Thy Naturkraft has started a new social economy business with a focus on production.
THISTED: Some might think it would be a monotonous job, and a bit overwhelming, to collect and fill candy into 80,000 Christmas calendars. But for the employees who are currently hard at work, it's a job they take pride in completing to the letter.
The large order placed by the wholesaler Nordthy A/ S in Østerild, Denmark, has landed with a new social economy company, which is run by the self-governing institution Elmelund.
So far, the company counts a dozen flexible workers who meet in a hall on Ballerumvej just north of Thisted. They started in August last year by fitting out the rented hall for the purpose. The assembly workshop and packing plant from Elmelund's social economy company Thy Naturkraft have moved to the larger premises, where there is plenty of space to take on several different types of tasks.
Need even more space
But even the new premises are too small for the huge order from Nordthy A/S. Shortly after Easter, the entire team will move to an even larger hall in Nors, where they will be busy until week 40 packing approximately 35,000 summer boxes of biscuits and sweets, and then at least 80,000 Christmas calendars.
Right now, employees are assembling the inserts that divide the calendar boxes into 24 compartments. From week 20, they will start putting candy in the boxes.
-"It's a task that is monotonous and the same day in and day out. We're good at that," says Klaus Kjeldtoft, who, together with flexible worker Jacob Jørgensen, is foreman in production.
Klaus Kjeldtoft is the only one in the production department who is employed in a regular full-time job.
He also has other tasks in Elmelund, especially when it comes to contacting companies and bringing orders home. It's important to find tasks that are easy to solve.
The payment that companies make for a job at Elmelund's production unit must be able to finance rent, salaries and other expenses. The economy must make sense.
-"We're currently calculating what it would cost to have things done elsewhere. We don't want to be cheap labor, but hit the price," says Klaus Kjeldtoft.
On the edge of the labor market
Thy Naturkraft has already worked for several local companies, including AB Aluminum and Outrup Vinduer & Døre. But the new, large workshops on Ballerumvej provide the opportunity to scale up significantly.
As something new, the focus is not only on employing young people, who are usually the target group for Elmelund's work. The goal is simply to create a workplace where there is room for adults who, for one reason or another, have difficulty meeting the requirements of the regular labor market.
Brian Nyby, Head of Department at Thy Naturkraft, says: "The company we want to set up here is to help everyone who is on the edge of the labor market. The idea is that we really want to employ our own young people who can't get a job elsewhere, but also others with special needs.
Injured after a fall
Foreman Jacob Jørgensen belongs to the latter group.
He is 31 years old and employed in a flexible job for 20 hours a week.
His only disability is that he has a drop foot, which means he needs extra rest. The lack of mobility in his left foot is the result of a work injury that happened when he was just starting his carpentry apprenticeship in 2009.
-"Two weeks into the basic course, something went wrong. I was breaking up a floor and fell through it. I fell two meters down and got a pressure up through my leg, which meant that the muscle died," he says.
After a long hospital stay followed by a clarification process, Jacob Jørgensen trained as an educational assistant with a view to a flexible job. About four years ago, he was employed at Elmelund.
-"The combination of foreman and pedagogical work is a dream job," he says.
Fighting spirit and team spirit Brian Nyby explains that although all flex-jobbers by definition have disability needs, the challenges are not the same.
-"We have a target group who have special needs in terms of cognitive or mental health diagnoses, and they need others to help them get through the day. In my mind, the people we hire with special needs are the tractor and those with special needs are the cart.
All things being equal, there has to be a tractor to pull the trailer, but overall we can't do without some of them," he says.
Overall, the department manager aims to create a workplace where employees help and complement each other.
-"For example, if there's a blacksmith who for some reason has been injured and can't lift, but can still weld, and we have some good, strong young people here who may have no other challenges than mental health, then you can create a combination job. That's the idea behind it, that we need to get everyone involved," says Brian Nyby.
At the workbenches in the workshop, everyone is working quickly and with concentration to assemble the cardboard discs that will make up the inserts for the Christmas calendars.
People know that this is a real workplace where you have to earn your own salary.
-"That's why there's a completely different fighting spirit and team spirit out here than at Elmelund, for example, because it's a completely different concept," says Brian Nyby.
A great collaboration
Nordthy has also helped to support this attitude. For example, the company has invited the entire workforce to visit Østerild. Director Søren Lukassen from Nordthy says: "They got to see their colleagues out here and where the Christmas calendars end up when they have packed them. They have also received some company shirts. Now they are part of the house, and they really care about their work.
Last year, Nordthy packed the many Christmas calendars in the Netherlands, but that task has now been brought home to Thy.
"I hope that this will be the start of a long-lasting collaboration.
It will be great for all parties, says the director.
Even though Elmelund's social economy production company is currently busy with orders, Brian Nyby emphasizes that they have not stopped taking on new projects.
And he is convinced that there will be interest from the business community.
-"Social capital will also be part of the budget for companies in the future, and you can buy indulgences from us," he says.
- Nordjyske Stiftstidende Aalborg
