Through Inclusion, Northwest Center’s Social Enterprise Business Model Leads by Example

A Smart Business Strategy
Northwest Center businesses employ people with and without disabilities working side-by-side to offer world-class service to our customers throughout Washington state. We also utilize our enterprises as training opportunities to help Northwest Center Employment Services clients become work ready. This unique business model is in perfect alignment with our mission to promote inclusion in the workplace.
 
Inclusion Makes Our Businesses Stronger
At Northwest Center, the effect is constant: From janitorial and building services to hospital-grade commercial laundry; inclusion makes our company more innovative and productive. Quality scores, on-time delivery, productivity, and customer satisfaction have reached all-time highs.

And it’s not just Northwest Center. Major corporations like Amazon, Microsoft, Walgreens, Procter & Gamble, Glaxo Smith Kline, and IBM that first began hiring people with disabilities as a matter of social responsibility are now integrating their workforces as fast as they can for bottom line economic reasons. They’ve learned what we’ve known for decades: inclusion and equity are smart business strategies.

Walgreens experienced 20% more efficiency in their Anderson, South Carolina distribution center after adapting it for people of all abilities. Based on that success, Walgreens have rolled out a ‘retail employees with disabilities’ program nationwide. They have experienced the same effects of productivity, quality, and profit improvement that Northwest Center has, and they want more.

How Social Enterprise Works at Northwest Center and How it Can Work for You
Northwest Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization and we operate multiple businesses that provide a pipeline of unrestricted funding for our vital programs serving infants, children, and adults with disabilities. Our social enterprise business model strives to maximize resources with the goal of greatest mission yield and community impact.

When customers and corporate partners utilize a business operated by Northwest Center, they receive world class quality and customer service, and also directly contribute to our mission and vision of a world that fully includes people with disabilities in the workforce. It’s a virtuous cycle that touches every part of the community.
 
​Diversity and inclusion are not afterthoughts to how we do business; they’re at the very core of everything we do. Contact us today and put the power of inclusion to work for you. 

Don't just take it from us - Research conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity shows hiring people with disabilities improves productivity and boosts the bottom line.

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Is your business ready to reopen? Take the first step and download our Facility Readiness Guide today.
 
When you work with Northwest Center, you join us as champions for disability inclusion at school, at work, and in the greater community. Learn more.

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