Success without Succession? Reflections on the Building and Sustaining of Social Enterprise

Abstract

Inner City Development Inc. was established in the summer of 2002 to provide good jobs to people in Winnipeg’s inner city who live in poverty and who are marginalized by systemic discrimination. For more than four years, they have survived in the construction market, creating full-time jobs with average or better sector wages, benefits, education and training, career laddering and a supportive work environment. The enterprise has annual revenues of $2 million and has reached financial break-even and is now expanding into other sectors. The question is, can this, can this enterprise be sustained? Will it grow and expand? Could it be replicated elsewhere? If not, can it be considered successful and what are the implications for social enterprise as a strategy for empowerment on a broader scale.