Ambassador of Goodwill leaves a legacy of success
Under the astute and talented leadership of Michael W. McBride over the past four decades, Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries has witnessed its trend lines do nothing but shoot skyward.
Yes, growth has been the watchword of the nonprofit community-service agency focusing on vocational rehabilitation for disabled individuals in our five-county region ever since McBride first joined Goodwill as finance director 39 years ago. His business acumen and humanitarian compassion quickly landed him in the executive director’s chair just four years later.
As evidence of his talent in guiding Goodwill toward success and growth, consider a few of his accomplishments as he stands on the precipice of retirement:
The operating budget for the agency serving Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania more than tripled during his tenure, from $1.9 million in 1982 to more than $6 million in 2016.
Payroll for workers, many of whom are overcoming their own physical challenges, soared from $1.2 million to more than $3 million in that same time frame. Today, more than 5,000 people benefit from Youngstown Goodwill services annually.
The mission of the agency has greatly expanded to include the homeless, low-income welfare clients and people overcoming a wider spectrum of disabilities. It has absorbed the financially troubled Youngstown Society for the Blind and continues to operate radio reading services and provide radios to thousands of visually impaired individuals.
Those accomplishments, however, merely scratch at the surface of the positive impact McBride has had on ensuring our region’s Goodwill meets and exceeds the goals of the international organization, which takes in about $5 billion in annual revenue and provides more than 300,000 people with job training and community services.
Goodwill’s goals focus on providing a conduit for individuals with physical limitations to train to become able, independent, productive and tax-paying citizens. Last year, Goodwill workers in Greater Youngstown contributed nearly $1 million in taxes.
GOLD STARS FOR SERVICE
In a broader domain, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities has awarded gold stars to McBride’s tenure and management style. Under his leadership, the local Goodwill has achieved 12 consecutive accreditations, meaning the agency meets the highest standards for the services it provides.
McBride has accomplished that stellar record through hard work and innovation. For example, he began a full commercial laundry and janitorial services through Goodwill that succeeded in greatly increasing employment opportunities for its clients.
His tenure, however, was not without its rocky roads. The Great Recession that began in 2008 took its toll on Goodwill, forcing McBride to make the tough but needed decisions to institute across-the-board pay cuts, layoffs and restructuring of services to deal with the drying up of local revenue sources, principally private donations.
Less than a decade later, however, McBride oversees an operation that has completely recovered – and grown.
To be sure, the multifaceted talents of the retiring Goodwill leader will be difficult to replace. We’re pleased that the Goodwill board has chosen to seek professional assistance from the Yunker Group of Cincinnati in its comprehensive search for McBride’s successor.
During these last days of McBride’s tenure, community members can honor his good works by doubling down on their support for the agency. That includes donating gently used clothing for resale at any of the eight Goodwill retail stores in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys. Each year, more than 3 million pounds of clothing is donated, which ensures a stable and major source of funding for the agency’s good works.
As McBride put it, “Our community has been very generous in helping us to meet our mission. I’m thankful that I was able to be a small part of the success of the organization.”
Despite that humble demeanor, McBride in reality has played a supersized part in the success and achievements of the organization. As an untiring ambassador of Goodwill to our region, McBride has earned communitywide congratulations.