Goodwill Industries of Erie, Huron, Ottawa and Sandusky Counties
Goodwill Industries was founded in 1902 by Boston Methodist minister Edgar Helms, who gathered donations of clothing and household goods from his wealthy friends. He hired individuals that were considered unemployable because of physical and mental disabilities to repair and resell the donated items. Helms believed strongly in jobs as a way to help people out of poverty. The business model that Helms created 112 years ago was considered the first social enterprise in the US. Today, 165 Goodwill agencies in the US and Canada continue his work to provide "a hand up, not a handout."
Goodwill of Erie, Huron, Ottawa and Sandusky Counties is located in north central Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. We employ 400 individuals in four business divisions: Retail, Manufacturing, Environmental Services, and Workforce Development. Our Retail division includes 8 retail stores and donation centers in Bellevue, Fremont, Huron, Norwalk, Port Clinton, Sandusky, and Willard. Annually, more than 450,000 customers and donors visit our Goodwill stores. We operate two manufacturing plants in Fremont and Sandusky, where our workers assemble over 30 million components each year for local and global manufacturers. Over 2.4 million pounds of computers, metals, textiles and corrugated paper are recycled annually through our Commercial Services division, also housed in Sandusky. Workforce Development programs provide job training, job coaching and other employment-related services to area residents. In 2016, we assisted 7,374 individuals with employment training and services. For more information about Goodwill, please visit our website at www.goodwillsandusky.org. or on Social Media as Goodwillsquad.
