GoodTemps, the non-profit staffing agency of Goodwill Industries® of Greater NY and Northern NJ, helps over 500 temporary workers, most of them people with disabilities, on to meaningful work each day.
New York, NY – June 13, 2023 – Goodwill Industries® of Greater NY and Northern NJ, Inc. (Goodwill NYNJ) is pleased to announce that Derick Bowers has joined the agency as executive director of GoodTemps, effective June 5, 2023. Mr. Bowers was previously the New York City Regional Director of Social Enterprise for Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) and has over a decade of experience in the nonprofit sector, with a specialty in social enterprise and workforce development. In addition to leading the daily operations and strategic planning for GoodTemps, Mr. Bowers will oversee Goodwill NYNJ’s janitorial services in New York City and Northern New Jersey.
GoodTemps, Goodwill NYNJ’s non-profit staffing agency, matches top talent to competitive employment for government and private companies. Goodwill NYNJ partners with the New York State Industries for the Disabled (NYSID) to ensure that people with disabilities are included in the workforce. GoodTemps places US Veterans, people with disabilities and other barriers to employment in long- and short-term positions across the five NYC boroughs, Long Island, Albany, Westchester, and Northern New Jersey. GoodTemps candidates do it all: they work as analysts, laborers, legal and computer support, accounting/billing, administrative, data entry, warehouse staff, and more.
In 2022, GoodTemps sent more than 500 workers to temporary assignments each day, 25% more than the previous year. People like Arwin, a Manhattan resident with disabilities in his forties who joined GoodTemps in May 2021. The GoodTemps team referred him to several job opportunities and in July, he secured a temporary position as executive assistant at the NYC Department of Education (DOE) in the Office of Student Enrollment (OSE). At this position, Arwin worked closely with the DOE executive director. The employer kept extending his temporary assignment, and in November 2022, he was hired permanently as performance management community coordinator assisting the performance Platform for all OSE staff members. Arwin expressed that working with GoodTemps helped him get a foot at the door at the City of New York.
Labor shortages due to the pandemic created a disproportionate demand for workers compared to the number of people willing to fill positions. As a result, hiring managers had to break outside of their comfort zones to consider different segments of workers, including people with disabilities. According to a January report from the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire on National Trends in Disability Employment 2022 Year-end, employment for people with disabilities, ages 16-64, reached beyond pre-COVID-19 levels and even pre-Great Recession levels. Their labor force participation rate increased 2.7 points to 34.8% in 2022 compared to 2021. The report is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Reports.
New York City has over 23,000 vacant positions, according to the 5BORO’s report “Solving the Staffing Crisis.” GoodTemps is well positioned to support filling those roles and helping the City of New York both retain talent with Goodwill’s wrap around supports and find the best talent. With our new Executive Director, we expect to expand and help more agencies connect with talent and our CBO partners with an easy and convenient way to refer New Yorkers to positions with New York City agencies.
Employers seeking qualified workers should contact GoodTemps at GoodTempsSales@goodwillny.org or (212) 986-956. Individuals seeking work should visit goodtemps.org
Companies interested in learning more about contracting Goodwill NYNJ’s janitorial services should email Jacqueline Richardson at JRichardson@goodwillny.org or call her at (917) 214-8601.
“The mission of Goodwill is a personal one for me, having been raised by an amazing mother with a disability,” said Mr. Bowers. “It is a blessing to know that I will be able to use my lived experience to serve individuals like my mother, who have talents waiting to be shared with the world.”
“Derick brings his experience of creative solutions to the most pressing workforce issues to bulldoze barriers to employment for all,” said Katy Gaul-Stigge, Goodwill NYNJ President and CEO. “With the NYC metro region labor market still recovering, Goodwill has a pipeline of talent to fill job openings – we can’t afford to leave anyone on the sidelines. While the term “temporary” might sound quick, many of these roles are years-long and can lead to permanent roles in careers serving New York City.”
As CEO, Mr. Bowers oversaw the organization’s largest transitional workforce program, providing immediate paid employment and daily pay for New Yorkers directly impacted by the criminal legal system. He led CEO’s government outreach strategy in the city and state, and assisted in creating national partnerships. Prior to CEO, Mr. Bowers held a substantial role at The Doe Fund, where he created work and training opportunities for men experiencing homelessness, through several social enterprise businesses — including the management of contracts for the Doe Fund’s award winning “Ready, Willing & Able” program.
Mr. Bowers received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Howard University. He is an alumnus of the Coro New York Leadership Program and the Senior Leaders Program for Nonprofit Professionals at Columbia Business School. Additionally, he was the recipient of City & State’s “New York’s Labor 40 Under 40” Award in 2021.
In 2022, Goodwill NYNJ provided placement, training, on-the-job coaching, and retention services for more than 9,000 people who were under- or unemployed, approximately half of them people with disabilities. Also in the past year, Goodwill NYNJ placed 1,042 people in new jobs, including 565 individuals with disabilities, a 27% increase from the previous year, outside its stores with employers such as hospitals and health care centers, tech and accounting firms, warehousing and manufacturing sectors, and NYC agencies. In addition, Goodwill NYNJ provided in 2022 behavioral health services to support over 1,500 individuals with mental illness on their recovery, and to help them stay healthy, on their jobs, and out of hospitals due to psychiatric crises.
About Goodwill NYNJ:
Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. (Goodwill NYNJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates retail stores throughout the region powered by donations of clothing and household items. Goodwill NYNJ translates those donations into workforce development services for people with disabilities and those who are under- or unemployed, and job training leading to employment. Goodwill NYNJ’s services build better lives for thousands of New York City Metropolitan Area residents and their families. For more than 108 years, the agency’s mission has been to empower individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to gain independence through the power of work. Learn more about Goodwill NYNJ at http://www.goodwillnynj.org; follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillNYNJ; and find us on Facebook or Instagram @GoodwillNYNJ.