Social Enterprises Successful for Businesses and Social Causes
2011-06-16 13:32:10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
According to a report released by Kessler Foundation and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, social enterprises serve as ways to launch successful businesses and to address a social issue.
In the report, entitled, “Social Enterprise Businesses: A Strategy for Creating Good Jobs for People with Disabilities,” authors Elaine Katz, Vice President of Grant Programs and Special Initiatives at Kessler Foundation, and Ronnie Kauder, Senior Practitioner in Residence at the Heldrich Center, discussed the strategies that lead to a successful social enterprise.
A social enterprise business should be able to earn enough income to run independently. According to Katz and Kauder, a successful social enterprise for people with disabilities must be integrated so that people with and without disabilities work together in a community-based setting. Workers must also earn minimum wage or more. Workers should be able to advance within the company or be able to gain the skills and experience needed to find a higher level job with another company.
The 2010 Survey of Americans with Disabilities sponsored by Kessler Foundation and the National Organization on Disability found that 21 percent of people with disabilities were employed as opposed to 59 percent of individuals without disabilities. To combat this persistently low employment rate, Kessler Foundation funds organizations and social enterprises that provide training and employment for people with disabilities. The report profiled two innovative Foundation-funded social enterprises.
“Without more creative approaches to specific disability employment strategies in place, we as a nation will continue to miss out on a large source of skilled workers,” said Katz. “Social enterprises provide ways to fill a need of the public and employ people with disabilities so they have financial independence, feel valued and gain job experience for future employment. The community sees them for their abilities and employers learn that they are assets to the workplace. We are doing a service for society.”
Hudson Community Enterprises (HCE) trains interested people with disabilities in the growing field of document management. Participants then have the option of working in one of three specialized areas--Metro Fulfillment, Metro Scanning and Metro Shredding—social enterprise businesses started by HCE. There are jobs at every career level, with room for growth, and for market-value wages. This multi-million dollar business is run by people with and without disabilities.
Arthur & Friends Greenhouse Project was conceptualized by Wendie Blanchard, who wanted her nephew to have meaningful employment despite his intellectual disability. Arthur & Friends grows produce hydroponically in greenhouses and sells to local businesses. Once again, there are jobs at every career level, with room for growth, and for market-value wages. This new social enterprise operates three greenhouses across New Jersey and is expanding to neighboring states.
HCE and Arthur & Friends relied on Foundation and other grants for their startup costs. By developing a business plan with industry experts, they were able to fill a need in society, employ people who are underrepresented in the workplace in an integrated setting, uphold the trend to be environmentally friendly and start earning revenue to maintain the businesses.
Kessler Foundation and the Heldrich Center are partnering for a series of reports on the national trends and strategies that improve employment and financial independence of people with disabilities (also see "Creating a Better Financial Future: Developing State Strategies for Asset Development and Wealth Creation for People with Disabilities"). They are designed to disseminate information to practitioners, public policy makers, employers and advocates. The Heldrich Center looks to strengthen America’s workforce by conducting research for employers, workers and job seekers and promotes an inclusive workforce.
Kathy Krepcio, executive director of the Heldrich Center, said, “Kessler Foundation brings national prestige in rehabilitation research as well as an in innovative and ground breaking grant making. Both the Heldrich Center and Kessler believe that current public policy can be greatly strengthened by learning from the real-world successes of practitioners working in the field. Our joint research brief series highlights new strategies from across the nation that reflect what is working…and what is not.”
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation’s fundamental strategy is to link science and grantsmanship so that people with disabilities can lead more productive, independent and fulfilling lives. Kessler Foundation Research Center conducts research that improves quality of life for persons with injuries of the spinal cord and brain, stroke, multiple sclerosis and other chronic neurological and orthopedic conditions. Kessler Foundation Program Center has provided more than $20 million in funding to a variety of employment- related projects that are benefiting veterans, young adults, students and others with physical and cognitive disabilities. For more information, visit http://www.KesslerFoundation.org.
The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, based at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, is a nationally recognized research and policy institute dedicated to raising the effectiveness of the American workplace by strengthening workforce education, training, programs, policies and practices. Founded in 1997, the Heldrich Center works on a wide variety of research, evaluation and technical assistance projects that reflect the Center's research priorities. Through its dedicated disability employment portfolio, the Center conducts research and performs evaluation activities that seeks to generate new knowledge about the impact of public policies and programs on the inclusion of people with disabilities into the workforce, and identify, through rigorous research and evaluation, promising ‘to work’ strategies and practices in the field that are showing success in helping people with disabilities to seek and retain competitive employment. For more information, visit www.heldrich.rutgers.edu.
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Kessler Foundation Contacts:
Lauren Scrivo
973.324.8384
[email protected]
Carolann Murphy
973.324.8382
[email protected]
