Workforce Industries is a non-profit company which assists disabled people to engage in meaningful employment.
Manager, Paul Stoneman, says: “Our team can add value to business, and in turn business can help give people with disabilities a sense of purpose and value.”
BNI New Zealand, recently started using the West Auckland branch to assist in the packing of supplies to its more than 2,800 members countrywide, including assembling its networking starter packs consisting of business card holder, badge, name tag and CD.
BNI New Zealand National Director, Graham Southwell, says the organisation’s philosophy of ‘Givers Gain’ means BNI is always on the lookout to engage the local community.
“Strong communities build strong businesses, so it makes good commercial sense for small and medium businesses to actively contribute to their community in positive ways,” he said.
Companies like Air New Zealand make use of Workforce’s skills to clean, test and repackage almost 80,000 headsets every month.
Workforce, also based in Mangere Bridge, employs 200 people with a wide range of disabilities. These part time and full time employees complete a wide variety of re-packaging work and also supply labour to Oakdale’s Organics, one of New Zealand’s largest organic seedling providers.
Asked what the business’s greatest contribution is to the community, Paul says: “Workforce is all about giving disabled people a sense of purpose. Our team enjoy the routine and challenge of regular work where they know they can come in, work hard and leave with the satisfaction of a job well done.”
In fact, his team is so committed that more than half of them are at work at least half an hour early every morning.
“We have people here who have been working with us for over 40 years and have no wish to retire. They do a brilliant job, and they do it consistently.” says Paul.
