Goodwill CEO To Retire After 46 Years

 Goodwill Gulf Coast has announced the retirement of Frank Harkins as president and CEO in October. Harkins spent the first four years of his career at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. In 1979, Harkins began his 46-year tenure as senior administrator of the Mobile chapter of Alabama Easter Seals and, later on, Goodwill Gulf Coast, following a merger of the two nonprofits in 1999. Through Harkins’ leadership, Goodwill Gulf Coast grew substantially, expanding its programs, services and retail operations across Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida. The array of programs and services—most offered free to participants—moved from a historical mission of providing vocational rehabilitation services and medical equipment assistance to address even more community needs, including early childhood intervention, an inclusive child development center, English language and literacy programs, General Educational Development training and testing, youth-at-risk measures, an autism evaluation clinic and an adult day program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Today, Goodwill Gulf Coast helps thousands of individuals annually through job training, employment placement services, youth and family support, disability services and more.