Unique opportunity for community development

Many Maine towns could directly benefit in three important ways if they grasp this opportunity for community development.

First, some local needs that are not now being fulfilled could be.

Second, some desirable jobs could be created for both jobless workers as well as for some who are thought to be “unemployable” but are not.

Finally, local economies could also be given a boost. This could be done largely independent of prevailing conditions. Also, because of the inherent small scale of the concept, it tends to differ from other development projects as well as being more do-able.

The concept, “Employable Enterprises Inc.,” would be local entities, not governmental, and wold be engaged in seeking out unfulfilled needs. In almost every community such needs exist, but many simply go unrecognized, or are available only in more distant locations. These frequently are household chores, yard work, odd jobs, temporary or part-time employment, excessively expensive services that are available but could be provided at lower cost under appropriate conditions.

Some of the jobs may be unique to a particular location. Finding what the unfulfilled needs are is the first basic step, once a local group decides to implement the concept.

The “appropriate conditions” often may involve the use of work teams rather than individual workers. Work teams are very effective in a variety of ways.

In particular, the workers like the companionship. Teams enable jobs to be more quickly completed for customers, say, a day’s job in half a day or less. Teams also help to more rapidly develop capable and confident workers.

In addition, teams permit the creation of part-time positions such as morning, afternoon, and evening jobs. Also, they help provide a degree of continuity for customers. There may be high worker turnover due to advancement from assistants, to work leaders, and to supervisors. Often, workers become hired directly by customers having proven themselves as temporary workers.

To be successful, each Employment Enterprise Inc. must be recognized for what it is, and is not, by the local community. Anyone able to willing to work can be provided with a job by these organizations regardless of age, training or experience. That is, they would move from assistant to key workers, supervisors and possibly managers.

These enterprises are not “training programs” per se. Of course, there may be on-the-job learning, but it is primarily employment. The wages paid would be reasonable, but not subsidized.

The jobs would be decent and not lacking in dignity. It is not “make work” nor a “sheltered workshop” which are for the severely handicapped.

The actual development experiment was called Employment Enterprises Development Corp. or EEDCO. It was Ann Arbor, Mich., several decades ago.

Over its three years of operation more than 450 “unemployables” were provided with jobs. Two-thirds of these workers entered the normal labor market, a very significant achievement. Also, eight were spun off into a business of their own, some with small loans from EEDCO.

Jobs were also provided for wards of the Juvenile Court. Owners of apartments, vacated by students of the university, needed cleaning and regular maintenance and the shortage they faced was resolved. Other residents had a problem getting domestic workers, yard care done, and odd jobs, and the like, for a reasonable price.

Transportation was the key for most initially employed because they lacked the means to get to and from jobs. EEDCO had three cars and drivers, for a nominal fee taking employees to and from work all day long. Usually, the workers soon arranged for transport with other workers or moved to within walking distance of their job.

Based upon the Ann Arbor experiment, it appears that within a year the enterprise should have at least 25 employees in order to be self-sustaining. If there are over a hundred employees, it is likely that the organization is too large to effectively offer the type of management required. The managers must be very close to all that is going on, and this closeness tends to be lost in larger organizations.

From the early stages, special managers should be developed. Workers who prove to be good team leaders may quickly become team supervisors. They them promptly should be given opportunities to make managerial decisions.

It is hoped that some local community leaders will recognize the potential applicability of Employment Enterprises Inc. Then they will get together with some possible implementers and sponsors and bring about serious considerations of what is needed and lacking, who may be employed, and how the community would benefit. Please recognize that much of what eventually may be done will not be clear or realized until some initial projects have been operating for a while.

Edward L. Page, a resident of Blue Hill, is a consultant on economic development.