Creating employment opportunities
We create new enterprises designed to offer new employment opportunities for low-income Manitobans and for other sectors of the population traditionally marginalized from or under-represented in the mainstream job market.
COS identifies opportunities for new enterprise development, conducts the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, prepares the business plan, hires management and provides the start-up capital.
Our first venture, Inner City Renovation Inc., was launched in August 2002.
We have also completed several feasibility studies for new enterprises in the following areas:Food processing (fresh vegetables), Food production (hydroponic greenhouse for herbs), Temporary Services, Private Sector Home Renovations, Property Repair and Maintenance Services.
Some of these studies pointed to positive opportunities while some were not viable. COS is poised for an additional new start-up in 2005.
Inner City Renovation
Inner City Renovation’s mission is to strive to be self-sustaining employee-owned renovation contractor providing services to all sectors of the marketplace in a professional manner that meets or exceeds current construction standards.
Specifically Inner City Renovation is committed to be a self sustaining for profit enterprise and provide:
- Quality fulltime employment to inner city low-income residents.
- Equal or better average sector wages and benefits.
- Training and education to its workers to gain skills and certification.
- Opportunities for advancement and career laddering.
- Participatory management culture.
Employee ownership in the new enterprise once Inner City Renovation Inc. is stable and has completed two consecutive profitable years.
The Holistic Model
The ICR model is right for the communities it serves because it is a holistic model that addresses housing, employment and education/training, the basics of quality of life. It integrates these parameters rather than having them compete with each other (all too often employment standards are sacrificed in order to provide affordable housing). It capitalizes on the demand for the renewal of inner city housing and the availability of a labour pool outside of the traditional labour pool. It has the potential to have a major impact in Winnipeg’s inner city neighbourhoods and serve as a model for other communities.
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