Surry Business

Goodwill Industries will open its new 13,000-square-foot facility at 1986 Rockford St. (on U.S. 601) in Mount Airy at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7.

The building has 9,000 square feet of retail space, 1,000 square feet for future workforce training and development services and much more room for processing, repairing and storing donated items. The new facility replaces one at 208 Moore Ave., which will be closed. The new store will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday — two hours later than at present — and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The staff size will be doubled. Jerry Johnson will continue as the store manager.

“We are very excited about the new Mount Airy store,” said Goodwill’s director of marketing, Jaymie Moore. “…A larger location, the addition of a donation drive-through and extended hours offer a more convenient and pleasant experience for our shoppers and donors.”

Goodwill Industries sells donated items to underwrite its costs for career-development and training programs that help people find jobs.

GARANCO Inc. of Pilot Mountain built the new store. Construction superintendent John Wayne Flippen noted that the new location should bring the store more customers, because it’s on heavily trafficked U.S. 601 between Cookout and Scenic Ford.

Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina is a private, nonprofit organization that has been serving the community since 1926.

“At Goodwill, we believe that all people, regardless of situation, should have access to meaningful employment,” said Moore. Through workforce development programs, we help individuals develop the skills they need for today’s job market.”

Goodwill Industries serves more than 15,000 people by providing employment and workforce development in northwest North Carolina each year.