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$84M in Goodwill

You might not think of Goodwill as a retailer.

Think again—because retailing is a big part of what Goodwill of Orange County does.

The Santa Ana-based group is the largest nonprofit in the county, a ranking achieved with the help of 21 shops and ShopGoodwill.com, an eBay-style store.

The bulk of Goodwill’s $84 million in revenue in 2010 came from retail sales of donated items.

The stores, combined with various services Goodwill provides businesses, bring in about three-quarters of the money that pays for the nonprofit’s mission of helping persons with disabilities become independent through work.

Disabled workers staff Goodwill stores and other jobs throughout the nonprofit.

“We focus on their ability rather than their disability,” said Doug Wooley, community development manager for Goodwill of Orange County.

Workers with disabilities ranging from mental to physical to educational barriers break down electronics for recycling, shred documents and destroy data on CDs and X-rays. Some wrap silverware in packets for restaurants and others put together shampoo kits for hotels.

“We take them off the tax rolls and make them tax payers,” said Dan Rogers, chief executive of Goodwill of Orange County.

Clients

The federal government and area hospitals are among the clients that contract with Goodwill for document destruction.

The jobs are part of a training and placement program, with some workers eventually hired by about 200 Orange County companies that use the service.

The local arm of Atlanta-based Cox Communications Inc., Irvine-based Orange County Fire Authority, Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu Inc.’s Albertsons and Nike Inc.’s Costa Mesa-based Hurley International LLC are among the businesses and groups that hire Goodwill’s workers.

Companies get tax credits for hiring disabled workers.

Goodwill of Orange County, founded in 1924, is an affiliate of Maryland’s Goodwill Industries International Inc.

Its 12-acre spread in Santa Ana includes administrative offices, a warehouse, an attached store, a donation drop-off and an outdoor area for its wholesale operation.

Products

Goodwill stores sell donated clothing, housewares, refurbished computers, video games and more. Items are organized on shelves by color to keep things simple for staffers and customers.

The merchandising begins when workers sort donations and price items, which are distributed to stores throughout the county. Clothing that doesn’t sell is baled and sold to recyclers.

“We’re really methodical in the way we manage our process,” said Katherine Ransom, marketing and communications director. “In my mind, we’re no different than Nordstrom or Macy’s. It’s all about the product, the placement of the product and, ultimately, the sale of the product.”

Items considered more valuable are plucked for ShopGoodwill.com.

Goodwill of Orange County developed the online store 11 years ago. It operates the site on behalf of all Goodwills across the nation.

ShopGoodwill.com pulls in about $20 million in annual sales.

Goodwill’s goal is to increase store sales in the county by 30% within five years through efficiencies and store openings.

The nonprofit leases most of its stores and is on the hunt for more locations.

“We’re looking for the right space in the right area,” Rogers said. “We have some selling points.”

Namely, Goodwill stores bring traffic to a center.

Its largest store in Anaheim is 24,000 square feet. Its highest-end store is Classic Closet in Huntington Beach. This summer Goodwill will relocate one of its smaller stores that has been in Anaheim for 15 years to a larger building.

The Goodwill workplace is busy with forklifts moving boxes and people doing various tasks, such as sorting, tagging, laminating, packaging and stuffing envelopes.

“There’s constant movement going on to prepare for the next day,” Wooley said.

There’s a lot of good cheer and high fives. Workers seem motivated and interested in their work.

“The absolute genuine desire to be useful and express themselves through work is infectious,” said Cheryl Barrett, a partner with the law firm of Newport Beach-based Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo LLP and Goodwill’s board chair.

Barrett has been with the nonprofit for about nine years and is the second woman to serve as board chair.

“She was always there,” Rogers said. “She’s very bright and the board said, ‘Let’s move her along.’”

The workers are part of what moved her to volunteer in the first place.

“I was superinspired by the people who they serve,” she said.

Goodwill workers are dependable, with low absentee rates, Barrett said.

“They so just want to do what we take for granted,” she said.

Among others who serve on the board are Kathy Bronstein, president of KB Bronstein Consulting and former chief executive of Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc., and Brian Horton, president of Los Angeles-based 1st Enterprise Bank.

Prior to volunteering, prospective board members, volunteers and donors take what is called “the real goodwill tour.”

The tour, scheduled several times a year, is designed to give people a look at the operation.

Goodwill is amid a recovery.

Its revenue was up 8% last year. This year it’s forecasting a gain of about 5% to $88 million.

About 90 cents of every dollar goes toward Goodwill’s mission.

“We run buttoned-up to attract corporations and donors,” said Joan Dornbach, vice president of marketing and communications.

Grants

While sales make up the largest chunk of its revenue, Goodwill gets about 22% of its income from federal and state grants for its job training and placement program.

Some workers are assigned job coaches who help them get established in the workplace. Job coaches also might help them after work with everyday matters such as using an ATM or social etiquette.

Goodwill provides other services for the disabled, including a gym especially for people with disabilities, such as blindness or multiple sclerosis. The new, 12,000-square-foot Goodwill Fitness Center in Santa Ana has 345 members, including about 145 people in wheel chairs.

Goodwill raised $7 million to build the gym right before the recession took hold.

In the same building is another service, the Assisted Technology Exchange Center, which provides various technologies that allow people to be more self-sufficient.

“It can take a child who may not have a voice and give them a voice through technology,” Wooley said.

Affordable Housing

Goodwill’s latest endeavor is a 41-unit affordable housing project for people with disabilities. It is working with two other nonprofits and the city of Santa Ana.

The project has been approved by the City Council. Developers are applying for federal tax credits.

Rogers has been with the nonprofit for about 10 years.

He’s got a diverse background, which includes teaching at Newport Harbor High School and coaching basketball at University of California, Irvine.

He ran Second Harvest of Orange County’s golf tournament for 18 years. He also worked in real estate for Ford Motor Co.

“It is by far the best job I’ve ever had,” he said. “It is inspiring to go to work every day.”

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