News that Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake is opening an Excel Center went viral among Baltimore-area media outlets in March as TV, radio and print outlets ran with the story.
WBAL TV 11 News and WBAL News Radio featured a great interview with Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake CEO Lisa Rusyniak, who talked about the impact she expects the Excel Center to have on the lives of Baltimore residents whose lack of a high school diploma made them fall to the wayside in the job market. “When people get jobs, they have an intense sense of dignity,” Rusyniak told reporter Kim Dacey.
WMAR 2 News’s Ryan Dickstein ran a well-written article that also linked to our YouTube video that explains more about The Excel Center. And Fox 45 TV News featured an excellent video-only segment in its News at 5 report.
Lillian Reed wrote a wonderful article in both the The Baltimore Sun and the Capital Gazette, giving readers a deep dive on the Excel Center. The Daily Record likewise offered a thorough article, and the Baltimore Business Journal included a succinct piece in its news roundup section by Carley Milligan.
CityBiz ran an intro piece to the Baltimore Fishbowl article written by Latrice Hill, which included a link to our Excel Center website: ExcelCenterMD.org. And Baltimore Fishbowl also featured our news in an Editor’s Pick item.
The generous coverage by Baltimore media outlets generated inquiries from some 250 local residents about attending the Excel Center (with more coming in daily).
Another great result from all the stories: A number of Baltimore-based organizations have reached out to us asking how they could become a student-referral source or partner. The exposure also garnered interest from potential volunteers.
“We so appreciate the positive news coverage by Baltimore-area media as we realize our dream of building The Excel Center in Baltimore,” said Rusyniak. “This educational resource will change many lives for the better here in our city, and I know we will have a lot more great news yet to come. Stay tuned!”
Even though the Excel Center isn’t slated to open until September, our high profile in the news sparked a number of employment opportunity inquiries. Three positions happen to be open right now: Lead Coach, Lead Teacher, and Career and College Readiness Coach. Watch this blog for a more in-depth post soon about job openings once we begin accepting teacher applications.
