More than 30 percent of Goodwill Industries of Hawaii's clients live on the Leeward Coast or in West O'ahu. So, it makes sense for the nonprofit group, known for its job training and counseling services, to set up shop in West O'ahu.

Goodwill breaks ground today on the Ohana Career and Learning Center, a 30,000-square-foot building in the Kapolei Business Park on Lauwiliwili Street, near the bus line.

When it opens in late summer or early fall next year, the facility will offer training classes, skill building and job counseling to more than 1,600 clients annually and provide permanent employment for 150 individuals.

"It is to help folks find jobs and gain the skills that they need to make those employment connections and to advance their careers — to really help them find that career track," said Laura Kay Rand, vice president of corporate services for Goodwill Industries of Hawaii. The center will also have services for out-of-school youths designed to help them find jobs and pursue their education.

Rand said there's another good reason to put up a facility in Kapolei: Statistics show employment in O'ahu's "Second City" will increase by 160 percent by 2025.

On land purchased for $2 million, the $11 million facility will feature a high-tech computer lab and multimedia-equipped training rooms, community meeting rooms and a child-watch area so parents can attend classes or training.

The facility will also include a 7,000-square-foot Goodwill retail store and donation center, designed to make the facility self-sustaining, Rand said.

The nearest Goodwill training site is in 'Aiea, although many clients now need to travel to Honolulu to obtain services, she said. The new building "is going to help people not need to go into Honolulu, to go somewhere closer to home."

Kapolei resident Ricky Kang, 43, can attest to the need of a Goodwill job-training center in West O'ahu. After being released from prison, Kang was sent to Goodwill's Job Connections program, which teaches individuals leaving prison basic job-seeking skills, such as how to fill out an employment application, job interview techniques and developing the right frame of mind to facilitate finding work.

A year later, Kang is getting ready to receive his associate's degree from Leeward Community College and to become a certified substance-abuse counselor. In the past year, Kang has worked with folks — from Wai'anae to Waipahu — also in need of jobs.

He attended the classes out of Goodwill's tiny center in Ka-ka'ako, but now others living on the west side won't need to do that, he said.

"I think they're going to be able to service the whole west side," Kang said, noting that he's hoping to work as a counselor at the new center after he graduates.

Goodwill has raised about $7.6 million of the $11 million needed to build the facility and is hoping to raise the remaining $3.5 million in the next year.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and others are expected to be at today's groundbreaking ceremony.

Goodwill is not the only major human services organization making tracks to West O'ahu. Easter Seals last month began work on Napuakea, a 20,000-square-foot service center at the foot of Makakilo. The $7 million facility will provide a variety of programs and services for infants, youths and adults with disabilities and other special needs. It also is slated to be completed in summer 2008.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.