Compassionate Capitalism - October 2003

Goodwill of Southern Nevada, Inc

Promotes Self-Sustaining Human Services

Goodwill is virtually a household name with positive connotations. However, the details of what the organization does for the community is one of the best-kept secrets in Southern Nevada.

The purpose of Goodwill is to enable citizens with disabilities to start new careers and lives of independence. The sale of donated "gently used" merchandise in Goodwill’s seven retail stores supports job training and job placement services for citizens with disabilities. Since 1997, Goodwill has demonstrated its commitment to the community by providing workforce development services to over 2,000 citizens with disabilities and enabling over 650 people to start new careers and lives of independence.

Goodwill’s business focus has enabled it to become one of the fastest-growing workforce development service providers and human service organizations in Southern Nevada. Working-age people with disabilities have the highest percentage of unemployment and dependence upon the welfare system. In 2003, Nevada ranked 50th in the United States for the level of federal funding per capita for these citizens. In addition, many of the 2,000 students with disabilities who graduate each year from the school system have little hope of starting a career that will sustain them or their families. Goodwill has helped transform these citizens from welfare dependents to independent taxpayers.

What separates Goodwill from most not-for-profit charitable organizations is that it manages its operations and services like a for-profit business. Goodwill’s goal is to fund all services through the profits of donated goods and its retail core business, thereby eliminating any dependence upon the unpredictable flow of government funding or private cash donation. An active board of directors consisting of volunteer citizens ensures that Goodwill operates in a businesslike manner and is able to meet the growing needs of the community. Goodwill’s professional management team fulfills the mission through the implementation of a well-defined strategic plan to develop the donated-goods and retail-core business that has enabled Goodwill to be 90 percent self-funded.

One of the keys to Goodwill’s continued success is the development of the new Goodwill Good Neighbor Center, a state-of-the-art 71,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility opening in North Las Vegas in the summer of 2004. This facility will enable Goodwill to open seven more retail stores and generate several million dollars of profit annually to provide education, training and job placement services. "Once the new facility is fully operational, Goodwill will train and place over 2,000 citizens with disabilities each year. Our community benefits from productive citizens working and strengthening our local economy," said Executive Director Steve Chartrand.

To learn more about Goodwill of Southern Nevada, Inc., to become a donor, or to explore name recognition opportunities in the new Goodwill Good Neighbor Center, please contact Steve Chartrand at the Las Vegas office at 702-597-1107 or stevec@sngoodwill.org or visit the website at sngoodwill.org.