The European SME Week 2010 highlights the success of two cooperatives

The European Week of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was held from 25th May to 1st June 2010 and aimed to promote entrepreneurship and to inform people of the support that the European authorities can give to SMEs.

The European Commission has identified a number of entrepreneurs, sources of inspiration, and participants from countries that have developed, produced or sold a product or service with exciting potential to revolutionize a particular market. They were chosen in order to present the multiple possible ways to become an entrepreneur. Everyone, male or female, of different ages and backgrounds, can tell a fascinating story about the challenges of their career choice.

Luciana Delle Donne Luciana Delle Donne

Two cooperatives are at the top of the prize list. The first is the Italian social cooperative created by Luciana Delle Donne, "Officina Creativa", which creates accessories from recycled materials.

The Italian company wants to give a second chance for women in prison by making them produce shopping bags from recycled products. Through the brand "Made in carcere" (made in prison), the cooperative wants to increase the chances of reintegration into society of women when they will be released.

Anna Darzentas Anna Darzentas

The second cooperative to have been promoted is a Greek cooperative in the agro-tourist sector created by Anna Darzentas : “To Kastri” provides trucking services catering for local approvals. The cooperative employs 28 women from Syros, an island known for its problem of underemployment. Most of them are former homemakers without special skills.

The company recently opened a restaurant selling traditional products at reasonable prices, and tends to be successful. The big problem that this cooperative has faced is the lack of confidence and prejudices from the trading partners against women with few qualifications.

The 36 portraits of entrepreneurs presented during the SME week are available on this link.

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What is a cooperative

Cooperatives a sustainable employment solution!

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Enterprises represented by CECOP are enterprises in which workers unite to satisfy their needs in terms of creation of sustainable jobs. They can be industrial enterprises or services rooted in the territories and having a long-term strategy. They are a genuine solution for sustainable jobs in Europe: they are broken down into workers’ cooperatives, social cooperatives and other types of enterprises owned by their workers.

Workers’ cooperatives: Workers’ cooperatives are enterprises subject to the same restrictions of competition, management and profitability as other companies. Their originality lies in the fact that their workers hold the majority of the shares, at least 51%. In doing so, the workers decide jointly on the major guidelines of their enterprises and appoint their leaders (managers, boards of directors, etc.). They also decide on how to share the profit with a twofold aim: to give the preference to the workers of the enterprises, in the form of refunds based on the work done and to consolidate the enterprises with a view to handing it over onto the future generations, i.e. creating reserves to reinforce the equity and ensuring thereby the sustainability of their enterprises. In all cooperatives, the internal democratic control is based on the principle of “one man, one vote” whatever the capital share held by the respective workers. Finally, the cooperative spirit promotes its employees information and training, a prerequisite to develop the autonomy, the motivation and responsibility, accountability required in an economic world which has become insecure. (Source: www.scop.coop)

Social cooperatives: Social cooperatives are specialised in the provision of social services or reintegration of disadvantaged and marginalised workers (disabled, long-term unemployed, former detainees, addicts, etc.). A large number of such cooperatives have been set up in Italy but also in other EU countries. Most of them are owned by their workers while offering the possibility or providing for the obligation (according to the national laws) to involve other types of members (users, voluntary workers, etc.).

Other types of enterprises owned by their workers: There are other types of enterprises owned by their workers such as for example the “Sociedades Laborales” in Spain which are real driving forces of economic and social activities which have contributed to lower the unemployment level and to revamp a sustained growth in Spain.