BEC Coop - Business and Employment Co-operative is an organization established in accordance with § 221 et seq. Act No. 513/1991 Coll. (Czech legislation), as amended. It is a small business that currently has 3 members (founding members) and 3 employees. The main objective is to support rural employment through the implementation of the BEC methodology - Business and employment centres (more information can be found here: http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_and_employment_co-operative).
BEC coop operates in the Olomouc and Moravian-Silesian Region, which are the regions with the highest unemployment rate in the Czech republic.
BEC coop provides support for disadvantaged people to target on their self-employment and integration into the labour market based on the principles of social economy and social entrepreneurship. We create better conditions for our members to enter the labour market. BEC coop serves primarily to support business activities of our members to promote their common interests, to protect the interests of our members and mutual cooperation and assistance. BEC coop provides a wide range of business activities in many fields. We work within the context of our registered business activities to ensure long-term sustainability of created jobs, developing and expanding business skills for disadvantaged and vulnerable persons/groups on the labour market.
The innovative aspects of the BEC method consist in leading groups of people to gain entrepreneurial skills through training, coaching, and mentoring them to bear joint responsibility for their decisions and their prosperity. It motivates them to a common participatory benefit, which leads to long-term stabilization and development of entrepreneurial activities and self-employment.
BEC offers the starting entrepreneurs an easy transition from inactivity to employment. Under the guidance of experts (the founding members of the team) the new entrepreneurs (staff team - employees) can experiment with their business ideas. BEC provides a safe environment to achieve control over their working life, but with the support of group of people who are dealing with similar problems and want to share their enthusiasm and experiences. BEC helps overcome one of the most discouraging business development problems - isolation, lack of ambition, knowledge and confidence needed for the development of entrepreneurial careers.
The added value of the BEC team is its contribution to economic and sustainable development in rural areas by supporting disadvantaged people from these areas (mostly unemployed). It provides a valuable knowledge transfer, economic activity and helps maintain social life in rural areas.
BECs enable budding entrepreneurs to experiment with their business idea while benefiting from a secure income. The innovation methodology BECs introduce is that once the business is established the entrepreneur is not forced to leave and set up independently, but can stay and become a full member of the co-operative. The micro-enterprises thus combine to form one multi-activity enterprise whose members provide a mutually supportive environment for each other.