Building a Social Enterprise Ecosystem: Strategies and Support Services

1. How do we define a “social enterprise eco-system” and how best can it operate Vasilis Bellis, General Director of AN.KA Development Agency of Karditsa Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Mouzaki

2. Contents of the presentation • What is an ecosystem of social enterprises (SE)? • A local experience • The necessary supporting services in favor of SE • How to support the establishment of an ecosystem? • The support organization(s) and its (their) relation with the “ecosystem” and its members. Dominant or Servant? Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

3. What an ecosystem is? • It is a group of social enterprises (SE) • They are complementary one each other • They are conscious that they belong to this group (to the ecosystem) and know the members of it • They try to develop and implement a common strategy (they participate to the plan of their future) • Each SE tries to cooperate in preference with the other members of the ecosystem • They establish common rules (code of conduct) • They develop common services aiming to the members’ improvement • They develop support tools to facilitate the emergence of new social enterprises Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

4. How big an ecosystem is? An “ecosystem” is called like this if and only if its parts are also ecosystems! Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

5. The experience gained from the “cooperatives’ incubator” of Development Agency • Established in 1994 • Offer of technical support to women cooperatives • Host of the credit cooperative’s head offices for two years. It was transformed to the “Cooperative Bank of Karditsa” • It offers support or host more than 15 collective schemes. • 2 Civic cooperatives • 5 Agricultural cooperatives • 3 Social cooperatives • 3 Networks of family-run businesses (small or micro) • 1 NGO Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

6. The services offered by the “incubator” (1) • Pre-startup services: The support of the meetings of candidate members to agree on the crucial points of the statute • The vision, the mission, the relationships among the members and the terms of their cooperation etc • The meetings take place in the agency’s offices or even in a village where the candidate members live. • The result is not always successful! • Offer of space for the head office. • The hosted cooperative is integrated in the everyday function of the Agency. • A desk, a computer and an ITC connection (telephone, internet) is offered • There is not a separate space. • Some of the agency’s executives work also for the hosted organizations • The organizational bodies of the hosted cooperative have their meetings in the common meeting room Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

7. The services offered by the “incubator” (2) • Raising of awareness of candidate members, via: • The organization of events all over the prefecture, in villages and cities • Promotion of the initiative through the Media (traditional or Social) The raising of awareness is organized in two phases: before the establishment (in favor of social entrepreneurs ) aiming to the founders attraction, and after the establishment aiming to the enlargement of the social enterprise • Secretarial support • Support to the administrative bodies (governing board, General Assembly) • Invitations management • keeping of minutes etc • Management of the member’s subscription and keeping of the book of members • Information of visitors who are interested for the initiative So, when the Social Enterprise “graduates” from the “incubator” it has fully organized the legal files it is obliged to keep Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

8. The services offered by the “incubator” (3) • Support in the process of business plan elaboration, especially in the phase of the debate – negotiation among the members • Training in soft skills • Linking with the Research Centers, Universities or Technological Institutes or specialists, depending on the needs of SE • Information for the available financial sources and programs. Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

9. The goals of the support services • To eliminate or minimize the start up cost. This cost is the main disincentive putting obstacles to participation. Besides, in the case of unemployed people, they are unable to afford it. • To give a boost to the enthusiasm of Social Entrepreneurs. In the most cases they feel helpless • To give a chance to the founders to acquire basic knowledge and skills • To facilitate the participatory decision making, especially in the start up phase • To enable the formation of a leading group competent to plan and implement the business plan of the SE • To communicate the initiative to the local society Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

10. The results Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

11. Cooperative Bank of Karditsa • Established in 1994 as credit cooperative • Hosted for two years in the “incubator” • 1998: Received the license to be tranformed in Cooperative Bank • More than 7.000 members • It was the only bank increased the loans during the crisis. • It is an Ethical Bank (member of FEBEA) • It is the first bank in Greece which signed with EIF a guarantee scheme, facilitating the micro financing (innovation) • To be visited by the group C Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

12. Energy Cooperative of Karditsa • Civic Cooperative. • The first established all over Greece • Found assembly July 15, 2010 • 350 members • Capital 420.000 € • Its first business plan financedby LEADERprogram. • It is about a unit producing wood pellets. • Investment budget 500.000€ • To be visited by the group A Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

14. Agricultural Cooperative“Hellenic Superfoods” • Established in 2010 • 120 members. They cultivate more than 50 hectares of superfoods(blueberry, godgi berry, Arronia etc). • They have integrated their first business plan. Budget 460.000€ • It was co-financed by LEADER program • They produce dried fruits, fruit jam and packaged fruits • To be visited by the group A Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

15. Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

16. Agricultural Cooperative (AC) “The Stevia” • Established in 2012 • 60 members who cultivate 45 hectares of stevia • The first investment is ready: A unit extracting “steviolglycosites” from the dried plants of stevia. • Budget of the investment: 260.000€, co-financed by LEADER program. • They cooperate with the technological Institute of Thessaly • To be visited by the group C Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

17. Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

18. AC for legumes (pulses)Psihanthos «Ψυχανθός» It means the flower of soul To be visited by the group C Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

19. Other cooperatives in Karditsa • AC for grapes (wine and tsipouro producers)«Dionysos». To be visited by the group B • AC “New Association”. To be visited by the group B • ACof cow and sheep breeders.Tobe visited by the group A • Agricultural Cooperative of tomato producers • Civic cooperative (CC)of pharmacists. To be visited by the group B • CC of agronomists. To be visited by the group A Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

20. The networks of micro businesses (mb) • The network of mb of Food and Beverage Sector. To be visited by the group A • The network of mb of Construction Sector • Local Quality Pact • Rural Tourism Association of Thessaly. To be visited by the group B • Goals of the support: • The common services organization • Extroversion of mb Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

21. Social cooperative (KoinSEp)“Ilakati” • Established by people belonging to vulnerable social groups • 20 members • Goal: To establish linkages between local producers and farmers acting in rural areas and consumers living in cities • To be visited by the group C Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

22. KoinSEp «taste from the village» • Established by 5 unemployed women • Goal: To produce and promote local traditional products • They produce 80 different products • To be visited by the group A Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

23. Other KoinSEp • KoinSEp «Romvos». They renovated the building of AC “The Stevia”. To be visited by the group C • KoinSEp «Roda» (The wheel). Training and education through theater playing. • KoinSEp«Kipodimiourgies» (Garden works). It is in Trikala Prefecture. To be visited by the group D Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

24. How to support the establishment of an ecosystem? • The establishment of a local legal entity enabling the cooperation among the organizations of Social Economy (Social Enterprises, Cooperatives, NfPO), irrespective of their legal status, would be very useful. The current legislature about cooperatives does not make a provision for it! • The conscious participation of the SE to the enhancement of “Ecosystem” multiplies the results of each one of them! • The ecosystem must be supported to make the decisions related to its future or to the cooperation among its members standing-alone, ensuring its autonomy • The implementation of the decisions made in common, must also be supported by a reliable mechanism. Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

25. The relation of the “ecosystem” with the support organization (SO) • The SO must be: • Plain and sustainable • The major part of its incomes must come from the “market”. • The members of the ecosystem supported by the SO must pay for the services they receive • The SO must has the knowhow to plan and implement programs, using available sources for the Social Economy • An initial financial support of the SO would be useful under the following conditions: • Enable, ensure and enhance the autonomy of the SE which are benefited and avoid their dependence from the SO or from the who gives the money (donor or the state) • It comes simultaneously with the commitment of the beneficiaries that they will continue to finance the SO in order to continue to receive the services they need, according to a certain plan • The financial support must gradually be decreased (e.g. 100% during the first year,, 80% the secondetc) • The SO is not the only one necessary tool in favor of SEs! • There are several “best practices” in Greece Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

26. The “Ecosystem” of Social Enterprises Society– Governance Social enterprises • Support system - Education or training structures - Support organizations (Consulting, counseling, incubators or accelerators etc) - Research Institutes • Auditing • Financial tools Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

27. Questions • Does the legislature plays any role to the acceleration or slow down of the SE establishment rate? • Does the “Ecosystem” improves the function and the results succeed by SE or makes the field more complex? • What are the factors restricting the establishment and the development of an ecosystem and what are the ones facilitating it? • How to avoid the conversion of Support Organizations to “dominants” and how to keep them in the role of “servants” of the SE and the ecosystem they make? • What type of organizations could be the catalysts towards the establishment of an active ecosystem? • Are there such ones in your area? What are their strong and their weak characteristics? Development Agency of Karditsa, AN.KA SA

28. Thank you for your attention! Αναπτυξιακή Καρδίτσας Αναπτυξιακή Ανώνυμη Εταιρία Ο.Τ.Α.