Officials with Goodwill Industries are finalizing a deal to buy an 80,000 square foot shopping center near Augusta for what they call their Goodwill Career Campus.

Officials say the new facility will create 40 to 50 mostly low paying jobs and that the Goodwill Job Connection Center will place an estimated 500 people a year in jobs across the region.

Eventually they plan a career center at the site that could create up to 200 jobs and help train Augusta’s work force.

With unemployment rates rising above 10 percent, that's something Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver wants to see happen.

"In the next ten years a recent report showed that we'd have 8,000 new jobs in the nuclear industry....so they can cater their training to take advantage of the jobs available. Really it'll be a great thing for the city."

In addition to the job center the campus will have a retail store and donation center.

Officials with Goodwill say the deal should be finalized by early September.

Tags: jobs, Augusta, unemployment, Richmond County, Goodwill Industries, carreer training, Martinez, Mayor Deke Copenhaver