Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois is a community-based not-for-profit organization that provides jobs training, and placement services for people with barriers to achieve meaningful employment. Rockford, IL serves as the headquarters for Goodwill Northern Illinois and is one of 165 Goodwill agencies under Goodwill Industries International (GII). Goodwill was named by Forbes Magazine as the #2 not-for-profit in the country as well as one of America’s 25 most inspiring companies. Goodwill Northern Illinois’ territory includes an 18-county area in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin with a combined population of over 1.1 million residents. Goodwill’s retail operations sell donated, gently used products as well as new items such as overstocks and close-outs from well-known stores.
Goodwill has stores in the northern Illinois cities of Rockford, Machesney Park, Freeport, Sterling, DeKalb, Ottawa, McHenry, Huntley and in Beloit, Wisconsin that employ over 330 people. The project was to construct their 12th facility in Crystal Lake, IL (McHenry County). The Company purchased an out-lot on property next to a Walmart to construct a new building that housed a retail store and administered a Let’s Go to Work program which provides individuals with significant barriers employment with the help of a dedicated job coach to help them achieve the dignity of work while learning valuable job skills. They hired 5 full time and 36 part-time employees to operate the retail facility, a job coach and 12 individuals with significant disabilities for the Let’s Go to Work! program. The total project cost was $3,100,000 that included a building cost of $2,900,000 and fixture cost of $200,000. On August 22, 2014, bonds were issued in the amount of $2,320,000 to help create 23 full-time jobs.
The Project closed in 2013.