TACOMA – The new building at the corner of South 27th Street and Tacoma Avenue will be named the Tacoma Goodwill-Milgard Work Opportunity Center, it was announced during a groundbreaking ceremony today.

More than 200 friends of Tacoma Goodwill and staff were on hand for the ceremony at the agency’s Workforce Development Center, 714 S. 27th St. in Tacoma. Besides the naming of the building, several other Goodwill supporters were honored at the event.

“The Gary E. Milgard Family Foundation has showed a continued commitment to Goodwill,” said Terry A. Hayes, Tacoma Goodwill CEO. “The foundation is a leader in seeing and meeting the needs of many, many organizations in this area.”

The 63,000-square-foot facility, estimated to cost $20 million, will be a LEED Silver certified “green” building and support a Goodwill initiative to triple services in Pierce County over the next five years. Architects BCRA of Tacoma and general contractors Rushforth Construction are overseeing the project.

The centerpiece will be on the first two floors of the building where the Youth Career Center will be located – a partnership of 11 youth career service agencies from across the area.

Hayes said the first-floor portion of the YCC will be named in honor of Rotary Club of Tacoma #8. The club and its members have contributed more than $750,000 to the new facility.

The third floor will be named for Goodwill supporter Hugh S. Ferguson. Ferguson, a builder and developer, donated $1 million to the center and previously built and donated Goodwill store locations in Port Townsend and the flagship store on 38th Street in Tacoma.

The third floor will feature a job-training and placement center and classrooms. It will also include a distance learning center, which will have interactive broadcast and Web-based technologies allowing training to take place throughout the 15 counties Goodwill serves.

“The groundbreaking for the Work Opportunity Center represents an exciting event for the entire community,” Hayes said. “The facility is an investment in the neighborhood and an asset for everyone.”

In offering a prayer, Life Center Pastor Dean Curry described the new Goodwill building site as sacred ground.
“This organization exists to help pull people out of adversity,” he said. “Places like this matter because they find the power that’s inside.

“Because Goodwill has committed itself to transforming lives – I think we can call this sacred ground,” he said.
Goodwill moved into its current location in 1965, then training 518 clients – placing 52 in jobs – while managing three stores. In 2007, Goodwill served 3,947 clients, found jobs for 1,011, and operates 20 stores.

“The groundbreaking represents an historic day for Goodwill,” said Bob Bruback, Goodwill Board president and senior vice president at Heritage Bank. “It is the culmination of decades of changing lives by helping people gain independence through work.”

The groundbreaking featured a razing of an existing building on the site with help from participants in Tacoma Goodwill’s YouthBuild program. YouthBuild provides young adults, ages 18-24, with construction training and classroom experience to pass a GED exam.

YouthBuild participant Isaiah Williams, one of the speakers at the groundbreaking, credited the work of Goodwill in making a positive change in his life.

“As I think about the Work Opportunity Center, I think about all the people that will receive new skills and be empowered for their future,” Williams said. “This means people like me will get that second chance – a chance to achieve their goals.”