Jim Gibbons, CEO of Goodwill Industries.

Courtesy of Goodwill l

Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, said many people might not be aware of Goodwill’s primary mission. “People know Goodwill from the stores and services Goodwill supplies. But Goodwill has become a community development arm that connects job seekers to employment.”

Goodwill Industries consists of autonomous organizations based in local communities, but each local Goodwill pays dues to the parent organization — Goodwill Industries International, which provides organizational and technical support and also lobbies in Washington for legislation supported by Goodwill.

Last year, he said, Goodwill provided employment and training programs to 1.1 million people, about 20 percent more than in 2006, and placed 140,287 in jobs, about a 10-percent increase over 2006. So far this year, he said, the demand for services appears to be increasing.

Gibbons came to Goodwill in April. Before that, he served as president and CEO of the National Industries for the Blind. Gibbons was the first blind person to graduate with an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Since he started at Goodwill, he said, he’s been impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit of local Goodwills.

“There’s a passion for innovation,” he said. “The belief in human potential is very strong.”

In the next three to five years, Gibbons said, he would like to double the number of people who receive services from Goodwill. He would also like to expand Goodwill’s presence on the Internet.

Goodwill Industries runs about 2,200 stores, with sales of $1.9 billion last year. So far this year sales at Goodwill stores are up about 6 percent, Gibbons said. In a down economy, Gibbons noted, people are looking for bargains, and Goodwill is one place to find them. “The dollar needs to be stretched further in this economy,” he said.

As for donations to Goodwill stores, Gibbons said they’ve been “a little bit erratic,” but at the moment they are up about 10 percent over the same period last year.

Goodwill also runs a Web site, www.shopgoodwill.com, based on the auction site eBay. Founded in 1999 by Goodwill Industries in Orange County, California, the Web site averages 33,000 visits a day, with 127 Goodwill agencies registered to sell goods. So far, the highest-priced item sold on the Web site has been a watercolor by Frank Weston Benson that sold for $165,002.

“Certain treasures come into Goodwill, and this creates a unique way for us to sell them,” he said.

Based in Rockville, Md., not far from Washington, Goodwill Industries International has an advocacy program to support legislation. Among the bills Goodwill is backing are the AbilityOne Program, formerly known as the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, and the Second Chance Act. The AbilityOne Program provides work for people with disabilities, and Goodwill supports measures that would strengthen the program.

Second Chance provides training programs designed to help former convicts obtain jobs and stay out of prison.

“If you’re not creating programs to get these people employed, they’re likely to end up back in prison,” Gibbons said.

asmith@projo.com