Collaboration provides opportunities for residents & business owners

Cooperation offers opportunities, also in Nuenen. The successful launch of thrift store Het Goed at business park De Pinckart is a prime example. Together with social work company WSD, Dienst Dommelvallei, Summa College, Ster College and Lunet Health the municipality offers people with a distance to the labor market a nice workplace here. The support of small entrepreneurs affected by the corona crisis is another example of cooperation, this time with neighboring municipalities Son en Breugel, Best and Oirschot.

Nuenen invests in residents and business owners

'Cooperation not only offers opportunities but also produces a lot of positive energy,' says Alderman Ralf Stultiëns, whose portfolio in Nuenen includes the social domain. 'It is precisely by joining forces with municipalities of similar size and seeking cooperation with social welfare partners such as WSD that we can do even more for our residents. It's great to see that investing in residents and entrepreneurs is bearing fruit.'

Incubator

Just under a year after its official opening at De Pinckart, the thrift store Het Goed can present excellent report figures. More than sixty residents of Nuenen with a distance to the regular labor market have found a workplace or gained work experience at Het Goed, with the aim of moving on to a regular job in the business community. There could have been even more had the corona crisis not broken out. As a result, the inflow came to a standstill for a while and a number of employees even had to sit at home temporarily to prevent infection with covid-19.

The plan to also open a branch of Het Goed in Nuenen dates back to 2014. The search for a suitable location, a suitable building and the right form of operation took quite some time, so the opening ribbon could not be cut until last year. The thrift store is an independent company owned 49 percent by WSD.

Thanks to cooperation with other partners, Het Goed is a breeding ground for innovative labor market initiatives. Lunet Health deploys Het Goed for clients who need meaningful and challenging daytime activities. Summa College and Ster College work together with The Good to develop innovative educational initiatives.
to develop innovative educational initiatives. A classroom has therefore been set up in the building on De Pinckart and trainees can get acquainted with the fascinating retail trade.

Work experience site

The municipality of Nuenen has set up a project with Dienst Dommelvallei and WSD to offer residents with Social assistance benefit benefits a work experience placement at Het Goed. 'Too often welfare recipients were simply put to work without looking at competencies,' says Alderman Stultiëns. 'Now we have designated three work sites in Nuenen where this target group can gain work experience for a period of three months. Besides Het Goed, these are Groenbeheer Nuenen and the sorting center of Post NL.'

'And more happens than just gaining work experience,' adds senior policy officer Ralf Huybregts of the Dommelvallei Service. 'During a three-month employment period, it is assessed what employee skills someone has and what training is needed to return to the regular employment process. Where someone with a Social assistance benefit used to just have to get to work, now we talk about participation, competencies, social activation and flow through.'

And that last word is where the Nuenen business community comes in. Literally. After all, Het Goed is housed at De Pinckart and surrounded by business. In fact, the thrift store is one of the big draws and generates a lot of traffic from consumers and employees of surrounding businesses. The coffee corner is in demand to enjoy a well-earned afternoon break. 'We see the proximity of the business community as an opportunity for the people who gain work experience at Het Goed,' Alderman Stultiëns believes. 'More and more companies in Nuenen are willing to take on people with a distance to the labor market. How great is it that Het Goed is so centrally located? Anyone who has worked at Het Goed for three months can start work at the neighbors, so to speak.

Tozo arrangements

While the corona crisis caused the influx of clients to falter at Het Goed, the municipality of Nuenen saw a sharp increase in the number of requests for help from small business owners. 'Indeed, the municipality's phone was ringing red hot,' says senior policy officer Huybregts of Dienst Dommelvallei. 'Immediately after the government announced the first Tozo scheme (Temporary bridging scheme for independent entrepreneurs - ed.), we set to work to support our entrepreneurs.'

Dienst Dommelvallei is the cooperation partner of the municipalities of Nuenen, Son en Breugel and Geldrop-Mierlo that performs tasks in the areas of finance, taxes and social affairs, among others. In Nuenen and Son and Breugel, the service is responsible for both Tozo schemes. In Nuenen, 332 small entrepreneurs are eligible for Tozo 1 benefits. For Tozo 2, the counter stood at 44 Nuenen applications at the end of June. A further 21 credit requests from local entrepreneurs were also granted. In the entire Dommelvallei working area, 656 Tozo 1 applications were submitted.

'We set up the Tozo counter as we went along,' Huybregts continues. 'Our main goal was to speak to all affected small business owners, advise them and provide financial support where possible. We did that quickly, even though the funds from the state had yet to be deposited into our
bank account.' The way small business owners could apply for Tozo benefits was quickly digitized so that requests for help could be processed more smoothly using DigiD.

Targeted support

The Tozo 2 scheme inspired the municipality of Nuenen and Dienst Dommelvallei to seek cooperation. With success! With the municipalities of Best and Oirschot and social work company WSD, a project has been set up that aims at more than just the legal task of providing income to affected entrepreneurs. 'We want to prevent Nuenen entrepreneurs from becoming welfare dependent as soon as the Tozo 2 scheme ends,' says Alderman Stultiëns. 'How are we going to do that? With all partners we are going to work actively and offer targeted support. Customization! We are going to hold interviews and find out together with entrepreneurs whether they have a plan B if the corona crisis hits them too hard. Together we explore perspectives and examine what help can be offered.'

During the interviews, it becomes clear whether an entrepreneur sees opportunities to continue his business. At first, continuity will come first. But taking a different path is also an option. On the basis of competency tests, for example, the specific qualities of the entrepreneur are examined. Senior policy officer Huybregts: "Possibly an entrepreneur decides that he or she wants to reorient themselves on the labor market. Perhaps doing business in another industry offers opportunities? Or is this corona crisis a wake-up call and someone prefers the security of a salaried job? The outcome of this process is not fixed in advance.'

The entrepreneurial approach of Nuenen, together with Son en Breugel, Best and Oirschot, is attracting quite a bit of media attention. Not only did the Eindhovens Dagblad write about it, but national magazine Binnenlands Bestuur also published an article highlighting the joint project of the four municipalities. This pleases Alderman Stultiëns, although of course he finds support from entrepreneurs much more important than media attention. "We want people to stay in work and not end up on welfare because of the corona crisis. I am proud that together with our neighboring municipalities, Dienst Dommelvallei and WSD, we offer customization for these entrepreneurs.'