Joined Forces of SPARK, Citibank Korea Inc. and FKTU established ‘Sooda Factory.’

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2008-10-07 16:07

Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--Renowned labor and financial organizations joined hands with the social work organization to create quality new jobs in our community.

Social Program Action and Research in Korea (SPARK; President, Jeon, Soon-Ok), Citibank Korea Inc. (CKI; CEO, Ha, Yung-Ku) and Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU; President, Jang, Seok-Chun) joined forces and established a brand new dressmaking and sewing workshop, Sooda Factory. The first Sooda Factory will open in Jangchoong-dong area according to a news report released on the Oct. 7th.

The three organizations made a written agreement for the future cooperation on the Sooda Factory business to sustain their quality job-creating project.

The 3-stories Sooda Factory building consists of a pleasant and comfortable sewing workshop, a design center and an apparel show room. The facility will also function as a market of clothing that is produced at the same building by more than 20 designers with 20 to 30 years of experience who graduated from SPARK’s Dongdaemoon Dressmaking Specialist Training School, “Soodagongbang.”

Sooda and Partners Inc., which is established and funded by SPARK, will be in charge of the operation of the Sooda Factory. CKI and FKTU will sponsor the business with various charges including purchasing machines and the set up of the work place and also provide work for the Sooda Factory continuously.

CKI’s CEO, Ha, Yung-Ku said, “CKI noted that making a donation to the Sooda Factory is not just an one-off donation but a sustainable contribution because the employees of the project can be benefitted continuously by working and making profits. CKI made a decision to join the project based on that information and expect the project to be a successful contribution model.”

Jang, Seok-Chun, president of FKTU said, “Socioeconomic polarization is deepening and the employment blind spot is increasing. And therefore, contribution to public welfare cannot be left only to the global enterprises. We will take this opportunity as an initiative and operate a full-scale contribution activity to take one step towards the citizens in our community.”

SPARK’s president, Jeon, Soon-Ok who took initiative in founding the Sooda Factory said, “This project is meaningful because organizations founded with different purposes now joined forces to solve a wide spread social unemployment problem and came up with a concrete and practical solution.

[Information on The first Sooda Factory’s Grand Opening Event]

- The Event will start from 2 p.m. on the Oct 7th.
1> The most beautiful sewing factory ever, Sooda Factory’s unveiling ceremony and the sightseeing of the facility.
2> The agreement of cooperation between FKTU, CKI and SPARK’s Sooda Factory will be signed by the representatives of each organization.
3> Time for socializing. Refreshments will be provided.

- The venue is located next to Jangchoongdan Evangelical Holiness Church (Joong-gu Jangchoong-dong 2ga). Free parking is available in the Jangchoongdan Evangelical Holiness Church parking lot.

[Additional Information]

1. Introduction to Sooda and Partners Inc.

Sooda and Partners Inc. is founded to create quality new jobs, pay regular wages to employees and produce environment friendly apparels. SPARK, the largest stockholder of the business will operate the newly established the Sooda Factory. SPARK will hire 30 new employees as full time workers at the first store to meet the goal and the purpose of the business, ‘Creation of Quality New Jobs’ and SPARK is also planning to hire all new employees at future Sooda Factory branches as full time workers.

The company will also accomplish the upgrade of the technology to a next level, fair wages and fair trade to provide quality products on decent prices. Also the company will minimize the use of chemicals and supplements for the safety of our customers and the environment to meet the goal of producing environment friendly apparels. It is our goal to create a Korean style environment friendly clothing brand by utilizing high-level Korean dressmaking skills and superior designers in Korea with a long time experience.

2. Introduction to Soodagongbang

Dongdaemoon Dressmaking Specialist Training School, ‘Soodagongbang’ is established by SPARK in 2003 and has bred more than 300 excellent dressmakers. ‘Soodagongbang Fashion Show’ has been active since 2006 and by opening events such as “Fashion Design Contest,” the organization is trying to find a way to work with excellent new talents.

About Citibank Korea Inc.

Citibank had opened its first branch in Korea in 1967, and was born newly as Citibank Korea Inc. (CKI) through integration with KorAm Bank in 2004. CKI serves customers at 230 branches (as of June 2008) in Korea by providing the first class financial products and services based on the various products and know-how of Citi with global network including more than 100 years of history and 200 million customers in 200 countries. CKI delivers new financial world to the customers through development of innovative financial products and services, encompassing from corporate and investment banking to consumer banking, private banking, and wealth management. Furthermore, Citibank Korea Inc., as a responsible corporate citizen, conducts diverse community activities in the areas of financial education, next generation education, woman, diversity, community, and environment consistently in corporation with sound non-profit organizations.

웹사이트: http://www.citibank.co.kr