Springfield Workshop acquires Polk County nonprofit
Chris Wrinkle
Posted online
A pair of nonprofits that help provide job opportunities to people with disabilities are joining forces.
Springfield Workshop Inc. has acquired the assets of Enterprises Unlimited, a Bolivar-based nonprofit organization providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The transaction was completed July 31, when Enterprises Unlimited ceased operations.
Springfield Workshop, doing business as Polk County Industrial Solutions, will open a satellite operation Aug. 16 in a building at 4450 Airport Drive leased from the city of Bolivar.
“Our social mission is to provide meaningful employment for people with disabilities,” said Chuck Bailey, general manager of the 43-year-old Springfield Workshop and Polk County Industrial Solutions. “The way we accomplish our social mission is via our business mission – our business mission is to satisfy our external customers, people that we basically do work for.”
Springfield Workshop serves about 230 people with disabilities at its 75,000-square-foot plant at 2385 W. Bennett St. in Springfield. About 45 to 50 full-time equivalents worked for Enterprises Unlimited and 50 to 60 job offers have been already extended, Bailey said.
Customers include 3M, Reckitt Benckiser, Smurfit Stone Container, Kraft, Pepsi and Redneck Trailer.
Assets purchased from the Polk County company, Bailey said, were limited. However, the lease agreement with the city made the agreement more appealing.
“For the most part, what really made everything work was the city of Bolivar owned the building,” Bailey said. “That just made everything feasible financially."
Enterprises Unlimited leased the building from the city for $1 a year and the city extended the lease through 2014.
Additional coverage on Springfield Workshop will be in the Aug. 16 Springfield Business Journal.[[In-content Ad]]
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