Jungbu Power Holds 2019 Social Economy Support Project Performance Sharing Meeting

Employees of Korea Midland Power, the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, and program participants hold a performance sharing meeting and take a commemorative photo. (Photo by Korea Midland Power)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea Midland Power Co. announced on the 13th that it held a performance sharing meeting for social economy support projects at Sangsaeng Canvas in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

They shared the results of projects such as the "Innovation Idea Discovery and Support Project for Solving Social Issues in the Environment and Safety Fields" and the "Job Training Program for Reemployment of the 5060 New Middle-aged in Social Economy Enterprises" implemented by Midland Power.

About 50 people participated in the sharing meeting, including representatives from Midland Power, the Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, and retirees who succeeded in reemployment.

Midland Power first held a contest for innovative ideas. This was to support social economy enterprises that have innovative ideas but face difficulties in securing business funds.

Out of 42 submitted ideas, five companies’ ideas were selected, including the development of PET bottle caps with integrated rings to increase plastic waste recycling rates and the development of sprinkler products for early fire suppression.

Midland Power provided these companies with ▲financial and business model evaluations through professional institutions ▲support for prototype production costs ▲testbeds for verifying product performance and safety ▲support for domestic and international patent applications to protect intellectual property rights.

As a result, they achieved four domestic and international patent applications, created five jobs, obtained one new technology certification, and reduced about 7 tons of plastic waste.

They also implemented a reemployment program for social economy enterprises. This was to connect companies struggling to find personnel with retirees from private companies.

A total of 19 people were selected and underwent about five months of career transition education, individual job analysis, interviews, workplace experience, and internships. Among them, six were reemployed at social economy enterprises in regions where Midland Power operates.

Midland Power also trained 22 employees scheduled to retire as professional mentors for social economy enterprises. They provided management support and safety management consultations to 15 social economy enterprises seeking advice.

Among them, 11 were appointed as consulting specialists for the social cooperative "Saramgwa Sesang," a social economy center in the Gyeonggi area. They plan to continue supporting social economy enterprises that are weak in sales activities or safety management even after retirement.

Thanks to Midland Power’s support projects, Choi Ansun, CEO of Pure & Clean, which hired retirees, said, "We had many difficulties in finance, accounting, and marketing," and added, "Since the professional had 30 years of experience in strategy, investment, and sales management in private companies, they were hired because they overall helped with business operations."

Kim Shinhyung, Head of Planning and Management at Midland Power, stated, "We will continue to consider ways to resolve difficulties faced by the social economy and enhance competitiveness by cooperating with private companies, local residents, and social economy specialized institutions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.