Minda has built on its reputation for creating wide-ranging employment options for people with disability, and reinforced its reputation as an innovative sector leader, by announcing its acquisition of an established commercial business rather than follow the long-established path of building a social enterprise venture from scratch.

Minda CEO, Ms Cathy Miller, said acquisition of Wine Storage & Logistics (WSL) and WSL REPACK provides opportunity to encourage social responsibility across the broader for-profit business sector and create additional employment opportunities for people with disability.

“It is tough to start a commercial enterprise from nothing, which is why it makes far more sense to seek out commercial ventures that offer established relationships and active operations that seamlessly integrate with our traditional areas of packaging, warehousing and logistics,” Ms Miller said.

“It is more important than ever before for disability sector leaders to think outside the square in the NDIS environment, and take active steps to have sustainable and competitive social enterprises in place, and this acquisition delivers on those needs,” she said.

Ms Miller said the acquisition was expected to create jobs for about 20 South Australians with disability in the first wave, with more to follow as the business grows over time, and provides additional employment opportunities in Adelaide’s western and northern suburbs.

“We have commercial operations at Brighton, Underdale and Lonsdale that offer a range of workplace options for people who want supported employment, or work  for those wanting to transition into open employment, but until now we have really only been able to assist people who live on that side of the city,” Ms Miller said.

“With expanded operations in Woodville and Regency Park thanks to this acquisition, we can now offer expanded employment and learning options right across the metropolitan area,” she said.

“This investment builds on our first commercial business acquisition in 2014, when we purchased Horn Australia, followed by SA Group Enterprises in the same year, which marked significant milestones in our efforts to change our business model to self-generate income through social enterprises.”

“The bolstered workplace experience now on offer will assist those wanting to transition into open employment, and for those not able to gain open employment, they can enjoy a sense of routine and achievement within a managed team environment where they can work at their own pace and do tasks that they want.”

Supported by its existing management team, WSL and WSL REPACK will continue to offer a full range of customised and secondary packaging services for customers who want their wine reworked, labelled, and loaded directly into a container for export.

About Minda

Established in 1898, Minda is the largest non-government disability support organisation in South Australia that assists people with disability to thrive in their local environments as valued members of their communities by offering residential and lifestyle services, employment and respite support. Minda is a major employer of more than 450 supported workers across its highly successful range of commercial enterprises. Across seven businesses, Minda provides the community with a broad range of services that include manufacturing, design, packing solutions, commercial laundry and catering. More information at https://www.mindainc.com.au/