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Goodwill Helping Seniors and Ex-Criminals Find Jobs

Pat Michaels

As the South Carolina economy and unemployment rate have improved dramatically since the Great Recession, our next guest says there are still pockets of our population that face challenges finding jobs, such as senior citizens and those with a criminal background.  And that’s why those are now the focus of his organization’s job placement efforts.

Mike Switzer interviews Pat Michaels, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina based in Greenville, SC.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.