Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Horizon Goodwill Industries company newsletter. Our goal with this publication is to make sure that you know as much as possible about our activities and programs. The information shared in this newsletter, and the following monthly editions, will highlight areas of our organization that you may not know about, new programs that you may not have heard about, or could provide more detail on items that you have heard of. I hope that through this newsletter, each of you will have a greater understanding of how the work that YOU do allows Horizon Goodwill to improve our communities. Please be sure to contribute your ideas for the name of the newsletter! Yours in hope, Dave
We are in need of a name for this newsletter. Something that could possibly use the word “Horizon” in a creative, meaningful way. It could be something about the mission. Anything that you’d like to suggest. The winning name will be selected by a committee of judges and the winner will receive a $50 gift certificate. You can enter up to three suggestions. Click the banner or go to the Survey Link.
At some point in your employment with Horizon Goodwill Industries, I bet you have heard that your work supports our Mission and maybe you have wondered what that means. Horizon Goodwill Industries’ primary Mission is to Remove Barriers and Create Opportunities for employment for individuals that are un/under-employed. We achieve our mission by offering a variety of programs ranging from on-the-job training and education to housing and young adult services. Each of these programs is designed to meet people where they are on their journey to sustainable employment.
Because of the work that each of you does, revenue from store production/sales, commercial contracts, operations, and round-up are combined with grant monies to fully fund our mission services programs allowing us to serve our communities for free. To date in 2022, seventy (70) individuals served have gained employment and an additional thirty-four (34) have been hired here at HGI! That’s a total of 104 people who have gained employment so far this year thanks to the work that YOU do!
The Business Services division provides a variety of contracted services to other businesses across our territory. They provide everything from Commercial Cleaning, Mailroom Services, Administrative Services, Total Facility Management, Temporary Labor, Assembly and Kitting, Reverse Logistics, Supply Chain Solutions, Warehousing, Order Fulfillment, and Groundskeeping. In 2021, this division employed 215 people in 58 contract locations. Combined, those employees have worked 224,653 hours, and earned $3.4 million in wages, for total annual revenue of $9.0 million.
Some of the services we provide are for the US Army at Fort Detrick (Frederick, MD), the National Park Service (Canal Place and Harpers Ferry), MD MVA centers in Cumberland and Hagerstown, the Sideling Hill and Youghiogheny Rest Areas in MD, Hagerstown DLLR, six MD State Highway Administration Areas, the WV Dept of Health And Human Services in Charles Town, WV, the I-81 Truck Stop in WV, and the MD Department Of Juvenile Services at Victor Cullen, Backbone, Green Ridge, and Savage Mountain.
Ask the person on the street what “Goodwill” does, and they will probably say “they have ‘the stores’. While there is much more to Horizon Goodwill Industries, store sales are a major source of revenue to support our programs. In Retail, HGI has 301 employees across 19 stores. There are 188 full-time and 113 part-time employees. In 2021, there were almost 900,000 transactions over those 19 stores and over $6 million in wages and benefits paid to employees and participants.
After the Covid-19 pandemic started, the Outlet store was closed due to social distancing concerns. The Burhans Blvd store in Hagerstown was converted to a .99 cent store to help make up for the lack of an outlet location and to help the downtown area recover from the pandemic with value-priced items. In the end, the .99 cent model wasn’t successful and it was closed at the end of May 2022. The great news is that there is a new store opening on July 14, 2022, in the North Pointe Shopping Center in Hagerstown – so we still have 19 stores!
Do you know that Horizon Goodwill Industries sells some donated items online on a site similar to eBay? The URL for the site is www.shopgoodwill.com. If you want to see just the HGI items, click on www.shopgoodwill.com/hgi. The HGI e-comm team is at the Corporate Center in Hagerstown. The e-commerce department receives items from the retail stores and donation centers, and the team researches, photographs, and lists the items for sale. When an item is purchased, the team packs and ships it to the customer. In May 2021, the team listed 3992 items and shipped 2461 items that were sold. If you’re ever at the Corporate office, you should ask to take a tour of that area and learn more about this unique part of our organization.
Donations are what keep our stores in business. The Attended Donation Centers (ADCs), the processing centers in each of the stores, plus the donation bins throughout our territory are crucial to keeping products on the store shelves. In 2021, 14,374,376 (yes, 14 million) lbs. of donations generated $14,060,834 in sales to support HGI and Mission programs. These generous donations enabled us in 2021 to provide:
- Young Adult Services: 153 individuals served, 72 sheltered, and 19 permanently housed
- Adult Housing Services: 169 individuals served, 63 sheltered, 20 permanently housed
- Employment Services: 152 individuals served, 65,480 hours worked, $872,378 in wages earned
There are 3 ADCs currently open (Corporate, Boonsboro, and College Road) and the new ADC in Strasburg, VA, will be open soon.
The Human Resource Department fosters a welcoming, supportive, and positive environment for HGI’s most valuable asset, our employees!
With a workforce of nearly 600 individuals in permanent and temporary employment, the Human Resources department works to ensure everyone is successful in their own career path. This involves developing and administering programs that are designed to increase the effectiveness of our organization’s mission. We ensure employees are nurtured and supported through policies and procedures by fostering a positive work environment and a diverse workplace culture.
Our department also offers Resource Coordinators. Resource Coordinators are available to assist employees who are experiencing barriers that affect their day-to-day responsibilities and life activities. This support can connect you to resources with quality programs for basic needs, mental health, and career development.
Whether you are a first-time job seeker, returning to the workplace, looking for supplemental income, or want to train in a new skill, there are opportunities for you! View our current openings and apply online at www.horizongoodwill.org/careers.
Each month, individuals, work locations, careers, or other topics will be put ‘In the Spotlight’. Take a look at these stories and learn more about the various areas in which we are serving the community.
The Horizon Corner Market
Also known as the CW Brooks Convenience Store, Horizon Goodwill Industries has ventured into making food and drink available and affordable to people in areas that do not have easy access to this critical resource. The CW Brooks building is in downtown Hagerstown and is operated by the Hagerstown Housing Authority. HGI operates a small convenience store on the first floor that offers Groceries, Milk, Eggs, Snack Foods, Soft Drinks, Toiletries, and Medicines to the residents and surrounding community. While there are other convenience stores nearby, our pricing is kept as low as possible, so these items are affordable. Recently, delivery service was added as an option for those who request assistance getting their purchases home.
Milestones & New Hires
Congratulations to the following people for reaching a great milestone and welcome to our newest team members as they begin their journey to their milestones!
| Milestones | June New Hires |
|---|---|
| Amy Taylor – Hagerstown 21 Yrs. Tammy Mcbrearty – Martinsburg GSA 17 Yrs. David Kinnamont – Fort Detrick 14 Yrs. Pamela Simms – Romney 12 Yrs. Alison Lady – Hagerstown 11 Yrs. Beverly Fincham – Romney 10 Yrs. Karen Smith – Charles Town 9 Yrs. Rickey Agnew – Romney 8 Yrs. Lawrence Woodward – Martinsburg 7 Yrs. Donald Trumpower Jr – Cumberland 6 Yrs. Tonya Zimmerman – Corporate Center 6 Yrs. Frances Reese – Burhans Store 4 Yrs. Viola Fee – Romney 4 Yrs. Troy Brant – Cumberland 3 Yrs. David Crebbs – Greencastle 2 Yrs. Grace Canzurlo – Woodstock 2 Yrs. Christopher Douglas – Berkeley Springs 1 Yr. Cynthia Lang – Stephens City 1 Yr. Dustin Liller – Cumberland 1 Yr. Edward Crushong – SHA Keyers Ridge 1 Yr. Fern Bernsteinmiller – Shepherdstown 1 Yr. Ivan Morales – Hagerstown 1 Yr. Jenise Powell – Hagerstown 1 Yr. Karen Frisby – Hagerstown 1 Yr. Luan Graham – Hagerstown 1 Yr. Margaret Skaggs – IRS Mailroom 1 Yr. Pamela Bunn – Waynesboro 1 Yr. Roy Swim – Hagerstown 1 Yr. Terry Porter – Hagerstown 1 Yr. |
Dwayne Watts – Hagerstown Elena Caterina Della Mea – Hagerstown Bracken Weissler – LaVale Melissa Renner – IRS Mailroom Jaiden Skidmore – LaVale Katherine Harnish – Sideling Hill Stephanie Childs – Martinsburg Max Marny – Winchester Whitney Markley – Woodstock Seth Lewis – LaVale Michelle Mason – Winchester Dianne Sangiovanni – Cumberland Colton Rogers – Greencastle Hannah Ruffner – Greencastle Justice Naugle – Waynesboro Lynell Marple – Winchester Lynn French – Hagerstown Andrew Choi – Stephens City Alastor Fogle – Greencastle Julie Henry – Oakland Ty Dipatre – Front Royal Helene Ranfone – Burhans Store Melissa Ritter – Stephens City Richard Droege – Front Royal Lyric Washington – LaVale Trinity Myers – Greencastle Kyra Smith – Charles Town Linda Weeks – Stephens City Haley Wheelbarger – Mount Jackson Connie Orebaugh – Winchester Sean Starry – Greencastle Lisa Miller – Mount Jackson |
Upcoming Events
- On July 6th, the new Attended Donation Center in Strasburg, VA, will be opened. The grand opening and ribbon cutting will take place at a later date.
- July 4th, HGI will have a truck at the Mile Long Yard Sale in Hagerstown. This 3-day event is held every year and HGI has been participating for many years. We are there to take any items that did not sell at the yard sale tables and take them to the warehouse in Hagerstown for processing. In 2021 the team collected nearly 2500 lbs of donations!
- July 14th, the North Pointe Store will open. The ribbon-cutting will be held at 10 AM.
- There are two upcoming Cut|Cloth|Work events coming up in July and August. For the Cut|Cloth|Work events, a local barber provides free haircuts (CUT), Horizon Goodwill provides clothes for the interviews (CLOTH), and local companies will be doing on-the-spot interviews (WORK).
- The HGI2 Mission Office is holding theirs on July 18th from 11 am-3 pm at the Martinsburg Community Knights Of Columbus, 108 W Stephen St, Martinsburg, WV.
- The UPIP (Upper Potomac Industrial Park) Mission Office in Cumberland is holding theirs on August 25th from 9 am -1 pm at the Allegany County DSS, 1 Frederick Street, Cumberland, MD.
Thank you for reading the Horizon Goodwill Industries newsletter. If you have any exciting news or story suggestions, please contact us at marketing@goodwill-hgi.org