(February 13, 2014) Jackson, Tenn.- Under a cold, winter sky, a helpful smile permeated the chill in the air.
That smile is part of the Goodwill logo. The south store has moved to a new location in South Jackson.
Blue aprons and red coats were mingling together as the Jackson Chamber was present to cut the ceremonial ribbon.
The new Goodwill is on South Highland, occupying the old Kroger location next to Apria Helathcare and Verizon Wireless.
With the new building comes a brand new career assistance center called the “Career Success" center.
Goodwill’s mission has always been about one thing: Helping people.
At the ribbon cutting, Matthew Bourlakas, President/CEO of Goodwill Industries in Middle Tennessee, gave a quick history of how helping people was the plan from day one.
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| The History of Goodwill |
After the ribbon cutting, we spoke to Bourlakas about the mission of Goodwill. He said, “The overall mission of Goodwill is that we take the donated goods, the things that people don’t need, want, or use anymore, and we sell them in our retail stores.”
He continued, “It is through the revenue that is generated from the sale of donated goods, we put directly back into our mission. That is to provide employment and training opportunities.”
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| The Mission of Goodwill |
Goodwill’s Career Success Centers offer a myriad training programs for those seeking training and employment. Casey Coatney is a career counselor for the Career Success Center.
“We do job counseling, computer training, resume building, online job searches. We do a lot of different training to help anybody in the community go back to work,” says Coatney
Their class variety ranges from digital literacy to forklift training. “That means,” Coatney said, “it touches different parts of the community. Everybody has a different skill set and everybody needs different training to go back into work.”
“So,” Coatney continued, “with the wide variety of training that we offer, we should have something for everybody in the community to help them get the training they need to get back to work.”
Career Solution is open Monday through Friday to help those looking to get back into the workforce the training they need.
If you want to shop their over 7,000 square foot retail space, they’re open Monday through Saturday from 9AM to 8PM and on Sunday from 11AM to 8PM.
