This year, Goodwill Manasota is thrilled to mark the 10th anniversary of its Corporate Campus in Manatee County; the facility serves as the organization’s headquarters. The nonprofit will mark the occasion in the Corporate Campus retail store (2705 51st Ave. E., Bradenton) on Wednesday, July 17, with $10 gift cards being presented to the first 50 shoppers, a special appearance by the organization’s mascot, GoodWilly, raffles, a selfie station, food by Willy-Yums Food Truck (11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.) and more. Store hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. 

The facilities at the Corporate Campus include a 29,000-square-foot retail store, which also houses the drive-thru attended donation center, the Community Resource Center, where community members can take advantage of free career services, a computer lab, and a community room; and a 36,000-square-foot administrative wing – which houses the International Training Center, Mission Development Services, a multi-media e-learning and conference facility, and an employee fitness center – where nearly 70 team members currently work. 

The campus is nearly 9.5 acres and has numerous green features, affirming Goodwill’s adherence to sustainable business practices.

The 2014 expansion provided an opportunity for Goodwill to develop stronger services for the community and fill gaps that existing social services were not covering. Additionally, it enabled the organization to increase its capacity to provide career services, veteran services, and training for Goodwill organizations around the globe.    

There are currently 63 team members employed at the retail store. Since its grand opening, the location has accumulated nearly 1.9 million transactions. Additionally, Goodwill has gratefully accepted the donation of gently-used items from just over 265,000 donors.

In 2023, there were nearly 198,000 transactions in the store in support of Goodwill’s Mission Services. The organization also received nearly 35,000 donations at the store’s drive-thru attended donation center.

At the location’s Community Resource Center, community members can access free career services, including career assessments, resume and cover letter preparation, job interview training, and job placement. Since opening in 2014, Goodwill has placed nearly 800 community members in jobs.

Goodwill Manasota’s Mission Development Services (MDS), which launched in 1996, is a successful model for helping Goodwill organizations improve their mission-integrated donated goods enterprise and expand their current territory to create more growth, jobs, and margin. MDS includes a donated goods management program, organizational development, a retail management program, core leadership training, advanced leadership training, new store set-up training, strategic real estate research, and more.

Since first being extensively tracked in 2021, the Corporate Campus has hosted 76 visiting organizations, of which 73 were other Goodwill organizations. These visitors include all the Goodwills in Canada plus U.S. locations ranging from Texas and California to Hawaii. Goodwill Industries International has also participated in training there. Additionally, in 2023, there were nearly 177,000 unique learners on Goodwill Manasota’s proprietary online training platform, Goodwill® U. All told in 2023, in-person and online learning equated to just over 146,000 training hours.

“We are thrilled and humbled to be marking this special anniversary: our Corporate Campus has enabled Goodwill Manasota to grow and be more effective in every element of our work to strengthen the community,” said President and CEO Donn Githens. “While our stores and attended donation centers are highly visible, the impact of what we are able to achieve behind the scenes – through employment and job supports provided at Goodwill, career and veterans services, education and training programs, numerous community collaborations and more – is something we celebrate each and every day!”

In 2023, Goodwill Manasota served more than 4,400 individuals, placed 446 in jobs, assisted 553 veterans, collected over 233,000 pounds of food for All Faiths Food Bank and Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, provided nearly 161,000 education and training hours, and diverted 50.6 million pounds from area landfills.

For more information, visit experiencegoodwill.org or call 941-355-2721.

About Goodwill Manasota
Goodwill Manasota is an industry-leading 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that changes lives through the power of work. With philanthropic donations and revenue generated by the sales of donated goods, Goodwill is able to assist people with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and those with other barriers to employment by providing jobs, job skills training, and free career services. For more information or for a listing of locations, visit experiencegoodwill.org or call 941-355-2721.