Focolare Movement

Economy of Communion: a portal for new businesses

Oct 9, 2017

Economy of Communion’s platform, Incubating Network (EoC-IIN) in 16 languages, dedicated to new enterprises inspired by the EoC project.

EoC_website_newDon’t let the unpronounceable acronym scare you: with the help of a simple, straightforward and brightly coloured graphic design, it is proving to be very useful to the international community of EdC  entrepreneurs who wish to share their own talents and experience to boost the growth of new enterprises. The portal addresses business companies, cooperatives, small enterprises, associations with positive social impact, and also people who want to conduct their own companies in conformity with the principles of ethics, social and environmental responsibility and inclusion. The platform offers various services like start-ups, but is likewise a bridge with the entire international community which all can become a part of. It is not difficult to do so, and thanks to the portal, every new entrepreneur driven by a spirit of cooperation and reciprocity, can benefit from distance tutoring or personal mentoring to develop his/her own project. The offer goes through the network of national Hubs. These are “access points,” network “junctions” currently present in 13 countries (Africa, Central America, South America and Europe). The online launch of the platform came about a year after the opening of the first Hub. In this span of time, the Hubs have multiplied, promoting local courses and technical-professional training workshops and in-depth studies on the values that imbue the EoC project, giving personalized and systematic support to the execution of new business projects. If up to now the action of Hubs could only address people in a limited territorial field, these same opportunities are offered today, also to those who are not physically close to a local Hub, thanks to the platform (in Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French and English). Roylán, a telecommunications and electronics engineer of the Spanish Hub, explained: “Transmitting the basic notions of entrepreneurial language and adequately and concretely encouraging the new entrepreneurs who are undergoing moments of uncertainty and doubts is an enriching challenge. Upon coordinating the appointments and tasks of the people who voluntarily cooperate with the start-ups, I was able to appreciate the contributions of each one: there are huge potentials when we work together, driven by the common call to the Economy of Communion.” Each Hub has its own story to tell. The Hub of Mexico, for example, was born from the encounter between some economic activities of the territory that wanted to develop at small-enterprise levels and the EoC incubation programme. Enrique, producer of homemade jams, participated in the first incubation workshop in Mexico City. ”The incubation session helped me to grow in a short time and transform my activity into a real business. But at the same time it enhanced my personality and the deep growth in the EoC culture. The biggest change for me was to start generating communions starting from my business, and helping vulnerable people. When the business grows, we will be able to offer jobs to needy, disabled people or those who couldn’t find jobs elsewhere. Technically speaking, it helped me to improve the production and conservation processes of the products, improving quality. We are now formalising all the licenses necessary to enter more decisively into the market.” Within the platform there is a “reserved area” for entrepreneurs who wish to join the EoC community. There are three different environments: “Networking,” to present one’s own projects, and meet other entrepreneurs and exchange experiences; “Wiki Toolkit,” to share articles and videos, and “Digital Incubation,” addressing those who have projects that have no possibility of being implemented locally. See the EoC-IIN site Source: EoC online

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