Rhino Staging Nevada partners with Goodwill of Southern Nevada to help create a stagehand training program for Goodwill clients. Acceptance into the program is by application and each 2-week course includes a stagehand basics course, the OSHA 10 training for general industry and a forklift training and certification.

On graduation day for each class, Rhino NV’s Wendy Woodruff (Regional Hiring/Recruiting Manager) and Jaila Nero (Regional Hiring Coordinator) go to the Goodwill training center in Las Vegas to present an overview of Rhino to the group and to interview each graduate in person. They’ll be there on Nov. 9 for those events and then again in December for the next round.

The program was born in 2022 when Senior Career Coach at Goodwill of Southern Nevada Michael Miller (kneeling in photo) reached out to Wendy about creating a program for their clients that would not only prepare them for a job but open their eyes to what could be a really great career for them. Michael even worked for Rhino NV for a few months before collaborating with them to create the course curriculum.

About the program, Michael stated, “Through Goodwill’s Train-to-Hire Stagehand Training Program and our relationship with Rhino NV, we open the door to careers in the events and entertainment industry laying the foundation for the future for Southern Nevada Residents.”

Since its inception, the program has become something of a favorite of the team at Goodwill SN. They hope to grow it over time with more offerings and a broader reach into the community and beyond. In fact, an even wider deployment of the program is in the works. Wendy recently presented to Goodwill DC after they expressed an interest in this program for themselves and, more recently, Ryan Council, Recruiting Coordinator for Rhino Florida, has been working with Goodwill Florida on a statewide program for the Sunshine State that is set to launch in late October of this year.