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What do you do when a pandemic starts gripping the world, and your largest customer tells you they need to triple their workforce in 45 days? And Fair Trade Outsourcing had to make this happen while a community lockdown was in place.

Through the webinar, CEO and founder of Fair Trade Outsourcing, Mike Dershowitz, shared the specifics of how his company addressed the challenges of scaling up their workforce during a crisis. His company''s business model has set a new standard for successful scalability and made a positive impact on its employees and the community in general.

A new service delivery center in Guadalajara, Mexico starts its operations this September of 2020. This expansion will create seventy much-needed jobs immediately.

"Mexico is a strategic nearshore location for the US, has a large, educated population, and a deep reserve of folks who speak English well. In the future, we will consider other, smaller cities, to help bring our fair trade message there, but GDL is a good start," says Fair Trade Outsourcing''s CEO and Founder, Mike Dershowitz.

The new service delivery center in Mexico has a capacity of up to 420 jobs to serve nearshore accounts while also accommodating current client growth and providing new opportunities for servicing emerging markets.

As the second-largest city in Mexico with a population of nearly 1.5 million, Guadalajara, Mexico was chosen for the expansion site because of its large, educated population and the ease of doing business with folks who are already familiar with American culture.

In this city, Fair Trade Outsourcing is excited to introduce its unique economic system for managing labor while delivering superior results for global clients.

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On September 24th, Fair Trade Outsourcing CEO and Founder Mike Dershowitz had a great talk with John Mackey, CEO and Co-Founder of Whole Foods Market. They discussed John''s new book, Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business, and delved into topics related to social entrepreneurship.

In his newly released book, Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business, Mackey connects the story of his evolving leadership journey and his roadmap to innovative and values-driven success to a plan for leaders seeking to transform, develop, and embrace values based in both passion and purpose. Mackey''s powerful call to action, for creative and business leaders alike, is clear — if we want businesses to be more conscious, we need more conscious leaders.

The interview was part of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce'' series "Defining Innovation" which tackles topics on leadership, innovation, and social entrepreneurship.

The event was sponsored by Fair Trade Outsourcing. Those who responded to the announcement circulated through email were given a free copy of John Mackey''s new book. Shipping fees were covered by the sponsor.

Joenito, or Demz to his friends and co-workers, doesn''t look like a battle-scarred general, but his mettle as a manager was greatly tested and proven during the early days of the pandemic. At that time, Fair Trade Outsourcing only had one office in the Philippines and it was located in Iloilo City. The good mayor had just announced a general community quarantine will be put in place in two days.

Public transportation was almost gone and businesses that provide non-essential goods and services had to close down. So, Fair Trade Outsourcing had to quickly find accommodations for its hundred or so employees in Iloilo City. The company also had to find a way to transport their employees from the place they were all staying at to the workplace. And, on top of that, the company must provide access for its employees to laundry services and grocery stores.

All of these had to be accomplished in TWO DAYS.

It was Demz who really stepped up to the plate and made all these things happen for the good of his co-workers and the company''s well-being. He immediately found a hotel that''s willing to house our employees and hired two vans that would pick-up and drop-off the agents on different shifts. Market days and laundry days were soon drawn up and released along with the van schedule.

Moreover, procurement of office supplies and equipment wouldn''t have been possible if not for Demz. Because local suppliers had to temporarily stop doing business because computer equipment and office supplies were not considered essential goods, Demz had to buy online, a source that wasn''t the normal route for procurement. Yet, it proved successful.

After that initial 15 days of community quarantine, Demz proved he could handle major challenges like it. So, he was promoted to Admin Manager and given his own team to help him manage the daily tasks of keeping our business operating smoothly. His work may not be as prominent as that of a CEO, a Vice President, or even an HR Manager. But as Admin Manager, Demz makes sure every department has the information they need to make informed decisions on time. He makes sure everyone has the tools they need to fulfill their jobs. We accomplish so much because of Demz.

Fair Trade Outsourcing has partnered with PACE (Professional Association for Customer Engagement) to bring to you a webinar that''s quite pertinent to our times. The webinar, "Scaling In Times Of Crisis," will be presented by our CEO and founder, Mike Dershowitz, on December 8th, Tuesday. This virtual event is open to PACE members and the public.

Register Here

The Learning and Development team of Fair Trade Outsourcing has been busy lately. In October, the team announced the return of two Capacity Building programs that truly made an impact on many employees.

Personal Finance Management Training, which started accepting enrollees on October 14, 2020, now has 68 total learners from all three sites of FTO. In this program, enrollees learn to manage their finances, save up, and invest in various assets or a small business. Graduates in previous classes included recipients of the company''s Microloan for Small Business program.

The English Rating Upleveling Experience, which began its sessions on October 12, 2020, now has 31 total learners who are still in the program. By the end of the program, we will have agents who would become more fluent at speaking and writing in English. Those who were able to improve their fluency one to two levels higher would be receiving salary increases that would last throughout their employment with us.

Andrei Windeca wasn''t a college graduate when he started working at Fair Trade Outsourcing. Yet, this never became a hindrance to Andrei as he continued to pursue a computer degree while he worked the night shift. He was only 19 years old when he began working for a data entry account at FTO. After a year, he finished his degree. A year after that, he completed his English fluency training and received a salary increase for his hard work.

Andrei''s struggles in life started when his family went through financial difficulties. He had to stop going to school for a little while, but soon realized that if he wanted to help his family, he had to do everything he could to earn money. So, he started teaching dance classes, was paid to do make-up, and trained young girls who were contestants for local beauty pageants. He also worked as a nanny for mentally-challenged children.

Andrei described that experience as a dark moment in his life, but it entirely changed his perspective.

Doing odd jobs, however, did not offer income security for Andrei. Good thing his friend encouraged him to try his luck applying for a call center job at Fair Trade Outsourcing. Fortunately, he was hired as a data entry worker, and that''s when Andrei''s life changed for the better.

He was a bit anxious and scared, at first, because it''s his first stable job. But, Fair Trade Outsourcing gave him the income security he needed to support himself financially as well as his dad and mom along with his half-siblings. His parents have been separated and his mother has a new family. However, they still depend on him to provide for them.

After more than three years with FTO, Andrei is living a financially secure life. He says he can now buy the things that he and his father used to just dream of having before.

He''s already moved on from the data entry account he first worked in when he started his job at FTO. He''s now part of the largest account at the company and getting paid well for a job well done.

He has nothing but absolute satisfaction for all the things that he was able to achieve while being employed at FTO. However, the main reason why he''s totally grateful is that his employment has helped him become a responsible adult and pay back his father for all the sacrifices he made for his son.