A poster of the Billing Fraud Prevention Campaign |
A video screenshot of the Billing Fraud Prevention Campaign |
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"Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar" for business-minded young people with a challenging spirit
Started the Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar
Young people taking part in the Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar |
There has been a recent increase in young people working on business to solve a diversity of social issues and to revitalize local areas in Japan. Yet, because they lack business experiences and the network of contacts needed to grow a business, they cannot always find solutions to the plethora of management problems.
On that note, Brother Industries started sponsoring the Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar organized by five NPOs to offer support to young business-minded people in the Tokai area where the company has its headquarters. The seminar offers a number of activities for helping would-be entrepreneurs get their business on track via business strategy workshops, product development opportunities together with consumers, etc.
Positive results from this support are steadfast showing, to note in particular one of the participants in the first Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar won the Challenge Award that was given at the 2008 Shizuoka Governor Commendations. The participant, Ms. Makoto Sato, representative of Hair Supply Peer of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka was recognized in the award of her business that supports especially women who lost their hair due to chemotherapy for cancer, etc.
Young entrepreneurs selected for FY 2009 to get full-fledged support
Young entrepreneurs selected for FY 2009 and the Executive Committee staff |
In April 2009, applications were accepted from young entrepreneurs seeking support for their projects. Four judges, including Mr. Hideto Kawakita, representative of the International Institute for Human, Organization and the Earth (IIHOE), who has a track record of supporting entrepreneurs, were involved in the screening process, and on June 30 five applicants were selected.
In July, a two-day kickoff training camp was held at the Brother Communication Space, where the selected entrepreneurs set their targets for the future and developed action plans. These entrepreneurs will be guided by the Executive Committee of the Tokai Young Entrepreneur Seminar until February 2010 for the improvement of the quality of their business models and strategies.
In the second year of this seminar, Brother employees will work closely with the entrepreneurs. For example, Brother employees will support the seminar entrepreneurs (including those selected in FY 2008, the first year of the seminar) on a voluntary basis to operate a mountain hut for green tourism or to restore disaster-hit farmland. It is also planned to hold interactive learning opportunities to exchange opinions about "challenging spirit," "importance of customers' viewpoint," and other themes. In addition, meetings will be held at which Brother employees will offer their expertise and advice to help solve issues faced by the entrepreneurs.
Conveying the fun of making things to children via a "Parent-and-Child Product Making Class"
Encouragement messages from a manufacturing facility outside of Japan
Mothers and children trying their hand at assembling a P-touch |
Concerns have grown in recent years of how children are getting away from the sciences and technology. As a company of manufacturing, Brother is providing children with opportunities to make things and, in the process, conveying to them the wonders of technology and the importance of caring for the environment.
In FY2008, Parent-and-Child Product Making Classes organized by the former P&S Company, which is now reorganized into the Printing & Solutions Business, were held twice for children of employees and for others of the local community. Some 37 families totaling 98 persons were invited to the Brother Communication Space to hear about corporate profile of the Brother Group and the importance of caring for the environment in a way easy to understand for children. After presenting an image of the Brother Group and introducing how the group is actively operating around the world, the children got to try assembling Brother's P-touch label printer with which create nametags, etc in an easy way.
At these Parent-and-Child Product Making Classes, the children were shown a video produced by employees who assemble the P-touch at Zhuhai Brother Industries (BIZH) in China. The video carried words of encouragement and resonated with the audience Brother's presence as a manufacturer of global scale. The children attentively listened to these words with great interest. At the Parent-and-Child Product Making Class for children of employees, the children recorded their own "thank you message" on a video after assembling the P-touch and sent it to the staff at BIZH who had offered their words of encouragement. This message of appreciation from the children in return encouraged the local staff at BIZH, proving the activity to be truly meaningful.
"Parent-and-Child Product Making Class" expands to the fields of industrial sewing machines, machine tools and home sewing machines
The M&S Company that does business in industrial sewing machines and machine tools staged their first Parent-and-Child Product Making Class in FY2008 for 16 families totaling 41 persons. Participants got to make their own aprons using industrial sewing machines and garment printers that print directly on apparel. At the Parent-and-Child Product Making Class organized by the P&H Company, which deals in home sewing machines, families made money pouches and tote bags with embroidery work of their choice, using Brother's home sewing machines.
"I was a bit nervous because this was the first time for me to touch a sewing machine, but I am glad I came," and "It was a lot of fun making the apron." As these comments from the participated children show, the classes provide good opportunities for children who will lead the next generation to experience the "fun of making things" and feel much familiar to the company where their parents work. The classes will continue to be held on an ongoing basis.
Warm handcrafted social contribution activity with sewing machines
Embroidered face towel by employees donated to an elderly care facility
Present for care facility resident |
In order to promote activities of social contribution with a personal touch created by home sewing machine, the P&H Company dealing in home sewing machine made a gift for the residents of the elderly care facility, "Mizuho." The gift, which is face towel with the names of respective residents at the facility embroidered on, was given to them at a Christmas party of the facility.
Preparations for the Christmas gift began in October. Sewing machines and materials were arranged, and instructions were made, then the call went out to Brother Group employees to volunteer their time. Some 69 employees responded and embroidered about 300 face towels using Brother's home sewing machines. The face towel were individually wrapped with a message card, and then handed to the residents. They were very pleased and some of their eyes were filled with tears, which made the Christmas party a memorable event.
Brother will continue its contribution to local communities through activities the company excels at as a sewing machine manufacturer and with a strong emphasis on "handmade culture" and "people-to-people connections". For FY2009, other projects such as having sewing classes are being considered.
