The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said on the 18th it is recruiting cooperatives to participate in the "cooperative professional personnel support program" to vitalize joint projects of small and medium enterprise cooperatives.
Eligible applicants are small and medium enterprise cooperatives established under the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act. Selected cooperatives will receive, within the budget, for one year from the initial hiring date, support for one person per cooperative, covering 70% of monthly labor costs up to 2 million won per person.
Cooperatives that received professional personnel support last year may apply to extend the support period. If selected through re-evaluation, they will receive 50% of monthly labor costs in the second year. Recruitment of cooperatives runs until the 30th.
The program is carried out under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "3rd three-year plan to vitalize small and medium enterprise cooperatives." With the same total budget as last year of 9.4 billion won, the plan is to support professional personnel for joint projects at small and medium enterprise cooperatives.
Hired professionals will complete training provided by the federation on operating small and medium enterprise cooperatives and establishing strategies for joint projects. They will then perform roles such as planning, execution, performance management, and network building for joint projects.
The federation supported 78 professionals for a total of 78 cooperatives last year, leading to improved profitability in joint projects. The Korea Gas Retail Cooperative Federation hired a professional with more than 25 years of experience and successfully carried out commissioned projects such as meter reading. The Bucheon Supermarket Cooperative also achieved sales growth by securing new suppliers.
Seo Jae-yoon, head of the cooperative division at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, said, "The professional personnel support program establishes a foundation for advancing cooperatives' joint projects and supports professionals who help strengthen capabilities," and added, "We expect it will provide practical help to cooperatives with a weak foundation for joint projects and vitalize joint projects."
Details can be found in the notices on the small and medium enterprise cooperatives' website.