New 119,000-square-foot hub brings e-commerce, storage, aftermarket, recycling and transportation together to help donations go further and strengthen community impact
SEATTLE, Wash. — September 12, 2026 — Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington today announced the opening of its new Georgetown Operations Center (GOC). The new hub reflects the organization’s deliberate strategy to modernize how the 100-year-old social enterprise operates and transforms how donated goods move through its complex regional network.
The 119,000-square-foot facility with a four-acre transportation yard reveals the sophisticated operation behind Evergreen Goodwill’s stores and donation centers. By bringing e-commerce, storage, transportation, recycling and salvage operations together in one location, the center will help Evergreen Goodwill extend the useful life of more goods, reduce waste and recover greater value from donated items to support its tuition-free job training and education programs.
“We are building a more connected system around our people, expertise, technology, and logistics,” said Libby Johnson McKee, President & CEO of Evergreen Goodwill. “The Georgetown Operations Center brings that strategy to life. It will help every donation go further, strengthen the mission it supports, and position Evergreen Goodwill to lead the future of circular commerce in our region.”
Last year, Evergreen Goodwill received roughly 120 million pounds of donated goods at donation centers across Northwest Washington. Through its local network of thrift stores, aftermarket sales and recycling channels Goodwill keeps 85% of those items from ever reaching a local landfill, a statistic Evergreen Goodwill aims to improve even further in its quest towards zero waste.
“Our zero-waste strategy begins with a straightforward principle: landfill is the last resort,” said Derieontay Sparks, SVP of Retail Growth, Operations & Customer Experience. “Before anything reaches that point, we work to find another path through resale, reuse, aftermarket, or recycling.”
Key operations at the Georgetown facility include:
- E-commerce: Teams and technology work together to sort, list, and ship approximately 3,000 items per day across online sales channels such as eBay, ShopGoodwill.com, Amazon, and DePop, helping goods reach potential buyers across the country.
- Storage: With space to store up to 15,000 surplus boxes of inventory, the organization can manage seasonal fluctuations in donation volume and respond to product needs across the region.
- Aftermarket: Items that aren’t able to sell through other channels are prepared and sold in bales of approximately 1,000 pounds.
- Recycling: The center supports recycling of textiles, cardboard, toys, electronics, and other materials. Evergreen Goodwill is one of three e-waste partners in Washington and handles roughly 40% of the state’s e-waste.
- Transportation and dispatch: A centralized dispatch operation and four-acre staging yard coordinate the movement of goods across the network, with a fleet that logs roughly 750,000 miles annually.
- Practical technology: Professional-grade authentication tools, disc-repair equipment, custom box-sizing technology, and route optimization improve accuracy, reduce waste and costs, and support employees in working safely and effectively.
Revenue from Evergreen Goodwill’s retail and operational network supports tuition-free job training and education programs that help people build professional skills and pursue employment. By reducing waste, lowering costs, and improving logistics, Evergreen Goodwill is able to increase its capacity to invest in its mission programs to reach more students.
That connection is central to the transformation President and CEO Libby Johnson McKee is leading. “By modernizing the systems behind our retail and donation network, we are building a stronger, more sustainable organization,” said Johnson McKee. “One designed to turn secondhand goods into second chances for our students and the broader community.”
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Media tours, interviews, visuals, and additional background materials are available upon request.
About Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington
Evergreen Goodwill is Northwest Washington’s leading provider of tuition-free adult education and job placement. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1923, Evergreen Goodwill serves adults across King, Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, and Kitsap counties. Evergreen Goodwill operates 22 nonprofit thrift stores and donation centers, five job training centers, and employs more than 2,000 people. Proceeds from the sale of donated goods fund tuition-free education programs in Northwest Washington.
To learn more about Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington, download our 2025 Impact Report and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.
Media Contact:
Micha Goebig
PR & Communications Strategist
Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington
c 206.861.2323 / micha.goebig@evergreengoodwill.org
