The promotion of entrepreneurialism among the users of Incorpora, the program of social and work inclusion from Catalan financial institution La Caixa's Obra Social (Foundation), has led to the creation of 437 micro-businesses in Catalonia in the year and a half since it started.
Thanks to this route to self-employment, people at risk of social exclusion that have ideas for companies can take part in a new way of integrating into the job market, through which they can increase their chances of overcoming their precarious situation. Incorpora designs personalised timetables for them and helps them with training and support in developing their projects. In the whole of Spain, the project has helped to start 1,350 micro-businesses. Among the entrepreneurs, women are 46.13% and men, 53.87%.
In total, since January 2016, the 12 self-employment centres Incorpora has spread around Catalonia have attended to 1,559 people interested in taking this opportunity, which has led to the creation of companies in areas such as trade (29.1%), services (64.1%), industry (5.45%) and agriculture (1.18%). These centres are managed by ADFO, EMI Manresa, Emprèn, Escola Pia Granollers, FIDEM, Fundació de l'Esperança, Fundació PIMEC, Grup Catalònia, Trinijove Sabadell, Fundació Gentis, Formació i Treball and ADSIS.
"At Obra Social 'la Caixa' we don't ever leave anyone along the way. We want to help so that the ability to create a business is within the reach of everyone, including those that do not have the necessary resources to go ahead with their business ideas. We offer them advice and support so that they can be the protagonists of their lives," said Isidre Fainé, la Caixa's president.
The self-employment specialists at each centre are key figures in the success of this initiative. They provide advice and training adapted to each phase of the project through the creation of the business plan, connecting with regional agents to give help to the entrepreneurs, the needs, risk and feasibility analysis of the company, looking for help an funding and finding a suitable location. To help with the consolidation of the business itself, the experts also offer support once it has become active with personalised monitoring.
Moreover, within the framework of the agreement between Obra Social "la Caixa” and MicroBank to provide funding to self-employment projects by people in precarious situations, micro-credits to the value of 5,396,000 euros have been granted. MicroBank is the only bank in Spain dedicated exclusively to the funding of projects through micro-credits. The awarding criteria are fundamentally based on trust in the person and the viability of their project, without asking for any additional guarantees.
Incorpora: more than 132,000 job placements in Spain in ten years
Incorpora focuses on promoting the recruitment of vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, long-term unemployed, young adults at risk of exclusion, victims of domestic violence, immigrants and former prisoners, among others. Since it started in 2006, this program from Obra Social "la Caixa” has filled 132,443 jobs around Spain, thanks to the collaboration of 40,930 companies and the participation of 364 social organisations. In Catalonia, thanks to the involvement of more than 10,000 companies, 40,685 jobs have been filled.