IT’s In Our System

Two of our core values—innovate with impact and mission first—are reflected in our IT department’s approaches to improving productivity and developing the next generation of IT professionals.

One of the keys to Goodwill of Southern Nevada’s remarkable ascent over the past several years is the Robart pricing and merchandising system, which enables team members in 16 retail stores to price and tag merchandise more efficiently and effectively. Implemented by our Information Technology and Operations departments in 2019, the quantity of items a merchandise processor can price and tag has since doubled, leading to significant increases in overall production and donated goods available for sale.

The resulting increases in revenue and productivity, in turn, fuel Goodwill programs of service that help thousands of Southern Nevadans thrive. While our most visible workforce development programs assist participants with employment outside of Goodwill, our Information Technology department has quietly instituted a remarkable program that guides Goodwill employees and students alike into IT careers.

In 2015, Goodwill partnered with ITT Tech, Asher College, LV-PITA, and Tech Impact, a local nonprofit organization that prepares young adults for entry-level IT careers without the need for a degree. The Goodwill IT Intern program helps students not only acquire the training necessary to pursue a tech career, but also helps them secure employment with local companies as well.

Fueled by Goodwill’s commitment to helping people advance in their careers, IT department managers quickly advance interns through intensive training that allows them to troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software issues; test components with diagnostic software to determine viability for refurbishment; install operating systems and other software on refurbished computers; and configure user accounts and a full range of devices.

IT interns have played essential business-critical roles such as providing first-level internal IT support; implementing Robart; upgrading Windows operating systems for all store registers; and refurbishing donated computers that were subsequently resold for over $200,000.

In addition, IT interns have made important contributions to our programs of service, including sharing their knowledge with STEPS participants living with disabilities; setting up all computers at the Goodwill Career Center at The Boulevard Mall store; and setting up data infrastructure for the Goodwill Career Center at the Rainbow store. The career centers are epicenter of free Goodwill career services that served 4,687 job seekers in 2021 alone.

Since the program’s inception, Goodwill’s IT department trained 55 interns, including five Goodwill team members transferring internally. Seven were subsequently hired by Goodwill, while others leveraged their training to accept IT positions with other employers—a vivid demonstration of how Goodwill’s social enterprise is an innovative, mission-first training ground for people to realize their full potential.

Goodwill works to open career paths.