SPRINGDALE -- Benton and Washington counties are home to 44,000 people without high school diplomas and even more needing job skills, said Brian Marsh.
Goodwill Industries of Arkansas is set to change that, he said.
Goodwill will start classes May 1 at its new Goodwill Training and Education Center at 2100 S. Old Missouri Road in Springdale. This is the second such center in Arkansas, with the first in Little Rock.
Goodwill plans three more, with the organization's board of directors agreeing to provide funding.
Marsh is president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas. He spoke Friday morning in Springdale to community leaders about Goodwill's plans for Northwest Arkansas.
The center will be home to both the Excel Center, a high school for adults to earn high school diplomas, and the Academy at Goodwill, providing job skills and opportunities for students.
Both programs are prepared to serve 350 students each, said Lane Gammel, director of marketing and community engagement for Goodwill.
"You know that Goodwill is a place to donate your items and a place to shop," Marsh said. "But most people don't know we provide education and employment training."
The Excel Center's free programs will work with students' individual needs to earn their diplomas, with flexible and accelerated class schedules to meet the needs of working adults, Marsh said.
The programs also include life coaching, career services, drop-in child care and transportation assistance -- all free, Marsh said. "And it's 500 feet from a bus stop," he added.
"We wrap around our students with the services they need," he said.
The nonprofit's 36 retail shops throughout the state will fully fund the Excel program in Springdale and Little Rock, Marsh said.
The academy will offer courses of study in the areas of business administration, health care, information technologies and skilled trades.
Tuition does apply, varying by program, Gammel said. But the tuition provides everything students will need in the courses, such as a helmet for welders or a lab coat for pharmacy technician training. The program also pays the certification fee of each student.
Goodwill store employees are eligible for scholarships, and academy staff will help students obtain other sources of financial aid, he said.
Goodwill also currently offers career services to help students start new careers and services for individuals reentering the workforce after incarceration. These are available at Goodwill locations around the state, including Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale.
The Goodwill Training and Education Center comes to a community with two established career and technical schools, Northwest Technical Institute and Northwest Arkansas Community College.
The technical institute is set to serve 3,000 students this year, said Jim Rollins, president. The school offers diploma and certificate programs in many fields, as well as short-term professional development or specialization classes.
Northwest Technical's adult education programs offer free instruction for community members needing to obtain a high school equivalency diploma. Students also are supported with computer skills training, workplace training, certifications, career support and test preparation.
Representatives of Northwest Arkansas Community College did not return phone calls Friday afternoon.
Bill Rogers, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, said Goodwill will find its niche among the other workforce education programs.
"It is a plus anytime we can extend opportunities for the residents of Northwest Arkansas to gain more skill, more training to help themselves be better employees and job applicants," he said. He said there is plenty of work to be done and plenty of students to serve.
Marsh said the typical Excel Center student is 33 years old with an annual income of $9,000, probably eligible for $45,00o a year in public assistance. After completing the Excel program, 84% of students go on to higher education or skilled certificates.
"They now have an income of $33,000 and health insurance," he said.
Marsh said the difference in earnings from an equivalency diploma and a high school diploma can be about $16,000.
"And the more people in the workforce bring more jobs to Arkansas," he said.
Michael Poore, former superintendent of Bentonville and Little Rock school districts, said the Goodwill programs aren't only about training workers.
"Rather it's about what it can mean to the whole family, what it's doing in the family to get out of that cycle of poverty," Poore said.
Melvin Williams, a graduate of the Excel and Academy programs in Little Rock, now helps guide students in their quests for quality employment. He also spoke Friday.
In the Williams family, he took care of the home, while his wife brought in the family's income as a teacher, he shared.
"I was Mr. Fix It," he said. "I earned my keep. I could do a back flip -- they admired me for different reasons," he said with a laugh.
While Williams was enrolled in the Goodwill programs, his son, now 19 and a student at the University of Memphis, was working on multistep algebra problems alongside his father.
"I gained a different kind of respect," Williams said. And it inspired him to go to college.
"It's about the journey," Williams continued. "It's about giving me help, so I can help him, and he can help others, and they can help others ..."
Guests listen Friday March 31, 2023 during a presentation by Goodwill Industries of Arkansas. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)
Springdle mayor Doug Sprouse talks about Goodwill coming to Springdale Friday March 31, 2023. The Academy at Goodwill and Excel Center are expected to open this spring. The facility will offer high school education for adults as well as job training. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)