekend.
A mattress sale will be offered while supplies last. Country music station KMPS will broadcast live from the store from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
Goodwill is known for its sales of discounted and donated goods of all kind, but the retail stores are a support system for the nonprofit organization’s various job training and “soft skills” programs.
Soft skills programs include workshops on job interviews and resume writing.
Goodwill has already been providing services for Bonney Lake residents – nearly 60 in the past year, Hayes said.
Many of those services have taken the form of workshops on financial literacy and training for senior citizens returning to the workplace, essentially services that match the needs of the recession, Goodwill spokesman Matthew Erlich said.
“We served more than 6,200 people last year, which is about a 20 percent increase in demand over all of 2008,” he said. “That provides some exciting opportunities for growth for us.”
Erlich said for every dollar in sales from a Goodwill store, 92 cents directly fund the organization’s mission, be it skills programs or store operations.
The stores themselves provide job training to the disabled or disadvantaged and provide first jobs for many young workers, store manager Frank Quintana said. Approximately 70 percent of employees across all Goodwill locations are disabled or disadvantaged in some way.
Quintana was previously the manager at the neighboring Fred Meyer store, where he oversaw that store’s remodeling. He decided to make the switch to Goodwill after a conversation with one of its regional managers. Now he is overseeing the final touches on the store as it gets ready to open its doors.
“As a Fred Meyer employee I was, of course, working for Kroger, which is the second-largest grocer in the country,” Quintana said. “I feel like I’ve moved over to a smaller box, where I can perhaps have a more direct, positive effect on the community. Goodwill is a growing organization and this store is in a growing community. I’m excited to be a part of that growth.”
The Bonney Lake store is run by Tacoma Goodwill Industries. Goodwill is an international organization of 501(c)3 nonprofits based in Rockville, Md.
