Enterprising Staffing Solutions (ESS)

Unemployment in the Shaw neighborhood has traditionally been significantly higher than in many Washington, DC neighborhoods. In 1998 ONE DC (formerly Manna CDC) and the ICA Group, in partnership with the National Cooperative Bank, established Enterprising Staffing Solutions, a for-profit temporary-to-permanent work agency. ESS is intended to help unemployed and underemployed residents of Shaw and the District find good paying jobs in a variety of industries in the DC area, including construction, the hospitality industry and office support professionals.

ESS has grown substantially over the past 3 years. ESS is directed by General Manager Joseph Jackson. In 1999 ESS made more than 150 placements of its associates, and eight associates had transitioned from temporary to permanent employees of the companies for whom they worked. During 2000 and 2001 workers were placed with a broad variety of employers and ESS became a profitable company well ahead of expectations.

While the process has not always been easy and growth of the company has not always been linear, progress has been made. Unemployed and underemployed residents of Shaw are being assisted to find jobs that pay significantly above minimum wage and it is planned that the workers will be vested with ownership of ESS (currently equity is in the hands of ONE DC and ICA) in the next 18 months.

In 2000, ESS made 50 placements with 18 companies and 2 associates have transitioned to permanent employment, with an additional 4 associates currently in temporary-to-permanent assignments.

In 2005, ESS placed over 76 workers.

For more information go to: www.ess-dc.com

To contact ESS directly, call Joseph Jackson at 202-232-4830 or via e-mail at essdc@ess-dc.com