Goodwill Hunting

Goodwill Canton Store

BY DIANA NADER, Staff Writer

After last month’s highly debated and widely publicized meeting with the Dearborn Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), Public Relation Director of Goodwill Industries Mark Lane issued the following statement:

“We appreciate the strong support we have received in Dearborn from citizens and the business community for locating an upscale resale shop in a space vacant for more than a decade. We respect the Planning Commission’s process and Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit continues to believe that this location would be an excellent spot for one of our upscale resale stores. In the meantime, Goodwill is exploring options in other Metro Detroit communities that are interested in creating jobs and supporting our mission of helping our community become trained, trusted and ready to work.”

The tenacious non-profit company met in front of the ZBA for a third time this week on Monday, after having been deadlocked and tabled for the past two months. When asked specifically about Commissioner Siwick’s seemingly hostile approach regarding Goodwill, Lane replied, “I’m not into politics, I’m into helping people.”

Residents and business owners will turn out to weigh-in and see if all of the elected commissioners attend or if the issue is locked-out yet again. Goodwill is scheduled to be the fourth issue on the agenda and the Michigan Journal will bring you a full report on what promises to be an interesting meeting.

Stay with The Michigan Journal for more local coverage of this developing story.