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Gyeonggi Province to Recruit Participants for 'Impact Franchise' Program Through April 10 (AJU ECONOMICS = Reporter Kang Dae-woong, Cha Woo-yeol) Gyeonggi Province is promoting 'Impact Franchise,' which expands successful social economy enterprises through franchise business, and is recruiting participants until April 10. Gyeonggi Province refers to social economy enterprises with annual sales of 1 billion won or more or corporate value of 5 billion won or more as 'Impact Unicorns,' and 'Impact Franchise' is a business method that transforms such potential Impact Unicorns into franchise businesses. Selected social economy enterprises can receive not only support for establishing franchise headquarters systems, promotion and investment linkage for opening branches, and preparing reports on business performance and social economic effects, but also up to 70 million won in costs for opening branches. Participants must be social economy enterprises located in Gyeonggi Province or plan to relocate their headquarters to Gyeonggi Province during the participation period. Even if operating other businesses, applicants may participate if they plan to convert to social economy enterprises during the participation period. Those who do not meet the Impact Unicorn standards for annual sales or corporate value can participate by presenting their own success plans. The recruitment categories are divided into: (Type A) existing social economy enterprises planning Impact Franchise business, and (Type B) existing franchise operators planning or currently implementing impact creation. Applying additional preferences (operators possessing or cooperating with technology that can contribute to spreading Impact Franchise infrastructure), 12 candidates will be selected as the candidate group. Following verification of business and social performance, 6 finalists will be selected by the end of May. Applications can be submitted through the Gyeonggi Social Economy Organization website by 4 p.m. on April 10. Detailed information can be found on the Gyeonggi Social Economy Organization website and the Gyeonggi Province government website. Inquiries can be directed to the Mixed Finance Investment Team of the Social Economy Organization. Earlier, Governor Kim Dong-yeon announced four major visions for Gyeonggi's social economy through the 'Gyeonggi Social Economy Showcase' in October of last year. The four major visions are: cultivating 100 Impact Unicorn companies by 2026, franchising models of successful social economy enterprises, creating a 'priority purchase 1 trillion won market' with public and private enterprises, and expanding social economy organizations to 12,000 by 2026. Kim Ha-na, Head of the Social Innovation Economy Division, stated: "For social economy enterprises to continuously carry out their inherent purpose of 'realizing social value,' a solid business structure must be in place." She added, "Gyeonggi Province is seeking solutions through the franchise method and aims to spread this model." Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Social Economy Organization signed a business agreement with Underdogs Co., Ltd. and The People Who Smell Consortium, selected as partner organizations for systematic support of this project, on March 8. The People Who Smell, a social enterprise, spreads sustainable employment value by enabling people with disabilities to grow from simple employment to experts in their respective fields. Underdogs Co., Ltd. operates startup programs in the social economy and social innovation fields, producing excellent cases and presenting examples of virtuous entrepreneurial circulation structures, such as establishing alumni funds where experienced entrepreneurs invest in junior entrepreneurs.