Rochester Businessman Named Head of Goodwill's Nonprofit Green Works Group

DETROIT – Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit announced the appointment of General Motors veteran Jay Wilber of Rochester to President of the nonprofit organization’s wholly owned subsidiary, Goodwill’s Green Works, Inc. (Green Works). A 501(c)(3) organization, Green Works offers cost-saving, labor-intensive asset recovery and recycling services to socially conscious municipalities, utilities and manufacturers.

Green Works earnings support Goodwill Industries’ mission to educate and train Metro Detroiters who face employment challenges and to help those individuals earn local jobs.

Located in a 94,000-square-foot industrial facility at 6421 Lynch Road on Detroit’s east side, Green Works began operations in 2010. Since that time, the company has provided on-the-job career training to nearly 100 unemployed Metro Detroiters. In 2011 alone, Green Works processed more than 12 million lbs. of various metals and other materials.

Wilber most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Revstone Industries, a global industrial automotive supplier. Prior to that, he served in a number of management roles for General Motors, including: Executive Director of the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources and Quality Network, Director of the Automotive Components Group (now Delphi) and Director of Labour Relations for GM Canada. He has presented on the topic of Total Quality Management before the FBI, U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of Transportation and the W. Edwards Deming Institute.

Wilber earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Michigan. He is co-author of the book “United We Stand: The Unprecedented Story of the GM-UAW Quality Partnership.”

“We developed Green Works to help us create job opportunities for more Metro Detroiters,” said Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit President and CEO Lorna G. Utley. “Jay’s experience will help Green Works continue to grow and to play an increasingly significant role in Goodwill Industries’ ongoing mission to fight Metro Detroit’s unemployment crisis. Every new customer represents new opportunities for Metro Detroit residents facing employment challenges to gain invaluable real world training and work experience.”

Green Works’ largest customer is DTE Energy, for which it processes metal resources in transformers, power lines, street lights and other assets to their purest solid form, then repurposes them for other DTE Energy applications or sells them in online commodity markets. The company also extracts and repurposes mineral oils from DTE transformers. The benefits of these processes for Green Works customers include lower material costs and reduced waste.

Green Works today employs nearly 60 individuals and more than 20 Goodwill Industries program trainees. More than 75% of Green Works employees since its inception received training or other employment assistance through Goodwill Industries.

At its opening in 2010, Green Works became the first stand-alone free enterprise venture undertaken by Goodwill Industries. The company’s plans for growth include the pursuit of contracts with municipalities, utilities, automobile manufacturers, automotive suppliers and recycling companies.