Goodwill Industries Of Lorain County, Inc.

What Goodwill Industries Of Lorain County, Inc. does

Goodwill Industries of Lorain County, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization incorporated on February 28, 1933, headquartered in Elyria, Ohio, and operating as an independent affiliate of Goodwill Industries International. It serves all of Lorain County and the eastern portions of Huron and Erie Counties through three integrated divisions. The Retail division operates seven Goodwill stores across Elyria, Lorain, Avon, Oberlin, Vermilion, Sheffield Lake, and North Ridgeville, reselling donated clothing, furniture, books, toys, and dishware, with an online extension via the Shop Goodwill marketplace and a Home Pick-Up donation service. The Mission Services division delivers individualized workforce development — including job placement, job coaching, Job Club, Digital Skills Training, a Financial Literacy Class, the Goodstart program for high-school students, Summer Youth employment (ages 14-24), Re-Entry support for formerly incarcerated adults, a Recovery Program with peer support, Community Service placements, a monthly Food Pantry, and a Medical Equipment Loaner Program charging $5.00 per item (refundable on return). The Business Services division contracts labor outsourcing, light assembly, packaging, fulfillment, janitorial, transportation, and Dell Reconnect computer recycling to area businesses and government agencies, reporting a 100% on-time completion track record.

The organization is CARF accredited, governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Susan Bungard (Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.), and led by President and CEO Alonzo Vance, with a Director of Finance (Tammy David) and Director of Operations (Matthew Weber). Participants are referred through partnerships with state and county vocational rehabilitation and social service agencies (BVR, BSVI, BWC, DD, VA, DJFS), which together with retail consumer foot traffic and donation pipelines form a self-reinforcing ecosystem funding the employment mission. No proprietary technology, AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or app products are disclosed; the operating model relies on the physical retail footprint, the contracts labor force, and case-managed service delivery.

Name

Goodwill Industries Of Lorain County, Inc.

Legal name

Goodwill Industries Of Lorain County, Inc.

Website

https://gwlco.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1933

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Goodwill Industries of Lorain County is a 1933-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Elyria, Ohio, operating seven retail stores and delivering workforce development, business contracting, and community programs across Lorain County and adjacent Ohio counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development and Community Services

NAICS

Sewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods Retailers (45913)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

Donation, Resale & Textile Recycling Coordination (HSAFABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Donation Pickup & Reuse Hauling (HSAKALAI), Donation, Resale & Disposal Coordination (HSAFAAAK)

Keywords

• Thrift retail stores
• Workforce development services
• Business outsourcing services
• Community employment programs
• Medical equipment loans

Headquarters

HQ city

Elyria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Store Sales: Sale of donated items (clothing, furniture, books, toys, dishware) through Goodwill retail stores. Revenue directly funds employment training and counseling services in the community.
2. Business Services Contracts: Contracted labor outsourcing services to area businesses including packing/packaging, assembly/disassembly, labeling, sorting, janitorial cleaning, fulfillment, and transportation. Revenue generated supports the agency and its mission programs.
3. Donations: Monetary donations accepted via PayPal to support Goodwill Lorain's mission of breaking down barriers of unemployment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Goodwill Industries of Lorain County operates seven thrift retail stores that sell donated clothing, furniture, books, toys, and dishware, using the proceeds to fund free community employment programs. The organization also delivers contracted business services including labor outsourcing, light assembly, packaging, fulfillment, janitorial cleaning, transportation, and computer recycling to area businesses. Its mission services portfolio includes job placement, job coaching, digital skills training, youth employment, recovery and re-entry programs, community service placement, and a food pantry, all offered primarily at no cost to participants with employment barriers.

Product overview

Goodwill Industries of Lorain County operates as a community-based organization with three main divisions: retail stores, mission services, and business contracting services. The retail division includes Goodwill Stores selling donated items and the Shop Goodwill online marketplace. Mission Services encompasses workforce development programs including Digital Skills Training, the Goodstart student program, Job Club, Recovery and Re-Entry programs, Community Service, Food Pantry, and Summer Youth employment. Business Contracting Services provides labor outsourcing, light assembly, fulfillment, janitorial, transportation, and computer recycling services to area businesses. Additional offerings include Medical Equipment Loans and Home Pick-Up services. These divisions work together to fund employment training while providing community services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Goodwill Retail Stores
• Workforce Development Services
• Business Contracting Services
• Digital Skills Training
• Medical Equipment Loaner Program
• Goodstart Program
• Summer Youth Program
• Recovery Program
• Re-Entry Program
• Job Club
• Community Service Program
• Food Pantry
• Home Pick-Up Service
• Shop Goodwill Online Marketplace
• Employment Training Certificates

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% on-time completion record for Industrial Services contracts

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Dell ReconnectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through Goodwill Industries International allowing Goodwill of Lorain County to accept and recycle old computers. Customers can bring their old computers to Goodwill locations for proper electronic waste recycling through the Dell Reconnect program.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Savers / Value Village: Large for-profit thrift chain that purchases donated goods from nonprofits (including Goodwill partnerships). Comparable because it competes for the same thrift shoppers and influences the secondary textile market that anchors Goodwill's inventory supply.
• The Salvation Army: National nonprofit operating thrift retail stores alongside social and workforce programs. Comparable as a broader incumbent running a similar donation-funded retail + mission model, though at much larger scale and with a different faith-based identity.

Others

• Goodwill Industries International: National parent organization of the Goodwill network. Comparable because it sets the operating model, brand standards, and partnership programs (e.g., Dell Reconnect, Shop Goodwill) that Lorain County executes locally.

Direct peers

• Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Nonprofit home-furnishings thrift retail chain funding parent mission through donated furniture and household goods sales. Directly comparable donation-to-resale model for furniture and housewares (a major retail category for Goodwill of Lorain County).
• Goodwill Industries of Akron: Northeast Ohio Goodwill affiliate. Comparable because it operated stores in Lorain County boundaries prior to the early-1990s takeover, illustrating the direct intra-brand peer relationship for territory, donors, and referral contracts.
• Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland: Adjacent Goodwill affiliate serving the Cleveland metro area. Directly comparable as a regional 501(c)(3) running the same three-division model (retail, mission services, business contracts) in a neighboring Ohio geography.
• OhioMeansJobs Centers: State-administered American Job Centers providing free employment training and placement. Comparable because they are a primary referral source for Goodwill's workforce programs and offer overlapping employment services to the same participant base.
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Catholic nonprofit operating thrift stores whose proceeds fund social services. Comparable because it runs an almost identical donation-collection, thrift-retail, and social-mission funding model in many U.S. markets, competing for donors and shoppers.

Regional players

• United Way of Greater Lorain County: Local United Way affiliate funding and coordinating social services across Lorain County. Comparable as a regional nonprofit competing for the same donor dollars, grant funding, and employer partnerships in workforce development.

Emerging players

• Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana (Goodwill Excel Center): Innovative Goodwill affiliate running tuition-free charter high schools and workforce academies. Comparable as a same-network peer pushing the workforce development mission into adjacent service lines (adult education, digital skills) that Lorain County could expand into.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/share/SjsAaz2wsVxkKdLK/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Xx.com/GWLorainCounty

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Goodwill Industries Of Lorain County, Inc.